Limavady United F.C.

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Limavady United
Limavady United FC logo.png
Full nameLimavady United Football & Athletic Club
Nickname(s)"The Roesiders", "The Lims"
Foundedc. 1955
Ground The Showgrounds, Limavady
County Londonderry
Capacity1,500 (274 seated)
ManagerPaul Owens
League NIFL Championship
2023–24 NIFL Premier Intermediate League, 1st of 14 (champions; promoted)
Website http://www.limavadyunitedfc.com/

Limavady United Football Club is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Championship. The club comes from Limavady, County Londonderry, and plays home matches at the Showgrounds. Club colours are royal blue shirts with white trim, blue socks and royal blue shorts. Away colours are all yellow. The current manager is Paul Owens.

Contents

History

There have been many football clubs in Limavady, dating back to 1880, when Alexander, a founding member of the Irish Football Association was formed by the Alexander Cricket Club. Alexander merged with another local club, Wanderers, in 1884 to form Limavady F.C. [1] Club historian David Brewster, however, dates the current Limavady club's formation to 1955. [2]

After a long time as a junior team, the club joined the senior Irish Football League in 1997–98, and reached its first Irish Cup semi-final in over a century in 2003–04. In 2008, the club lost its senior status when it failed to gain admission to the new IFA Premiership.

In April 2013, three players received suspensions after being found guilty of breaching IFA betting rules on one of the club's league matches. [3]

The club won the NIFL Championship 2 in the 2015–2016 season but were denied promotion to NIFL Championship 1 as they were unsuccessful in applying for a licence. However they were promoted as winners of the Premier Intermediate League in 2016–2017. They would be relegated at the end of the 2018/19 season.

Following a stay in the PIL, the club would make their NIFL Championship return following a 3–0 win away to Lisburn Distillery, also securing the league trophy. [4]

Carlos Tevez loan

In September 2011, the club vice chairman David Brewster issued a fax to Manchester City, offering to take Argentinian International Carlos Tevez on loan after the player had refused to go on as a substitute in a UEFA Champions League fixture. The club offer suggested that they would ensure Tevez stayed match fit and would avoid being cup tied, but asked that City continued to pay his reported £200,000 per week wages, a figure higher than Limavady's entire turnover for a year.

The offer, although meant as tongue in cheek became global headline news with some news agencies believing the offer to be a serious one. The story gained the club brief worldwide recognition although Manchester City themselves did not respond. [5]

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.NationPlayer
1 GK Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Richard Purcell
2 DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Aaron McLaughlin
3 DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Ryan Morrow
5 DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Tiarnan Boorman
7 MF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Ryan Doherty
8 MF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Stephen Lowry
10 FW Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Ian Parkhill
11 DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Lewis Tosh
12 DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Graham Crown
14 MF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Connor McCloskey
16 MF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Ruairi Boorman
17 MF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR John Butcher
18 FW Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Alex Pomeroy
19 DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Rodney Brown
No.Pos.NationPlayer
20 FW Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Michael McCrudden
22 DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Andrew Whiteside
23 DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Jake Wallace
24 DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Adam Mullan
26 FW Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Joe McCready
30 DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Matthew Walker
31 GK Flag of Ireland.svg  IRL Martin Gallagher
MF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Dean Burke
FW Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Matthew Doherty
FW Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Matt Brown
DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Marcus O'Kane
DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Jack Mullan
DF Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Bobby Deane
FW Ulster Banner.svg  NIR Emmett McGuckin

Honours

Former crest Limavady.png
Former crest

Senior honours

Intermediate honours

Junior honours

References

  1. Northern Whig, 8 December 1884; Belfast Newsletter, 12 October 1880
  2. David Brewster (2017), Up the Lims, Chapter Five and 'Limavady United F.C. Family Tree'.
  3. "Three Limavady United players banned over betting scandal". BBC Sport . 18 April 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  4. "Roesiders Sweep to Title Clinching Victory". NIFL Website. 23 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  5. "Limavady United's loan offer to Manchester City's Carlos Tevez". BBC News . 28 September 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2013.