Glentoran F.C.
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| Full name | Glentoran Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Glens, Cock and Hens, The East Belfast Men | ||
| Founded | 1882 | ||
| Ground | The Oval, Belfast | ||
| Capacity | 15,000 (5,000 seats) | ||
| Chairman | Stafford Reynolds | ||
| Manager | Paul Millar | ||
| League | Irish Premier League | ||
| 2005/06 | 2nd | ||
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Glentoran F.C. are a Northern Irish football club, playing in Belfast. The club, founded in 1882, play in the Irish Premier League and play their home matches at The Oval. Club colours are green, red, and black.
Glentoran's main rivals are Linfield. Linfield and Glentoran are nicknamed Belfast's Big Two, as they have traditionally dominated local football in Northern Ireland since the demise of Belfast Celtic. The two play a league match on Boxing Day each year.
Many former Glentoran players have gone on to play for teams in England and Scotland, such as Danny Blanchflower, Peter Doherty, Bertie Peacock, Billy Bingham, Jimmy McIlroy, Terry Conroy, Tommy Jackson and Tommy Cassidy. More recent examples are Glen Little, Stuart Elliott, Andy Kirk and Andy Smith, with Elliot a former member of the Northern Ireland squad.
History
In 1914 Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first British or Irish team to win a European trophy.
George Best watched Glentoran with his grandfather as a youth, but was rejected by the club for being "too small and light". However Best did make one appearance for Glentoran, in the club's centenary match against Manchester United.
In 1964/65, Glentoran faced Panathinaikos in the European Cup and drew 2-2 at home and lost 3-2 away. In the following season's Fairs Cup, they faced Antwerp resulting a 1-0 defeat away and 3-3 draw at home. The Cup Winners' Cup in 1966/67 saw Glentoran draw 1-1 with Rangers in front of a packed Oval before losing the away leg 4-0.
Glentoran's finest hour came in a European Cup encounter with Benfica in 1967. The tie was played over two legs, the first being at the Oval. Glentoran scored a penalty early on and held out for nearly 60 minutes until football great Eusébio equalised. The match ended 1-1. The return tie was at Benfica's famous Estádio da Luz. Part-time Glentoran were expected to crumble under the pressure of the occasion, but again held out for a famous draw. Benfica advanced to the next round on the away goals rule.
In 1973/74, Glentoran took advantage of a comparatively weak field to reach the quarter-finals of the Cup Winners' Cup. They faced Borussia Monchengladbach in the quarter-finals and were beaten 2-0 and 5-0. Four seasons later they faced Juventus in a European Cup match and lost 1-0 at home and 5-0 away.
In 1981/82, Glentoran reached the second round of the European Cup and faced eventual semi-finalists CSKA Sofia. After a 2-0 defeat away, Glentoran went 2-0 up in the return leg to force the game into extra time. The final result was 2-1, Glentoran going out 3-2 on aggregate.
On the 23 April, 2005 Glentoran defeated their rivals Linfield in one of Irish League football's most memorable encounters. In the 93rd minute of the match, Glentoran, who needed victory in order to have a chance of clinching the league title, scored a goal via their centre forward (and former Linfield player) Chris Morgan [1]. The goal sealed the victory for Glentoran, sending the Glentoran crowd into a frenzy.The pitch invasion by Glentoran fans incited the Linfield crowd at the match, who were then involved in altercations with Glentoran supporters, eventually requiring the use of riot police to restore order [2]. Hooliganism was commonplace at matches between the clubs in the past. However this has reduced significantly in recent years.
After eight years in charge of Glentoran, Roy Coyle resigned as manager after a string of indifferent results. At the time the club announced that assistant manager Tommy Kincaid would take over on a caretaker basis. On 14 February, 2006 the club announced that former Newry City manager Paul Millar will take over the manager's position [3]. Since his takeover performances improved and he led his team into the Irish Cup final with rivals Linfield. Despite taking the lead in the first half, Linfield won the game with 2 goals from Peter Thompson. The Glens have sought to reduce the gap between them and Linfield by signing Kyle Neill and Gary Hamilton from Portadown and re-signing former fan's favourite Gary Smyth.
