Ballymena United F.C.
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| Full name | Ballymena United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "Sky Blues"; "The Braidmen" | ||
| Founded | 1928 | ||
| Ground | Ballymena Showgrounds, Ballymena, County Antrim | ||
| Capacity | 5200 | ||
| Chairman | Robert Cupples | ||
| Manager | Tommy Wright | ||
| League | Irish Premier League | ||
| 2005/2006 | 8 | ||
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Ballymena United is a Northern Irish football club playing in the Irish Premier League. Ballymena United hail from Ballymena and play their home matches at Ballymena Showgrounds. Club colours are sky blue and white.
The club was founded on April 7 1928, originally called simply Ballymena Football Club. After a dispute during the 1933/34 season, the club was subsequently reformed and renamed Ballymena United in 1934.
The club's manager since June 2005 has been former Northern Ireland international goalkeeper Tommy Wright. Wright took over at the helm from Kenny Shiels after a poor string of results although Shiels did manage to guide the club to an Inter Toto Cup showdown with BoldKlub Odense from Denmark. The club's main sporting rivals are Coleraine F.C. with the highlight of the season the "local derby" which falls on Boxing Day each year. Other lesser rivals include Larne F.C. and Wakehurst F.C..
Ballymena have yet to win the Irish League. The club has been successful in the Irish Cup however, winning the competition six times since the club's inception.
"United" are generally considered one of the better supported clubs in Northern Ireland and have a large vocal support in the form of the "sky blue crew" who follow the fortunes of the team both home and away.[citation needed]
Honours
- Irish Cups: 6
- 1928/29, 1939/40, 1957/58, 1980/81, 1983/84, 1988/89
- Irish League First Division: 1
- 1996/97
- Gold Cup: 1
- 1974/75
- County Antrim Shield: 4
- 1947/48, 1950/51, 1975/76, 1979/80
- Ulster Cup: 2
- 1960/61, 1980/81
- City Cup: 1
- 1971/72
- Festival of Britain Cup: 1
- 1951/52
Club staff
- President: G McIlrath
- Vice-Presidents: N McBurney, B Anderson
- Chairman: Robert Cupples
- Vice-Chairman: M Smyth
- Treasurer: N Millar
- Company Secretary: K Whitbread
- Football Secretary: D Stirling
- Manager: Tommy Wright
- Assistant Manager: Jim Grattan
- First Team Coach: Jeff Montgomery
- Sports Therapist: Michael Lavery
- Reserve Team Coach: David Dorrian
- PA Announcer / DJ : Davy Kingo King
Contact information
Ballymena Showgrounds
Warden Street
Ballymena
County Antrim
Northern Ireland
BT43 7DR
Telephone: 00442825652049