 | |
| Full name | Ferney Park |
|---|---|
| Location | Ballinamallard, Northern Ireland |
| Owner | Ballinamallard United F.C. |
| Capacity | 2,000 (250 seated) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1975 |
| Renovated | 2006 |
| Expanded | 2012 |
| Tenants | |
| Ballinamallard United Fermanagh Mallards | |
Ferney Park is a football stadium in Ballinamallard, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is the home stadium of Ballinamallard United. It was first used by Ballinamallard United in 1975, when the club was founded. [1]
Since 2006, Ferney Park has undergone a number of renovations. [2] The ground did not meet the criteria for use in the IFA Championship, which was established in 2008, and Ballinamallard played its home matches at Holm Park, the home of Armagh City, during the 2008/09 season and the first part of 2009/10, while it was brought up to standard. Ballinamallard's first match back at the upgraded Ferney Park was on 5 December 2009. [3] [4] Floodlights were installed in 2010. [5] In 2012, Ballinamallard United were promoted to the IFA Premiership after receiving a domestic licence to do so from the Irish Football Association. [6] However at the time, Ferney Park did not meet the required standards. The club were in the process of building two new stands, funded by fans buying seats. [7] The plans and designs of the new stands were printed on the cover of the matchday programme for United's last game before being promoted against Ards. [8] The building of the stands could not be guaranteed to be completed before the start of the Irish Premiership season. As a result, the club were obliged to nominate Stangmore Park in Dungannon, County Tyrone as their home ground if construction could not be finished in time. [6] At a cost of £80,000 from four fans, the pitch at Ferney Park was also re-laid in preparation. [2] However, the work was finished in time for Ferney Park to be used to host Ballinamallard's opening game against Dungannon Swifts. [9] The new stands were also officially opened for this match. [10]
In December 2012, during half-time in a match between Ballinamallard United and Linfield, the Ferney Park pitch was invaded by twenty Linfield supporters who waved Union Flags from the centre of the pitch. This was done as part of the Belfast City Hall flag protests. Ballinamallard United had no prior warning that this would happen and the Police Service of Northern Ireland took no actions amid fears of inflaming the situation. [11]
Ferney Park is home to Ballinamallard United and is also used to host their reserves' matches. [12] It is also home to the Fermanagh Mallards women's football club. In 2012, Ferney Park was used to host the opening game of the Northern Ireland Milk Cup between Fermanagh and English side, Newcastle United. [13] This was done to commemorate the Milk Cup's 30th anniversary by playing competition matches away from the normal locations along the north coast of Northern Ireland. [14]
Ferney Park has received a reputation in Northern Irish football as being a difficult ground to find [15] with members of the media covering games at the stadium often getting lost on their way to it. [2] This sometimes led to television channels having to use Ballinamallard United's own coverage of matches to be broadcast on television. [16] This was often attributed to television companies deeming it too expensive to regularly send cameras to Ballinamallard. [17] This situation has been criticized by Ballinamallard residents who feel that television coverage of Ballinamallard United is not as detailed as other teams because of the location of Ferney Park. [17]
Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish, semi-professional football club playing in the Irish League Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the Irish League First Division in 1997. Dungannon earned promotion from Irish League First Division to the Premier Division in the 2002–03 season.
Ballinamallard United Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club, re-formed in 1975 after being dormant since the 1960s, hails from Ballinamallard, near Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, and plays its home matches at Ferney Park. Club colours are all royal blue (home), and all white (away).
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The 2013–14 NIFL Premiership was the 6th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 113th season of Irish league football overall, and the 1st season of the league operating as part of the newly-created Northern Ireland Football League.
The 2013–14 Irish Cup was the 134th edition of the Irish Cup, the premier knock-out cup competition in Northern Irish football since its introduction in 1881. The competition began on 7 September 2013 with the first round and ended on 3 May 2014 with the final. The competition ran without a principal sponsor, but for the second successive season the final was known as the Marie Curie Irish Cup final, after the IFA once again awarded the naming rights for the final to the charity Marie Curie Cancer Care.
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Fermanagh Mallards Football Club is a women's association football club based in Ballinamallard, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. They play their home matches at Ballinamallard United F.C.'s Ferney Park. The club was founded in 2005 and is the only women's football team in County Fermanagh. They are not currently affiliated with any league after being ejected from the Women's Premier League in June 2013.
The 2014–15 NIFL Premiership was the 7th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 114th season of Irish league football overall, and the 2nd season of the league operating as part of the newly-created Northern Ireland Football League.
The 2014–15 Irish Cup was the 135th edition of the Irish Cup, the premier knock-out cup competition in Northern Irish football since its introduction in 1881. The competition began on 23 August 2014 with the first round, and concluded on 2 May 2015 with the final. For the first time since 1995, the Oval was chosen as the final venue following the discovery of damage to a stand at Windsor Park during the stadium's redevelopment.
The 2015–16 NIFL Premiership was the 8th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 115th season of Irish league football overall, and the 3rd season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.
The 2015–16 Irish Cup was the 136th edition of the Irish Cup, the premier knock-out cup competition in Northern Irish football since its introduction in 1881. The competition began on 18 August 2015 with the first round and concluded with the final at Windsor Park on 7 May 2016. The cup was sponsored by Tennent's Lager, the competition's first title sponsor since 2012.
The 2016–17 NIFL Premiership was the 9th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 116th season of Irish league football overall, and the 4th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.
The 2017–18 NIFL Premiership was the 10th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, the 117th season of Irish league football overall, and the 5th season of the league operating as part of the Northern Ireland Football League.