Through the Years

Larne Football Club was born in 1889 at the high water mark of the Victorian era. The accelerating industrialisation and booming urban population of Britain, the world's only global Empire, had created the need for a host of new interests, hobbies and pursuits. Spectator sports, which captured the imagination of the masses, were becoming ever more popular and it was not surprising that this world Empire should create the world's game: football.
Football had become the game of the people throughout the industrial towns and cities and Larne was no exception. An 1889 exhibition match between Distillery and an army team from the Black Watch Regiment, staged in Larne, fired the imagination of the spectators. A group of football fans, including The Rev Turner, Mr. W N Brown and L Jackson Holmes came together to create a team for the town.
Sandy Bay became the first home of the team which was quickly assembled in the wake of the Distillery game. Nor was local popularity slow to follow. Larne FC proved to be an early success, their only problem being the failure to find a permanent home. Difficulties over the Sandy Bay lease forced them to move to Laharna Park where they again encountered similar problems.
The great popularity of the sport lead to the creation of two local sides, Larne FC and Larne Olympic, both of which joined the fledgling East Antrim Junior League of the 1890's. Despite the early successes of Olympic, it was Larne FC who eventually secured the IFA Junior Cup in 1901. Entry to the Irish Junior Alliance 2nd Division followed five years later.

New Century – New Division


Promotion to the First Division lead to some welcome additions to the trophy cabinet. Larne gained the Coolmore Cup for finishing behind Lurgan Celtic in the league and snatched the Steel and Sons Cup, for the first time, in 1909. Just three years later they gained seniority by joining the new league's Second Division. The same year also saw them being narrowly defeated by Barn Utd in the final of the Intermediate Cup.
The club decided to close down during the grim years of the First World War, but the end of that titanic struggle also saw Larne bring an end to their search for a ground. After much negotiation, Larne FC settled at the Inver Park site that we know today.
The Twenties was the decade when Larne booked their place as a senior club and they held on to this status until the outbreak of the Second World War. League restructuring then led to the Larne being cast into the wilderness and from this time of troubles emerged a new side, as Olympic eventually inherited the mantle of the senior club

Glory Days Return


At last, things began to go right and football could come back to Larne. The formation of the Intermediate League and the setting up of a B Division in 1951/52 allowed the club to re-enter senior football and a run of glory was under way.
It would not be too much to say that the next thirty years formed a golden age for Larne FC. They spent the latter part of the 1950's and the 1960's lifting trophy after trophy to reach a position of unrivalled dominance in their division. The club won an incredible twenty trophies over the course of these two decades, with the high points out of a period of high points being when they became B Division Champions (8 times) and Steel and Sons Cup Winners ( 6 times).
In season 1972/73 Larne once again joined the footballing heavy weights of the Irish League, as they replaced Deny City and ushered in a new period of their history.


Golden Age Again


There were tough times ahead for the Inver Reds as they found their feet and began to battle for position. Years of hard, often bitter, struggle finally yielded dividends when the glory days returned to Inver in the mid 1980's.
With Paul Malone at the helm, the stage was set for a second golden age. Dramatic duels with Linfield and Glentoran formed part of some the most exiting football and most shining results in Larne's long history. The club twice powered it's way to the Irish Cup Final in both 1987 and 1989, and the League Cup Final in 1992. The greatest glory came in the Ulster Cup.
They lost out to Linfield in 1984, only to come back all the stronger in 1987.
The 2-1 victory over Coleraine in the final of that year raised spirits at the club to new heights.
Subsequent reversals of fortune in the later 1990's often dampened those spirits but never extinguished them. When the Irish League split in the middle of the decade, it heralded the onset of darker days at Larne FC. Despite falling attendance figures and dwindling finances, the club continues to fight on. A proud team in a proud town looks to the future to restore the glories of the past.
Almost as many chairman as managers went through the revolving doors at Inver Park, until it settled under the stewardship of Sam McCready in the middle of the decade.
Chances were given to managers such as Gary Erwin, Billy Sinclair, Jim Hagan, Shea Hamill, Kel McDermott and Frankie Parks after the glory days of the late 80’s and to be fair to those in charge they all worked within eye-watering tight budgets.
Fittingly though, it was at the end of the 1990’s and back to Paul Malone where it all began for the successful player/manager.
Malone took over the reigns in 1999 and set about instilling some pride within the Inver men, now languishing in the First Division.
He took the club to as close to promotion as he could get without achieving the Holy Grail, bringing in players capable of a push to the Premier Division.
Having taken the club as far as he could, Malone departed a season into the new Millenium.


