The County Antrim & District Football Association (also known as the North East Ulster Football Association but more commonly as the County Antrim FA) is the largest of the four regional football associations within Northern Ireland and affiliated to the Irish FA, the others being the Mid-Ulster FA, the North-West of Ireland FA and the Fermanagh & Western FA.
The County Antrim FA held its inaugural meeting on 23 April 1888 at the Commercial Hotel, Donegall Street, Belfast. The founding seven member clubs were Belfast Athletics, Cliftonville, Clarence, Distillery, YMCA, Oldpark and Whiteabbey. Ballyclare, Linfield Athletics, Mountcollyer and Beechmount joined these clubs shortly thereafter. In the intervening years, membership has grown from these eleven clubs to more than 500. [1] In 1896, the jurisdiction of the Association was extended beyond County Antrim to include all clubs within the Parliamentary boundaries of Belfast, thus including some within County Down. [2]
Aided by a grant from the Irish FA, the County Antrim FA set about organising a competition for its members, the County Antrim Senior Challenge Shield, for which the first round draw was made in November 1888. Also organised were a fundraising match, held between Cliftonville and "The Rest", and a first representative fixture, lost 6-2 to a touring side from Canada. In the first few years of its existence County Antrim FA XIs also faced teams representing County Londonderry, Mid-Ulster and the Irish FA. [3]
Continued expansion of football in the region permitted the County Antrim FA to found further competitions, the Steel & Sons Cup in 1895 and the County Antrim Junior Shield in 1900. [4] Regular representative fixtures continued until the 1950s when financial losses incurred on trips to face the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA proved too much for the Association to bear. [5]
In 1988, to celebrate the County Antrim FA's centenary a special competition was organised - The County Antrim FA Centenary Chalice. The specially produced crystal trophy was won by Glentoran who defeated Ballymena United 4-2 in the final at Windsor Park, Belfast. [6] That same season a County Antrim Select lost 6-2 to a Combined Mid-Ulster/North-West Select in a commemorative match at Windsor Park. [7]
The County Antrim FA now has over 500 member clubs, spread beyond the traditional boundaries of County Antrim into mid-, north and east County Down. Membership comes from all levels of football within Northern Ireland, from the senior, intermediate, junior and youth leagues and includes the reserve teams of many NIFL Premiership clubs.
Selected representative matches played by County Antrim FA Selects.
| Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Sept 1888 | Shaftesbury Grounds, Ormeau Road, Belfast | Canada | 2-6 | Canadian side selected by the Western FA |
| 14 Oct 1953 | Solitude, Belfast | South Africa | 1-0 | |
| 10 May 1988 | Windsor Park, Belfast | Mid-Ulster/North-West Select | 2-6 | County Antrim FA Centenary game [8] |
The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team.
Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours, making them one of the most successful teams in the world.
Linfield Football Club is a Northern Irish professional football club, based in south Belfast, which plays in the NIFL Premiership – the highest level of the Northern Ireland Football League. The fourth-oldest club on the island of Ireland, Linfield was founded in 1886 by workers at the Ulster Spinning Company's Linfield Mill. Since 1905, the club's home ground has been Windsor Park, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland national team and is the largest football stadium in Northern Ireland. They train at Midgley Park which is beside the stadium. The club's badge displays Windsor Castle, in reference to the ground's namesake.
Cliftonville Football & Athletic Club is a professional association football club playing in the NIFL Premiership – the top division of the Northern Ireland Football League. The club was founded in September 1879 by John McAlery in the suburb of Cliftonville in north Belfast and are the founders of football in Ireland.
Crusaders Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1898, is based in north Belfast and plays its home matches at Seaview.
Larne Football Club is a professional Northern Irish football club based in Larne, County Antrim, that competes in the NIFL Premiership.
The Northern Ireland football league system is categorised into three levels: senior, intermediate and junior. Clubs attain intermediate status by fulfilling certain criteria. Senior status requires clubs to reach stricter criteria. National leagues exist at senior and intermediate level. All junior leagues and some intermediate are organised on a regional basis.
Edward Patterson, better known as Eddie Patterson is the former manager of NIFL Premiership clubs Cliftonville and Glentoran. He was relieved of his duties as Glentoran manager on Saturday 17 October 2015. Despite winning two Irish Cups in three years, the club highlighted deteriorating league positions and performances as the main reason for his dismissal.
The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Football Association, often plus intermediate teams who qualify via the Steel & Sons Cup, depending on the numbers required. For the 2010–11 and 2011-12 seasons, only the winners took part.
The North West Senior Cup or North West Cup is a senior football competition in Northern Ireland run by the North West of Ireland Football Association. Senior and intermediate teams from the North West FA's jurisdiction, are entitled to enter. It originated as the County Londonderry F.A. Cup in 1886–87 but became the North West Cup in 1892.
Colin Coates is a semi-professional footballer from Northern Ireland who plays as a defender for Ballymena United.
Newington Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Championship. The club originates from the Newington area of Belfast and ground shares with NIFL Premiership side Larne.
Martin "Marty" Quinn is a former Irish League footballer and a current manager. Quinn is well known for leading Cliftonville to become Irish League champions in 1998, and leading Coleraine to Irish Cup glory in 2003.
The Mid-Ulster Cup is a senior football competition in Northern Ireland run by the Mid-Ulster Football Association. The competition has historically featured teams based in County Armagh, east County Tyrone, and west County Down, though teams from outside the Mid-Ulster FA's jurisdiction have also competed on occasion, with Bangor winning the cup in 1995/96.
The North Belfast derby is the name given to association football matches between Cliftonville and Crusaders who play in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The two are separated by around 1.5 miles with Cliftonville based at Solitude on Cliftonville Road and Crusaders at Seaview on the Shore Road.
The Big Two derby, also referred to simply as the Big Two or Bel Classico, is the name given to the association football derby between Belfast clubs, Linfield and Glentoran. The derby is also sometimes referred to as the Belfast derby. They are the two most successful and most supported clubs in Northern Ireland league football. They traditionally face each other on Boxing Day each year which usually attracts the largest NIFL Premiership attendance of the season. They regularly play each other in the league, and have contested more cup finals together than any other two clubs. They also make up two of the three clubs that have competed in every season of Northern Ireland's top flight since its inception in 1890 – neither club ever suffering relegation.
YMCA Football Club was an Irish football club based in Belfast, formed by the members of the Belfast YMCA.
The Northern Ireland Football League, also known as the Irish League, is the national football league of Northern Ireland. The Irish League was originally formed in 1890, with the league in its current format created in 2013 to assume independent collective management of the top three levels of the Northern Ireland football league system; namely the Premiership, Championship and Premier Intermediate League.
Isaac McCandlish McDowell was a Scottish footballer and football manager who played as an inside-right for Dunoon Athletic, Glasgow Perthshire, Airdrieonians, Dumbarton, King's Park, Cowdenbeath, Port Vale, Coleraine, Linfield, and Ards. He later managed Ards, Linfield and Glentoran.
The 1987–88 County Antrim Centenary Chalice was a one-off cup competition in Northern Irish football held by the County Antrim & District F.A. to celebrate their centenary. The format used was identical to that of the County Antrim Shield.