Portadown (Northern Ireland)

Portadown FC is a semi-professional football club from the town of the same name in County Armagh, Northern Ireland located just over twenty miles south east of Belfast, that was formed in 1887.

Initially 'The Ports' began life as a ‘junior’ non-league club primarily to compete in the Mid-Ulster Cup with matches taking place at Tavanagh, Ripley's Field, Armagh Road and Old Shamrock Park near to where Clounagh Junior High School is now located.

The Irish Junior Cup was lifted in 1898-99 as Larne were defeated at Grosvenor Park along with the Mid-Ulster Cup on a couple of occasions. The club was admitted into the Irish Intermediate League before the competition was abandoned owing to War.

The junior set up was strong locally, with Portadown competing with several other clubs. Official and visionary, William A. Mullen pushed for the club to be admitted into the Irish League, with their bid gaining success when it was expanded in 1924 after moving into Shamrock Park.

The team consolidated in their new surroundings before winning the now defunct Gold Cup on three occasions as local support grew. The latter of the victories came after Tommy Sloan had been appointed as manager in 1932.

Hugh Bullough took over as manager after World War II as Walter Allen finished joint league top scorer in 1951-52. Several managers had short spells in charge prior to the appointment of the popular Gibby Mackenzie in 1957.

Portadown would have been crowned as league champions in 1960-61 but for Albert Mitchell missing a decisive penalty against Glentoran. It was the runners-up spot the following season with Ports also finishing as losing finalists to Linfield in the Irish Cup.

Ports continued their form with a third place league finish in 1962-63 before Wilbur Cush took over as manager who took charge from 1963 to 1966 before he was replaced by Jim Conway. Mackenzie returned at the helm three years later.

His side went down 2-1 to Coleraine in the 1971-72 Irish Cup final before narrowly missing out on their first Irish League title, finishing just behind the same opponents in 1973-74 before Martin Malone topped the league scoring charts twelve months later.

Bertie Neil had taken over team affairs when Ports lost a third Irish Cup final, this time against Cliftonville in 1978-79. Jackie Hutton was the next managerial appointment in 1980 before he was replaced by John Flanagan and then Terry Kingon before the arrival of Ronnie McFall in December 1986.

The new man, a former left back at the club, set about rebuilding the squad on a road which would see him become Portadown’s most successful manager over a remarkable thirty years at the helm.

Ports went down 1-0 to Coleraine in the League Cup final in 1987-88 before McFall’s side were crowned as Northern Irish champions in 1989-90 as well as being denied the double after a 3-0 defeat to Glentoran in the Cup final.

However, not to be denied, Portadown won the Irish Cup at the fifth time of asking in 1990-91 as local rivals Glenavon were defeated 2-1 at Windsor Park. Ports also retained their league title to complete the double.

The two league triumphs gave Portadown a taste of European Cup football, where they went out to illustrious rivals FC Porto and Red Star Belgrade. The team were denied a hattrick of league titles when finishing runners-up in 1991-92.

Steve Cowan was putting the goals away as Ports went on to face Standard Liège and then Slovan Bratislava in subsequent UEFA Cup forays with another league second place arriving at Shamrock Park in 1993-94.

Gary Haylock and Sandy Fraser played starring roles as Portadown became national champions for a third time in 1995-96. The League Cup was added following a 2-1 win against Crusaders.

The team was gradually rebuilt after the success with the signing of striker Vinny Arkins from Notts County a masterstroke as he scored regularly for the next few seasons as he played alongside the likes of long serving keeper Mickey Keenan and defenders Alfie Stewart and Brian Strain.

Philip Major and Kyle Neill were also significant in the process as Ports were awarded the Irish Cup in 1998-99 in controversial circumstances. Final opponents Cliftonville were kicked out for fielding an ineligible player in their semi-final win, giving Portadown had a walkover win.

The team reached the Cup final again the following season but went down 1-0 to Glentoran prior to Ports being crowned league champions again in 2001-02 as well as losing out in the Irish Cup final following a 2-1 defeat to Linfield.