Stamp of Authority

Step forward Tommy Kincaid.
He very much took over from where Paul Malone left off and put his stamp on things.
Only the old heads such as Alan Murphy, John McKinstry and Phil McDonagh remained.
His first season was rewarded with a fourth place finish, ahead of the recently relegated rivals Ballymena United.
Ahead of the 2002/2003 season there was a real sense of something stirring at Inver Park. With a restructuring of the Irish League set to take place, four of the eight First Division sides would be promoted to a new Irish Premier League.
To say it was promotion was vital is an understatement.
Dungannon Swifts, Ballymena United and Limavady United all booked their spots with relative ease. However a tense battle was played out between Larne and Bangor all season for that lucrative fourth spot.
Matching each other almost point for point in agonising theatre, played out over seven months – it was more than fitting that Larne travelled to Bangor on the last day of the season for a promotion battle.
April 22, 2003 – the day etched on the minds of every Larne fan.
The equation was simple, Larne needed a draw or better and they were there – the Premier Division, somewhere they had trying to get to for almost a decade.
Many times down the years the question has been asked: What support do Larne really carry?
That question was answered in emphatic fashion at Clandeboye Park that Easter Tuesday afternoon.
Hundreds, upon hundreds travelled to Bangor and roared through their most tense 90 minutes in years – if not ever!
An early Mark Dickson goal and some stout defending earned that most valuable of 1-1 draws.
Glorious scenes greeted the final whistle in Bangor and for hours afterwards back in Larne, finally the dream had become reality.


Dream Start

A fantastic start to life in Premier League was mirrored by form in the League Cup and, suddenly Larne found themselves pitted against Champions Glentoran in a Semi-Final tie.
However, on the morning of the game news broke that their captain Gary Smyth hadn’t been registered all season, leaving the tie called off.
Smyth was indeed incorrectly registered, with the Glentoran ousted from the competition. Larne were then handed a place in the final against Cliftonville.
Howling wind and rain ruined any spectacle that could have been produced on a cold November night at Windsor Park.
Derek Delaney netted an early opener for Larne, cancelled out by a late header from Keith Mulvenna. Both sides dug deep in extra time and so it was to penalties
Full-back Emmanuel Maxwell was the only man to miss in the shoot out and Cliftonville claimed the cup by virtue of a perfect record from the spot.
The 2,000 strong Larne crowd left Windsor Park bitterly disappointed, but quickly put into perspective the result as indicative of how far they’d come under Tommy Kincaid – from First Division also-rans to challenging for major silverware in little over two years.
As unexpected as the Cup Final appearance was, nothing registered quite so much as Tommy Kincaid’s shock resignation barely a month after the League Cup decider, citing personal reasons for the departure
Former Northern Ireland defender John Devine, serving as a player at Inver Park under Kincaid stepped into the breach assisted by Neil Candlish.
Under their stewardship Larne survived their first season in the Top Flight with relative ease.
However the summer of 2004 saw multiple departures – many of whom followed Tommy Kincaid to Glenavon.
With few players coming in Devine was relieved of his duties. The unknown Jimmy McGeough, former Waterford, Derry City and Sheffield Wednesday winger then took charge.


