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Glenavon F.C.

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Glenavon
File:Glenavon.png
Full nameGlenavon Football Club
Nickname(s)Lurgan Blues, The Mourneview Aces
FoundedNovember 1889; 125 years ago
GroundMourneview Park, Lurgan
County Armagh
Capacity4,160 (3,200 seated)[1]
ChairmanAdrian Teer
ManagerGary Hamilton (player-manager)
LeagueNIFL Premiership
2014–153rd
Websitehttp://glenavonfc.com/blog/

Glenavon F.C. is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1889, hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gary Hamilton has been player-manager of the Lurgan Blues since December 2011 following the resignation of Marty Quinn.

Glenavon's bitter rivals are Portadown. Their matches are known as the 'Mid-Ulster Derby' and Glenavon's current player-manager Gary Hamilton played for Portadown before joining the Lurgan Blues.

In August 2008, the club appointed a new manager, Stephen McBride, a former Northern Ireland international and a popular Glenavon player during his footballing career, playing for the club during the 1990s. McBride's reign lasted seven months before he was relieved of his managerial duties with Glenavon at the bottom of the IFA Premiership. The Director of Football, Alan Fraser, was also relieved from his duties.[2][3] The club chairman is Adrian Teer.

Domestic history

Glenavon was the first provincial club to win the Irish League title (1951–52) and also the first provincial club to do the league and cup double (1956–57). The latter triumph also made them the first Northern Irish team to enter the European Cup. Glenavon has had a number of talented and famous players, none more so than Wilbur Cush and Jimmy Jones, who were to the fore in "the glory years" of the Fifties. The success of the 1950s is still the benchmark at this Lurgan club, the closest the club have come to achieving a league success since came in the 1993–94 season, when but for two late goals in the final match Glenavon would have been crowned champions.

Glenavon enjoyed a good run throughout the 1990s, consistently achieving good placings in the league and winning several cup competitions, including Irish Cup wins in 1991–92 and 1996–97, and were runners-up against Glentoran in the 1997–98 edition of the cup. The club then suffered a relatively poor spell during the early 2000s, which culminated in relegation to the second tier in the 2003-04 Irish League season. Although they were promoted the following season, Glenavon continued to struggle towards the bottom of the league throughout the remainder of the decade, going through several managers such as Terry Cochrane, Stephen McBride & Marty Quinn until former Portadown & Glentoran forward Gary Hamilton was appointed player-manager in December 2011, managing to steer the club from relegation in the remainder of the 2011-12 Irish League season. This was followed up by a 9th place finish in the 2012-13 season. The 2013-14 season was welcomed by many as a successful season, the Lurgan club securing a top-six league finish and a return to winning major silverware with the 2013–14 Irish Cup, in which Glenavon triumphed 2-1 over Ballymena United in the final.

Following on from this cup triumph was a successful 2014-15 season. Though Glenavon did not fare as well in the Irish Cup, exiting at the 6th round to Championship 1 side Harland & Wolff Welders, an excellent late run of 7 consecutive wins saw the Lurgan Blues pip their Mid-Ulster rivals Portadown to a third-placed league finish, therefore sealing European football for the 2015-16 season.

European record

Main article: Northern Irish football clubs in European competitions

Glenavon was the first Northern Irish team to enter the European Cup. In their first tie they drew AGF of Denmark, drawing 0–0 at home and losing 0–3 away.

Glenavon achieved some more notable results in Europe in the 1990s. In the 1992–93 season, they drew both legs of their Cup Winners Cup tie with Royal Antwerp and lost on penalties. In 1995–96 they reached the first round proper of the UEFA Cup (the last Irish League club to do so), and were beaten by Werder Bremen.