Portadown ended as league runners-up in 2003-04 before hammering Larne 5-1 a year later to lift the Irish Cup when an Arkins brace was added to by goals from Darren Kelly, John Convery and Marc McCann.

A couple of third place league finishes also came in 2004-05 and 2005-06 before the club disastrously put in their application for the reformed IFA Premiership less than an hour late. The authorities refused to relent as Portadown were relegated to the IFA Championship.

McFall rallied his troops who won the title and promotion at the first attempt as well as lifting the League Cup as a Gary McCutcheon goal was enough to see off Newry City. Ports reached the 2009-10 Irish Cup final where they went down 2-1 to Linfield.

Nevertheless, the run led to qualification to the following seasons Europa League where Ports went on to defeat Skonto Riga of Latvia before FC Qarabagh of Azerbaijan knocked them out in the next round.

Matthew Tipton led the forward line as Ports re-consolidated themselves as a top flight club finishing as runners-up in 2011-12 prior to his departure when he was replaced up front by Gary Twigg alongside Darren Murray.

Portadown reached another Irish Cup final in 2014-15 which had to be moved to The Oval, the home of opponents Glentoran after the Kop Stand at Windsor Park suffered structural damage. Ports lost the match 1-0 to a controversial goal.

The following season saw fans question and protest at McFall’s position as manager. McFall eventually resigned after a Cup quarter final defeat to end his thirty year reign. Former defender Pat McGibbon was appointed as his replacement as Ports avoided relegation.

Portadown were relegated in bottom place in 2016-17 with McGibbon being sacked and then replaced for an interim period by former favourite Arkins prior to the appointment of local man Niall Currie halfway through the season.

Another former striker, Matthew Tipton came in as manager in February 2018. His side finished the 2018-19 campaign in the play-offs where Ports lost to Carrick Rangers. The team were promoted as champions in 2019-20 when the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season early.

Portadown FC will play in the NIFL Premiership in the 2020-21 season. 

My visit

Wednesday 3rd February 2010

I was in Northern Ireland to watch some football and visit as many grounds as I could for a couple of days, up early and across to Great Victoria Street station in Belfast. I purchased a ticket from the station which offered me unlimited travel in Northern Ireland for the day for £15 the day as the weather was getting bleaker as the forty minute train journey progressed.

I quickly realised I had misread the scale of the map. When would I ever learn? I was soon lost in the market town as the snow fell heavier by the minute. A postman put me on the right road to Shamrock Park, which was locked up and looking pretty secure.

I walked around to the Main Stand where a gent was coming out. I asked if I could have a look inside, and he couldn’t have been more helpful. I told him I'd watched Ports the previous evening lose their grasp on the League Cup, a competition of which they were the holders and the gent said it had been a very disappointing performance on the night. 

He also explained that a lot of the animosity between the clubs at the game was caused by the way Glens had treated the legendary Ronnie McFall when he had a spell with them.

He took me down the tunnel and onto the track surrounding the pitch. It was obvious that much money had been spent on upgrading Shamrock Park. The Grandstand was a decent structure with a small terracing at the front. To the right stood the new Chalet End Stand. Opposite was the new MET Steel Stand. 

It was a full length seated stand. When this was built the pitch was realigned towards the two newest stands and onto the old track. The end to the left was open land which is used for training. My friend told me that plans were being proposed to replace the Grandstand.

All the work was obviously paying off as Shamrock Park became a venue which can be used for underage Northern Ireland matches such as under 21 and under 19.

I took my photos of the impressive arena and asked my mate if he knew the bus times back to the station as I was on a reasonably tight schedule. He insisted on going out of his way and giving me a lift. We had a good chat about the game in the province. 

He seemed dismayed that even though the league was receiving its greatest ever media coverage and stadiums were being updated all the time, there were still more fans left to go to the mainland every matchday than attended Irish League football. I sympathised greatly, especially bearing in mind all the efforts that clubs such as Ports have put in.

I made my train with time to spare thanks to my helpful aide to go to my next destination, Glenavon of Lurgan.