Larne Football Club is a professional Northern Irish football club based in Larne, County Antrim that plays in the NIFL Irish Premiership.
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| Full name | Larne Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1889 | ||
| Ground | Inver Park, Larne County Antrim | ||
| Capacity | 3,000[1] | ||
| Owner | Kenny Bruce[2] | ||
| Chairman | Gareth Clements | ||
| Manager | Tiernan Lynch | ||
| League | NIFL Premiership | ||
| 2022–23 | 1st (Champions) | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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HistoryEdit
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 main rivals are Carrick Rangers, Ballymena United and Ballyclare Comrades. 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.[3][4]
After being taken over by Purplebricks co-founder Kenny Bruce in October 2018,[5] 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.
In their fourth season back in the top flight, The Inver Reds would win a historic first NIFL Premiership league title in 2023 following a 2-0 win over Crusaders in April 2023.[6] As a result of this, the club would make their first ever appearance in the qualifiers for the UEFA Champions League in the summer of 2023. [7]
Larne Women's TeamEdit
Larne also have a women's team who were originally formed in November 2004, before being reincorporated back into the club in 2018, having been previously dormant for a number of years. In their inaugural season, they finished the season as the unbeaten North 2 League Champions, and also as beaten finalists in the North 2 League Cup. They now for the first time play in the top tier in 2023 (NIFL Women's Premiership) of the Northern Ireland Women's football league system after 4 consecutive promotions. [8]
Current squadEdit
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loanEdit
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Non-playing staffEdit
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Manager | Tiernan Lynch |
| Assistant manager | Seamus Lynch |
| First-team coach | Gary Haveron |
| Goalkeeping coach | Alan Blayney |
| Strength & Conditioning coach | Stuart McCammon |
| Head Physiotherapist | Paddy Douglas |
| Head of Performance Analysis | Oliver Byrne |
| Kit Manager | Martin Bird |
| Physiotherapist | Joe Crawford |
| Club doctor | Adam McClintock |
| Entertainment Manager | Lewis Perry McAdam |
| General Manager | Niall Curneen |
| Marketing Manager | Dean Houston |
European recordEdit
OverviewEdit
| Competition | Matches | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 8
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
6
|
7
|
| TOTAL | 8
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
6
|
7
|
MatchesEdit
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Agg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 1QR |  Bala Town
|
1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| 2QR |  AGF Aarhus
|
2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | ||
| 3QR |  Paços de Ferreira
|
1–0 | 0–4 | 1−4 | ||
| 2022–23 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 1QR |  St Joseph's
|
0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Champions League | 1QR |
UEFA rankingEdit
- As of 7 May 2023[9]
| Rank | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 338 |  Vllaznia |
3.000 |
| 339 |  Vikingur |
3.000 |
| 340 |  Larne |
3.000 |
| 341 |  Floriana |
3.000 |
| 342 |  Derry City |
3.000 |
HonoursEdit
Senior honoursEdit
Intermediate honoursEdit
- Irish League B Division: 10
- 1954–55, 1956–57, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72
- Irish Intermediate League: 1
- 1952–53
- Irish Intermediate Cup: 3
- 1942–43†, 1958–59, 1969–70
- George Wilson Cup: 6
- 1958–59, 1959–60, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1977–78†, 1978–79†
- Steel & Sons Cup: 11
- 1909–10, 1941–42†, 1942–43†, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1964–65, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72
- Louis Moore Cup: 2
- 1956–57 (shared with Banbridge Town), 1958–59
- McElroy Cup: 1
- 1948–49
† Won by Larne Olympic (reserve team)
Junior honoursEdit
- Irish Junior Cup: 1
- 1900–01
ReferencesEdit
- ^ "NIFL Premiership Football Grounds In Northern Ireland". footballgroundmap.com. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^ "Larne FC owner Kenny Bruce lobbied Stormont parties to back embattled Mid and East Antrim council boss after NI Protocol letter row". Belfast Live. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Northern Ireland - List of League Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. RSSSF. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- ^ "Northern Ireland Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. RSSSF. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
- ^ Purplebricks co-founder wants to bring 'Champions League music' to Larne BBC Sport. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
- ^ "Larne secure historic first Irish League title with 2-0 win at Crusaders". BBC Sport. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
- ^ "Honours Even as Gibson Cup Arrives at Inver". Larne FC Website. 22 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- ^ "Womens Team History". Larne FC Website. 29 April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
- ^ UEFA.com. "Member associations – UEFA Coefficients – Club coefficients". Archived from the original on 13 January 2013.
- ^ "Larne secure historic first Irish League title". BBC Sport. BBC. 14 April 2023.
- ^ "Co Antrim Shield: Impressive Larne see off Linfield in gripping final to retain trophy". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ Brodie, Malcolm. Belfast Telegraph Northern Ireland Soccer Yearbook 1999/2000. p. 11