Larne F.C.

Larne Football Club is a professional Northern Irish football club based in Larne, County Antrim that play in the NIFL Premiership.

Larne
Full nameLarne Football Club
Founded1889
GroundInver Park, Larne
County Antrim
Capacity3250
OwnerKenny Bruce[1]
ChairmanGareth Clements
ManagerTiernan Lynch
LeagueNIFL Premiership
2021–225th
WebsiteClub website

History

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 greatest rivals are Ballyclare Comrades and Carrick Rangers; their matches are known as "The East Antrim Derby". 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.[2][3]

After being taken over by Purplebricks co-founder Kenny Bruce in October 2018,[4] 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.

They also field a women's team, whose colours are red & white (home) and purple & black (away). Formed by a small committee of parents and friends of the Larne Colts in November 2004, they made history by being the first ladies' team to play at Windsor Park as part of the half-time entertainment during the Irish Cup final in May 2005. The ladies also have a junior team for ages 8–14. The Senior Ladies' team has recently been reincorporated back into the club. In their inaugural season (2018), they finished the season as the unbeaten North 2 League Champions, and also as beaten finalists in the North 2 League Cup. They now play in the top tier (NIFL Women's Premiership) of the Northern Ireland Women's football league system after 4 consecutive promotions.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  SCO Rohan Ferguson
2 DF  SCO Shaun Want
3 DF  IRL Graham Kelly
4 DF  NIR Albert Watson (Captain)
5 MF  IRL Fuad Sule
7 MF  IRL Daniel Kearns
8 MF  ENG Mark Randall
9 FW  NIR Paul O’Neill
10 FW  NIR Lee Bonis
15 DF  NIR Aaron Donnelly
16 MF  NIR Shea Gordon
17 MF  ENG Max Hutchison
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF  IRL Cian Bolger
19 MF  SCO Joe Thomson
20 FW  NIR Thomas Maguire
21 MF  NIR Leroy Millar
22 DF  NIR Micheál Glynn
23 DF  NIR Tomás Cosgrove
27 FW  RSA BJ Banda
28 GK  ENG Jamie Pardington
29 FW  SCO Andy Ryan
38 MF  NIR Caolan Donnelly
39 FW  NIR Conall Curran
42 DF  NIR Sean Brown

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF  NIR Andrew Mitchell (at Carrick Rangers until 1st July 2023)
25 MF  NIR Dylan Sloan (at Newry City until 1st July 2023)
30 FW  NIR Matthew Lusty (at Newry City until 1st July 2023)
32 DF  NIR Max Greer (at Knockbreda until 1st July 2023)
No. Pos. Nation Player
33 MF  NIR Harry Adair (at Ballyclare Comrades until 1st July 2023)
37 DF  AUS Ryley D'Sena (at Bangor until 1st July 2023)
n/a DF  NIR Odhran McCart (at Lisburn Distillery until 1st July 2023)

Non-playing staff

Position Staff
ManagerTiernan Lynch
Assistant ManagerSeamus Lynch
First Team CoachGary Haveron
Goalkeeping CoachAlan Blayney
Fitness Coach/PhysiotherapistMichael O'Boyle
Opposition AnalystShane Taaffe
PhysiotherapistJoe Crawford
Kit ManagerMartin Bird
Club DoctorAdam McClintock
Entertainment ManagerLewis Perry McAdam
Performance AnalystShane Taaffe
General ManagerNiall Curneen
Marketing ManagerDean Houston

European record

Overview

Competition Matches W D L GF GA
UEFA Europa Conference League
8
4
2
2
6
7
TOTAL
8
4
2
2
6
7

Matches

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

UEFA ranking

As of 14 June 2022[5]
RankTeamPoints
368 Zaria Balti2.250
369 Dacia Chisinau2.250
370 Larne2.000
370 Velež Mostar2.000
372 Birkirkara2.000

Honours

Senior honours

Intermediate honours

† Won by Larne Olympic (reserve team)

Junior honours

  • Irish Junior Cup: 1
    • 1900–01

References

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