Season Competition Round Opponents 1st leg 2nd leg Aggregate
1957–58 European Cup PR Denmark AGF 0–3 0–0 0–3
1960–61 European Cup PR Germany Wismut Karl Marx Stadt w/o N/A
1977–78 UEFA Cup 1R Netherlands PSV Eindhoven 2–6 0–5 2–11
1979–80 UEFA Cup 1R Belgium Standard Liège 0–1 0–1 0–2
1990–91 UEFA Cup 1R France Bordeaux 0–0 0–2 0–2
1995–96 UEFA Cup PR Iceland FH 0–0 1–0 1–0
1R Germany Werder Bremen 0–2 0–5 0–7
2001–02 UEFA Cup QR Scotland Kilmarnock 0–1 0–1 0–2
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 1QR Iceland FH 0–3 2–3 2–6
2015–16 UEFA Europa League 1QR Belarus Shakhtyor Soligorsk 1–2 0–3 1–5

Stadium

Mourneview Park is now considered to be one of the best grounds in the Irish League.[by whom?] Along the side of the pitch runs the Geddis Stand (holds roughly 1700) and on the other side the newly built Glenfield Road Stand (holds roughly 2000). One end of the ground has the Crescent Stand (400 seats, and standing area), and at the other end the Hospital End terracing. In addition to Glenavon's home matches, the stadium is also a regular host for Northern Ireland under-21 matches.

Due to ongoing renovation of Windsor Park, Mourneview Park was chosen as the venue for Linfield's home ties in the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League.

Honours

Senior honours

† Won by Glenavon Reserves

Intermediate honours

† Won by Glenavon Reserves

Junior honours

  • Irish Junior Cup: 1
    • 1897–98

Current squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Northern Ireland NIR Jonathan Tuffey
2 DF Ireland EIR Ian Morris
3 DF Northern Ireland NIR Kyle Neill
4 DF Ireland EIR Simon Kelly
5 DF Ireland EIR Conor Dillon
6 DF Northern Ireland NIR Kris Lindsay
7 MF Northern Ireland NIR Andy Kilmartin
8 DF Northern Ireland NIR Rhys Marshall
9 FW Northern Ireland NIR Joel Cooper
10 FW Northern Ireland NIR Eoin Bradley
11 MF Northern Ireland NIR Andy Hall
12 MF Northern Ireland NIR Mark Patton
No. Pos. Nation Player
14 MF Northern Ireland NIR Mark Sykes
17 MF Northern Ireland NIR Andy McGrory
19 FW Ireland EIR Declan O'Brien
20 FW Northern Ireland NIR Gary Hamilton (Player-manager)
22 FW Northern Ireland NIR Kevin Braniff
23 MF Ireland EIR Daniel Kearns
24 MF Ireland EIR Ciarán Martyn
25 DF Ireland EIR David Elebert
27 MF Northern Ireland NIR James Singleton
33 GK Northern Ireland NIR James McGrath

Managers

Glenavon FC Academy

Glenavon FC's Academy consists of teams at Under 7, Under 8, Under 9, Under 10, Under 11, Under 12, Under 13, Under 14, Under 15 and Under 16. There is also an Under 19 team which comes under the auspices of the Senior Club and plays as Glenavon III's.

The Glenavon FC Academy is headed by Ryan Prentice The Academy currently has three UEFA A Licence and two UEFA B Licence coaches.

In recent times the Club have introduced various coaching programmes and training camps aimed at increasing the numbers within the Academy. These have included the Glenavon FC Academy Club Affiliation Programme, Schools Programme, Aces, Girls Football and our annual Football Camps at Easter, Summer and Halloween.

Notes

  1. ^ The 1961–62 North-South Cup could not be finished in time. The first round and part of the second round were played in this season, with the rest completed in the 1962–63 season. The Cup started in February 1962 and was completed in May 1963.

References

  1. ^ www.worldstadiums.com
  2. ^ "Club Statement". Glenavon F.C. 2009-01-28. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
  3. ^ "Glenavon sack McBride and Fraser". BBC Sport. 2009-01-28. Retrieved 2009-01-28.
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