Glenavon (Northern Ireland)

Glenavon FC is a semi-professional football club based in the former textile town of Lurgan, County Armagh about eighteen miles south of Belfast in Northern Ireland. The club were formed in 1889 and have played their entire history at Mourneview Park.

The club was admitted into the Irish League in 1911-12, quickly adapting to the competition before finishing as runners-up in 1921-22. The previous season the team had reached the final of the Irish Cup when they went down 2-0 to Glentoran.

Glenavon returned for the 1921-22 season when Linfield came out on top by the same scoreline. The club reached the 1939-40 final when Ballymena United proved too strong in their 2-0 victory.

The ‘Lurgan Blues’ trundled along for many years in the league until the appointment of manager Harry Walker in 1950. With star players Wilbur Cush and Jimmy Jones in the side, Glenavon finished third in Walker’s first season at the helm before becoming the first provincial champions of the Irish League in 1951-52.

A third place finish ensued in 1953-54 as Jones continued to score the goals prior to the arrival of Jimmy McAlinden as manager. His team finished as runners-up in 1954-55 as well as suffering further Irish Cup heartbreak when they lost 3-0 to Dundela.

It was league second place again the following season before Glenavon became Northern Irish champions for a second time in 1956-57 before finishing as runners-up for two consecutive seasons. Title number three followed in 1959-60 with Jimmy Jones finishing as Irish League top scorer for a fifth time.

By this time Glenavon had also broken their Irish Cup hoodoo when the double was completed in 1956-57 with a 2-0 win against Derry City. A 2-0 replay win against Ballymena United followed in 1958-59 before a third triumph came in 1960-61 when Linfield were hammered 5-1.

This led to a third European appearance. The Cup Winners Cup pitted the Lurgan Blues against Leicester City before the golden side began to break up. Glenavon reached the 1964-65 Irish Cup final, losing 2-1 to Coleraine in a season that striker Dennis Guy shone.

McAlinden departed in 1968 as a series of managers, including hero Jones came and went before Alan Campbell led the Lurgan Blues to runners-up third place in the league in 1976-77 and then third a year later before he moved on to be replaced by Billy McClatchey.

McClatchey took the side to second place in his sole season of 1978-79 before being replaced by Billy Sinclair, whose side would be losing Irish Cup finalists in 1980-81, going down 1-0 with Ballymena United again Glenavon’s opponents.

Terry Nicholson took over as manager in 1982, taking his side to another Irish Cup final, where they were defeated 1-0 by Glentoran in 1987-88 which was followed by a league runners-up berth in 1989-90 which was backed up with the lifting of the League Cup with a 3-1 win against Newry Town.

Further disappointment arrived in the 1990-91 final which ended in a 2-1 loss to bitter rivals Portadown in the Mid-Ulster derby. Alan Fraser was appointed as manager prior to the new season, taking the team to Irish Cup glory in 1991-92 with a 2-1 win against Linfield.

Star forward Stephen McBride helped Glenavon to third place in 1993-94 when two late goals prevented a fourth league title. Nigel Best came in as manager in 1994 as the goals of Glenn Ferguson took the team to a league runners-up spot twelve months later.

A fifth Irish Cup triumph came in 1996-97 when Cliftonville were defeated 1-0 before going down to a solitary extra time goal to Glentoran the following season. Roy Walker was manager in 1999-00 when the team came in third in the Irish Premier League.

Colin Malone took over and led the side to league runners-up in 2000-01 who also were beaten finalists in the League Cup after a 1-0 defeat to Glentoran. However, Glenavon were relegated in bottom place in 2003-04 under new boss Alfie Wylie.

Tommy Kincaid took the team to First Division runners-up and then success in the play-off when goals from Garth Walsh and Aidan McVeigh were enough to beat Crusaders in the second leg to restore top flight status at the first attempt.

Malone had returned for a second spell in 2007-08 as Glenavon survived relegation after winning their play-off on penalties against Bangor. Former international Terry Cochrane had a brief spell in charge of the side before former striker McBride took over.

Marty Quinn had a spell as manager between 2009 and 2011 before being replaced by player-boss and international forward Gary Hamilton. Despite lowly league finishes Glenavon lifted the Irish Cup in 2013-14 when Ballymena United were defeated 2-1 with goals from Kyle Neill and Mark Patton.

The 2014-15 campaign saw the Lurgan Blues finish third in the league with goals being provided by Kevin Braniff and Eoin Bradley with the performance being repeated twelve months later. A sixth Irish Cup victory was also added in 2015-16 as goals from Braniff and Andy Hall were enough to defeat Linfield 2-0.

Click here to enjoy the highlights of the final.

Greg Moorhouse took over the scoring mantle as the club had a sustained spell of Europa League qualification which didn’t go beyond the first ties. Andrew Mitchell’s goals helped Glenavon to third place in the 2017-18 NIFL Premiership season.

It was third place again in 2018-19 with Stephen Murray getting among the goals before the team ended 2019-20 in fifth when the outbreak of Coronavirus ended the season early.

Glenavon will play in the NIFL Premiership in the 2020-21 season.

My visit

Wednesday 3rd February 2010

It was a very wintry day in Northern Ireland. I had been to Portadown as my first port of call and my next destination was the town of Lurgan. This is where Glenavon are based. Once again I had miscalculated my Google Map print and it proved more of a trek than I expected from the station. In fact I soon gave up on making the train I had intended afterwards so I could relax a little.

Mourneview Park was well worth the effort in visiting. Glenavon had been at home the previous evening and a member of staff was washing the kit. He told me to feel free to go inside the all seated ground. 

Like Portadown it had three good stands with the fourth side undeveloped although work did seem to be underway to complete Mourneview. The ground looked to be one of real substance and the club had obviously made use of the funding available to look to stage prestigious games in the future.

I was able to take my time back to the station and observe just how many pubs there were on the main street. I also noticed a prominent Celtic supporters club. It’s lovely to see people interested in the game. I just wish they’d give their local club a chance occasionally.

My next journey took me further back towards the capital where I alighted at Derriaghy and came across a club I'd never heard of as well as a trek to the home of Lisburn Distillery.