Newry City F.C.
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Newry City | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Full name | Newry City Football Club |
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Founded | 1923 (as Newry Town) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ground | The Showgrounds, Newry (Capacity 6,500) |
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Chairman | Alan Williams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manager | Gerry Flynn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
League | Irish Premier League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2007/08 | 8th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Newry City is a Northern Irish football club playing in the Irish Premier League. The club, founded in 1923, is based in Newry, County Down and plays its home matches at The Showgrounds. Club colours are blue and white. The club's manager is Gerry Flynn, having taken over after Roy Coyle left the club by mutual consent on 10 January 2007.
The club was originally known as Newry Town - it was renamed in 2004, two years after Newry obtained city status. [1]
The club's most successful period was the late 1990s. After winning the First Division in the 1997/98 season, the club managed to finish fourth in the Premier Division, thus qualifying for the Intertoto Cup.
In this, their first ever appearance in European competition, Newry Town (as they were then known) were drawn against the Croatian side Hrvatski Dragovoljac. A 1-0 defeat in Croatia was followed by an historic 2-0 win at home to send the club into the second round. There they met Bundesliga side MSV Duisburg. Again, Newry were drawn away in the first leg, coming away with a respectable 2-0 defeat to the German professionals. A 1-0 win at home wasn't enough to force extra time but the side had exceeded expectations in the tournament.
Since the 1999/00 season, the club went into decline, culminating in a last place finish in the league in 2002/03. However, thanks to the restructuring of the Irish Football League they were required to play off against Bangor FC over two legs. A 0-0 away draw and a 2-1 home win kept the club in the top flight.
In the 2006/7 season, big things were expected of Roy Coyle's team, with the manager seen as the most successful manager in the history of the Irish league, however poor results resulted in Coyle leaving the club. He was replaced by Gerry Flynn at the start of 2007.
In Flynn's first full season in charge (2007/08) he and his assistant Peter Murray steered the club to 8th position in the final league table.
Contents |
[edit] Notable Former Players
- Pat Jennings
- Tommy Breen
- Jimmy Kelly
- John Feenan
- Gerry Flynn Current Manager
- Robbie Casey Current Reserve Team Manager
- Mickey Keenan Current Goalkeeper Coach
- Karl Bermingham striker, Waterford United
- Davy O'Hare goalkeeper, Colraine
- Damien Whitehead striker, Colraine
- Andy Crawford striker, Institute
- Damien Curran striker, Linfield
- John Connolly goalkeeper, Cliftonville
[edit] First Team Members
[edit] Goalkeepers
- Andy Coleman
- Robert Robinson
[edit] Defenders
- Cullen Feeney
- Emmet Friars
- Ian Currann
- Niall Hudson
- Paddy McLaughlin
- Paul Donegan
[edit] Midfielders
- Darren King
- Kevin Keegan
- Richard Clarke
- Sean Friars
- Steven Ferguson
- Kenny Kearns
- Paul Prigent
- Michael Collins
- Cormac McArdle
[edit] Forwards
- James Willis
- Lee Feeney
- Stephen Garrett
- Tony Smith
- Tony Anderson
- Chris Morgan
- Wayne Brown
[edit] Honours
- Irish First Division: 1
- 1997/98
- Irish Second Division: 2
- 1959/60, 1980/81
- Intermediate Cup: 3
- 1958/59, 1966/67, 1980/81
- County Antrim Shield: 1
- 1987/88
- Mid-Ulster Cup: 13
- 1936/37, 1956/57, 1963/64, 1966/67, 1968/69, 1974/75, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1984/85, 1986/87, 1989/90, 1999/2000, 2006/07