Redevelopment
In March 2003, the club's board of directors advised the shareholders of Glentoran Recreation Company Ltd to sell the Oval to a property development holding company called Girona. To date no new ground has materialised. A campaign waged by a group of volunteer supporters called Rest In East, was then set up to keep the club in east Belfast. The club's Board of directors have suggested moving close to a village called Comber, well outside the city bounds of Belfast, which the majority of supporters firmly oppose.
Plans have been made to form a Glentoran Community Trust, potentially the first supporters' trust to be formed in Northern Ireland, to engage with the east Belfast community. This would sit completely independent of the parent club and give the ordinary non-shareholding supporter a voice. On November 3, 2005 a fans forum voted 417-0 in favour of forming a trust.
Trivia
- On Boxing Day 1998 Glentoran played their traditional match against Linfield on a snow covered pitch. At half time the orange ball was lost, and not having a replacement the teams were forced to play with a white ball for the remainder of the game. The incident was used as a "What Happened Next" question on the BBC's A Question of Sport.
- The 1985 Irish Cup final between the big two saw another famous incident. Glentoran supporters brought a cockerel, the club's emblem, to the match. Linfield supporters brought a pig, painted in the club colours of red, white and blue. The two animals stayed on the sidelines for the duration of the match. Glentoran fans also brought a cockerel to the 2006 Irish Cup final, it too stayed on the sidelines for the duration, Glentoran eventually lost the game 2-1 to close rivals Linfield.
Honours
- League titles: 22
- 1893/94, 1896/97, 1904/05, 1911/12, 1912/13, 1920/21, 1924/25, 1930/31, 1950/51, 1952/53, 1963/64, 1966/67, 1967/68, 1969/70, 1971/72, 1976/77, 1980/81, 1987/88, 1991/92, 1998/99, 2002/03, 2004/05
- Irish Cups: 20
- 1913/14, 1916/17, 1920/21, 1931/32, 1932/33, 1934/35, 1950/51, 1965/66, 1972/73, 1982/83, 1984/85, 1985/86, 1986/87, 1987/88, 1989/90, 1995/96, 1997/98, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2003/04
- League Cups: 5
- 1988/89, 1990/91, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2004/05
- Vienna Cup: 1
- 1913/14
- Gold Cups: 15
- 1916/17, 1941/42, 1950/51, 1959/60, 1961/62, 1965/66, 1976/77, 1977/78, 1982/83, 1986/87, 1991/92, 1994/95, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01
- County Antrim Shield: 24
- 1900/01, 1901/02, 1910/11, 1915/16, 1917/18, 1924/25, 1930/31, 1939/40, 1940/41, 1943/44, 1949/50, 1950/51, 1951/52, 1956/57, 1967/68, 1970/71, 1977/78, 1984/85, 1986/87, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2002/03
- Ulster Cup: 9
- 1950/51, 1952/53, 1966/67, 1976/77, 1981/82, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1988/89, 1989/90
- City Cup: 18
- 1896/97, 1898/99, 1910/11, 1911/12, 1913/14, 1914/15, 1915/16, 1916/17, 1918/19, 1931/32, 1950/51, 1952/53, 1956/57, 1964/65, 1966/67, 1969/70, 1972/73, 1974/75
- Floodlit Cup: 2
- 1987/88, 1989/9
- Budweiser Cups: 1
- Bateman Cups: 1
- Blaxnit All-Ireland Trophies: 1
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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*Note, squad numbers not accurate.
Notable former players
- Derek Acorah
- Billy Bingham
- Danny Blanchflower
- Peter Doherty
- Stuart Elliott
- Andy Kennedy
- Glen Little
- Jimmy McIlroy
- Terry Moore
- Jim Cleary
- Alex Young
- Chris Walker
- Andy Smith
See also
- Recent Glentoran results
- Irish Football League Cup
- Irish Cup
- Irish First Division
- Irish Second Division
- County Antrim Shield
- Northern Ireland football league system