Confidence and Character

Aged 60, McGeough took the job and instantly instilled his confidence and character back into the side. With little time to assemble his own squad the inconsistent results which followed could be expected.
One area where results were more than consistent was that of the Irish Cup. East Belfast, Dungannon Swfits and Loughgall (after a replay) were all defeated, setting up a fairytale Semi-Final clash with Ballymena United at the Oval – the same venue the old foes from ‘over the hill’ had collected Irish Cup against Larne 16 years previously.
This time it was Larne’s turn to shine in East Belfast.
Reds stopper Alex Spackman turned in a virtuoso performance between the posts to keep Ballymena at bay, while Mark Dickson – who would convert a total of 21 goals that season – converted from the penalty spot.
Amazingly McGeough had guided Larne to their first Irish Cup Final since 1989, in less than a season. Ronnie McFall’s Portadown lay in wait.
In typical fashion however, Larne only secured their top flight status a fortnight before the final, a draw at Inver Park with Ards doing the trick.
Around 4,000 fans travelled from Larne for the May, 2005 decider – and they got a dream start.
Neil Ogden netted with an exquisite free kick with less than 10 minutes on the clock to give the travelling Inver men their first ever goal in an Irish Cup final.
It was to go horribly wrong however as a strong Portadown outfit came back strong and roared to a 5-1 victory.
Like 17 months previously Larne fans left Windsor Park dejected but privileged that their team had given them another showpiece day out – amazingly the Inver Reds had reached two major finals in two seasons.
With Jimmy McGeough returning to United States – where he spent almost 30 years as a coach – to finalise family details, Larne were forced to replace the popular coach.
Next up was Kenny Shiels – a man who had only months prior had been relieved of his duties at Ballymena United – and he proved to be a popular choice stablising the team and taking them to the semi-finals of the County Antrim Shield and Irish Cup in the process.
However with Shiels full-time at the IFA now blocking him with involvement at an Irish League club Shiels had to stand at Inver Park in May 2006.
Shiels’ assistant Jim Hagan, a former player of great distinction in England and Spain, had been at the club a decade beforehand as a player/manager and now returned as manager.
His reign was a short-lived one however as he was relieved of his duties in November 2006 as his side sunk to the bottom of the Premier League.




Drama – on and off the pitch

The managers were coming thick and fast at this stage and next up was Paul Curran. It was Curran’s first job in management and he returned to the club that he had captained to the Irish Cup little more than a year earlier.
After a difficult start he managed to drag the club away from the relegation places after a fantastic second half of the season – however it wasn’t to be as straightforward as that.
With just one game of the season left to play news had broken of a row surrounding the eligibility of Dundalk-based defender Padraig Gollogley – Paul Curran’s first signing.
It came to light that Gollogley had no international clearance after a short spell with a junior side south of the border. However Larne were unaware of this and believed that his last club was Newry City.
The night before Larne’s final game of the season, at home to DC, the IFA ruled that Larne were guilty and fined them £8,000 (£500 per game in which Gollogley had played) and deducted them all point won while Gollogley took to the filed.
There was an incredible sense of injustice and a sizable, determined crowd turned out at Inver Park the following day.
Larne went on to win that game 2-1 and that, along with their successful appeal of the point reduction seven day later were enough to secure their top flight status.
The summer was filled with optimism at what could be achieved with Curran at the helm. Unfortunately, however the script was a familiar one and the club found themselves occupying the bottom spot in the League before the turn of the year and Curran was sacked, with Tommy Leeman coming in to replace him.
Leeman lasted just 19 days before resigning.
The club was at its lowest ebb for some time. Graham McConnell, who had made no secret of his long-held desire to have the club’s top job for some time, was the man who came in.
Ordinarily the turnaround he brought in the club’s fortunes, lifting them well clear of the bottom two, would have been enough to keep the club in the top flight.
However the introduction of the new IFA Premiership, and Larne’s failure to secure a domestic licence, meant the club would end their involvement with the Premier League.


We are Larne

A senior football club to the life of any town and its loss would leave a hole which could never be filled.
Larne FC has a history, the pride and a record of past successes. The Club has struggled since the decision to split the league, but that struggle to survive and prosper can be won if we gain the full support of the town.
Thousands of proud fans have poured through the gates of Inver Park. As with any local club, you’re paying to see more than a football match at the turnstiles – you’re paying your dues of ownership, paying to own YOUR club.
Many things have been said about Larne Football Club down the years, a lot of dramas played out on and off the pitch, but one thing remains…
.....We are Larne.


Club Honours

Irish League/First Division:
best position 3rd 1925/26
Ulster Cup winners:
1951/52; 1987/88
'B' Division champions:
1954/55; 1956/57; 1963/64; 1964/65; 1965/66; 1966/67; 1968/69; 1969/70; 1970/71; 1971/72; 1981/82*
Steel & Sons Cup winners:
1909/10; 1941/42; 1942/43; 1956/57; 1958/59;
1959/60; 1964/65; 1968/69; 1969/70; 1970/71; 1971/72
George Wilson Cup winners:
1958/59; 1959/60; 1968/69; 1970/71; 1978/79*
Louis Moore Cup winners:
1956/57 (shared with Banbridge Town); 1958/59;
1979/80*
IFA Intermediate Cup winners:
1942/43; 1958/59; 1969/70
Irish Youth Cup winners:
1977/78
Irish Junior Cup winners:
1900/01
Irish Cup Finalists:
1927/28,1934/35,1986/87,1988/89, 2004/05
* Trophies won by Larne Olympic