Queen's Island F.C.

Last updated

Queen's Island
Full nameQueen's Island Football Club
Nickname(s)the Islanders [1]
Founded1920 [2]
GroundPirrie Park, 1923-24 and 1928-29
The Oval, 1924-28
League Irish League

Queen's Island Football Club was a football club from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Contents

The team were champions of the Irish League in the 1923–24 season and also winners of the Irish Cup the same season.

History

Queen's Island Football Club was formed in the summer of 1920, their first match was a friendly against Ulster Rangers, they were elected to the Intermediate League for the start of the 1920/21 season, they finished 5th place in the Intermediate League whilst winning the Intermediate Cup at their first attempt, defeating Forth River 2-0 in the final at Solitude on St Patrick's Day 1921.

After their debut season in the Irish Intermediate League, Queen's Island applied to join the Irish League, Willowfield and Belfast United also applied but Queen's Island were elected. At the end of the 1928/29 season, they were voted out of the Irish League, being replaced by Derry City. Although they only spent eight seasons in senior football, Queen's Island's record of one championship and three runners-up spots was very impressive. In the 1928-29 season they conceded a record 130 goals in 26 games.

They went on to compete in junior leagues such as the Irish Football Alliance and would compete up to the 1960s, during their time in the Alliance league they played matches at Skegoneill avenue, home of Brantwood.[ citation needed ]

Irish Football Alliance

After the club's days in the Irish Football League the club plied their trade in the Irish Football Alliance.

Colours

The club played in narrow blue and white hoops. [3] [4]

Ground

During their days as an Irish League side Queen's Island called two venues "home":

Irish League record

SeasonPosPldWDLGFGA+/-Pts
1921–22 510325916- 7 8
1922–23 2105231721- 412
1923–24 11812424818+3026*
1924–25 22213634823+2532
1925–26 6229584237+ 523
1926–27 22212644634+1230
1927–28 122657144670-2417
1928–29 1426232153130-777**

Honours

Senior honours

Intermediate honours

Representative players

Five Queen's Island players won Ireland caps (one each):

The following Queen's Island players represented the Irish League at inter-league level:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cliftonville F.C.</span> Association football club in Northern Ireland

Cliftonville Football & Athletic Club is a professional association football club playing in the Irish League Premiership – the top division of the Irish League football. 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crusaders F.C.</span> Association football club in Northern Ireland

Crusaders Football Club is a professional Northern Irish football club playing in the Irish Premiership, the highest level of the Irish League (NIFL). The club, founded in 1898, is based in north Belfast and plays its home matches at Seaview.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen's University Belfast A.F.C.</span> Association football club in Northern Ireland

Queen's University Association Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League.

The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Inaugurated in 1881, it is the fourth-oldest national cup competition in the world. Prior to the break-away from the Irish Football Association by clubs from what would become the Irish Free State in 1921, the Irish Cup was the national cup competition for the whole of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast Celtic F.C.</span> Northern Irish football club (1891–1960)

Belfast Celtic Football Club was an Irish football club. Founded in 1891 in Belfast, it was one of the most successful teams in Ireland until it withdrew permanently from the Irish League in 1949. The club left the league for political reasons, as the team and its supporters were largely Catholic and Irish nationalist. Belfast Celtic was one of four clubs that attracted the biggest crowds in the Irish League, the other three being Linfield, Distillery and Glentoran. Belfast Celtic played its last match in 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Tooles GAA</span>

O'Tooles GAC is a Gaelic Athletic Association club based in Ayrfield, Dublin, Ireland, formed in 1901.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast Harlequins</span> School in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland

Belfast Harlequins is a multi-sports club located off the Malone Road in south Belfast, Northern Ireland. The club name provides the overall umbrella for rugby union, men's and ladies' hockey, and squash. The club is associated on and off the field with Methodist College Belfast (MCB).

The Ulster Senior League is a league competition for the first teams of men's hockey clubs affiliated to the Ulster Hockey Union of Hockey Ireland.

The Irish Intermediate Cup is a Northern Irish football competition for teams of intermediate status, including NIFL Premiership reserve sides. It is a straight knock-out tournament and is currently sponsored by McCombs Coach Travel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Amateur Football League</span> Association football league in Northern Ireland

The Northern Amateur Football League, also known as the Northern Amateur League and often simply as the Amateur League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 13 divisions. These comprise four intermediate sections: the Premier Division, Division 1A, Division 1B and Division 1C; three junior sections: Division 2A, Division 2B and Division 2C; and six reserve sections.

Antrim Hockey Club is a hockey club based at Antrim Forum The club was founded in 1894 and was one of the founding members of the Ulster Hockey Union. Antrim Hockey Club's first eleven play in the Senior League of the Ulster Senior League.

Thomas Houston Watson was an Irish professional footballer. He began his career with Irish Intermediate League side Crusaders as a half back before joining Cardiff City in 1925 where he converted to defence. He became a regular first team player during his debut season in the Football League and later played in the 1927 FA Cup Final, helping the side become the only team from outside England to win the competition.

Willowfield F.C. is a defunct intermediate football club which existed in Northern Ireland during the inter-war years.

David Lyner was a Northern Irish footballer who played as an outside forward for various clubs in Northern Ireland, England and Scotland in the 1910s and 1920s, including Distillery, Glentoran, Manchester United and Kilmarnock.

Ballymena Football Club was a football club from Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland that was founded in 1928, but dissolved in 1934 following expulsion by the Irish League for making payments to amateurs. It holds the distinction of having won the Irish Cup in its first ever season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Ireland Football League</span> Football league

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Gough (footballer)</span> Irish footballer

John Gough was an Irish football goalkeeper who played in the Irish League for Queen's Island and Ballymena during the 1920s and also won a solitary international cap for Ireland.

The Irish Intermediate League was a Northern Irish football competition for teams of intermediate status, which also included reserve sides of senior teams. The league ran from 1915 until 1954.

Joseph Gowdy was a footballer from Northern Ireland who played as a right half, although in his early career he was a centre forward and in latter years was deployed at centre half.

Belfast United Football Club is a former Irish football club which played competitive football during the First World War.

References

  1. "Last-moment thrills in the Pirrie Park match". Ireland's Saturday Night: 3. 11 April 1925.
  2. Ireland's Saturday Night, 21 August 1920
  3. "Last-moment thrills in the Pirrie Park match". Ireland's Saturday Night: 3. 11 April 1925.
  4. "Ο "θρύλος" της Queen's Island Football Club". EYAΠ. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  5. "Football In Northern Ireland - A Statistical Record 1881-2005" Alex Graham
  6. Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats