Larne F.C.

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Larne
Larne F.C.png
Full nameLarne Football Club
Founded1889
GroundInver Park, Larne
County Antrim
Capacity2,500
OwnerKenny Bruce
ChairmanGareth Clements
ManagerTiernan Lynch
LeagueNIFL Premiership
2020–214th
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Larne Football Club is a professional Northern Irish football club based in Larne, County Antrim that play in the NIFL Premiership.

History[]

The club was founded in 1889 and plays its home matches at Inver Park. The club's colours are red and white, and the club's greatest rivals are Ballyclare Comrades and Carrick Rangers; their matches are known as "The East Antrim Derby". From 1972 until 2008, the club had senior status, but reverted to intermediate status when it failed to gain a place in the new IFA Premiership. The club regained senior status in 2016, when the NIFL Championship became the second tier of senior football for the 2016–17 season.

Larne have notably been runners-up of the Irish Cup on six occasions (1928, 1935, 1987, 1989, 2005 and 2021) and runners-up of the League Cup twice (1991–92 and 2003–04) without ever winning either Cup - a record in both respective competitions for the most final appearances without ever winning.[1][2]

After being taken over by Purplebricks co-founder Kenny Bruce in October 2018,[3] the club lifted the 2018–19 NIFL Championship title. This was the club's first ever senior tier league title, their first league title since an intermediate title win in 1972, and the first senior honour since lifting the Ulster Cup in 1988. This secured a return to the top flight for the first time since suffering relegation to the second tier in the 2007–08 season after failing to meet the criteria for the new IFA Premiership.

They also field a women's team, whose colours are red & white (home) and purple & black (away). Formed by a small committee of parents and friends of the Larne Colts in November 2004, they made history by being the first ladies' team to play at Windsor Park as part of the half-time entertainment during the Irish Cup final in May 2005. The ladies also have a junior team for ages 8–14. The Senior Ladies' team has recently been reincorporated back into the club. In their inaugural season (2018), they finished the season as the unbeaten North 2 League Champions, and also as beaten finalists in the North 2 League Cup.

Current squad[]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Northern Ireland NIR Conor Devlin
2 DF Northern Ireland NIR Kofi Balmer
3 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Graham Kelly
4 DF Northern Ireland NIR Albert Watson (vice-captain)
5 MF Nigeria NGA Fuad Sule
6 MF Scotland SCO John Herron
7 MF Iran IRN Navid Nasseri
8 MF England ENG Mark Randall
9 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Ronan Hale
10 FW Republic of Ireland IRL David McDaid
11 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Ben Doherty
13 GK Canada CAN Michael Argyrides
14 FW Northern Ireland NIR Andrew Scott
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Lee Lynch
17 MF Northern Ireland NIR Andrew Mitchell
18 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Cian Bolger
23 DF Northern Ireland NIR Tomás Cosgrove
24 MF Northern Ireland NIR Jeff Hughes (captain)
26 DF Northern Ireland NIR Dean Jarvis
30 FW Northern Ireland NIR Matthew Lusty
31 DF Northern Ireland NIR Elliott Wood
32 DF Northern Ireland NIR Max Greer
33 MF Northern Ireland NIR Harry Adair
34 GK Scotland SCO Rohan Ferguson
35 MF Northern Ireland NIR Dylan Sloan
37 DF Australia AUS Ryley D'Sena

Non-playing staff[]

Position Staff
Manager Tiernan Lynch
Assistant Manager Seamus Lynch
First Team Coach Tim McCann
Goalkeeping Coach Alan Blayney
Fitness Coach/Physiotherapist Michael O'Boyle
Physiotherapist Joe Crawford
Kit Manager Martin Bird
Club Doctor Adam McClintock
Entertainment Manager Lewis Perry McAdam
Performance Analyst Andrew Whiteside
General Manager Niall Curneen
Marketing Manager Christopher Liddle

European record[]

As of match played 12 August 2021

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Agg.
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 1QR Wales Bala Town 1–0 1–0 2–0
2QR Denmark AGF Aarhus 2–1 1–1 3–2
3QR Portugal Paços de Ferreira 1–0 0–4 1−4
Notes
  • QR: Qualifying round

Honours[]

Senior honours[]

Intermediate honours[]

† Won by Larne Olympic (reserve team)

Junior honours[]

  • Irish Junior Cup: 1
    • 1900–01

References[]

  1. ^ "Northern Ireland - List of League Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  2. ^ "Northern Ireland Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  3. ^ Purplebricks co-founder wants to bring 'Champions League music' to Larne BBC Sport. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  4. ^ Brodie, Malcolm. Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 1999/2000. p. 11

External links[]

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