Moyola Park F.C.

Moyola Park

Full name	Moyola Park Association Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Park
Founded	1880
Ground	Mill Meadow, Castledawson (Capacity: 200 Seated)
Chairman	Steven Ewing
Manager	Mervyn Pattison
League	IFA Championship 2
2010/11	15th

Moyola Park Association Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in IFA Championship 2. The club, founded in 1880, hails from Castledawson, near Magherafelt, County Londonderry, and plays its home matches at the Mill Meadow, which has an artificial "3G" surface.^[1] Until the 2008/09 season, its home was the eponymous Moyola Park, but at the start of 2009/10 it used Coagh United's Hagan Park while its current ground was under construction.^[2][3] The first match at the new ground was on 16 January 2010 against Lurgan Celtic.^[4]

Moyola Park also have a Co-operative Insurance Football Skills Development Centre as well as the following teams: Under 10, Under 12, Under 14, Under 16, Ladies Team and Moyola Park Olympic and the club colours are royal blue and yellow.

The club won the inaugural Irish Cup.

Honours

Senior honours

• Irish Cup: 1
  • 1880/81

Intermediate honours

• Irish League Second Division: 1
  • 2001/02
• B Division Knock-out Cup: 1
  • 1999/2000
• Craig Memorial Cup: 6
  • 1981/82, 2000/01, 2001/02, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2006/07

Junior honours

• Irish Junior Cup: 1
  • 1972/73, 1973/74

History

Moyola Park was formed during season 1879/80 under the patronage of Lord Spencer Chichester, the landlord of the Moyola Park estate. The first recorded game was a friendly at home against Cliftonville, on 14 February 1880, in which the visitors recorded a 3-0 victory. Lord Spencer Chichester was the inaugural president of the Irish Football Association, which was formed in November 1880. On 9 April 1881, Moyola Park became the first winners of the Irish Cup, defeating Cliftonville by 1-0 in the final.^[5]

After those prestigious early days the club became less prominent and did not become a senior club, playing as a junior club outside the Irish League. In the early years of the twentieth century, the club played in a local league in south Londonderry and it continued to do so until the Second World War, with the exception of season 1929/1930 during which the club participated in the Belfast-based Minor League. After the war, Moyola Park was a founding member of the Ballymena and District Junior League in 1948/1949, where it played until season 1977/1978 (with the exception of 1950/1951, when it participated in the Irish Football Alliance). During this time, the club won the league championship outright on five occasions: 1948/1949, 1949/1950, 1973/1974, 1976/1977, 1977/1978, and shared the championship in 1959/1960 with Ballymoney United. The club also won the Irish Junior Cup in 1972/1973 and 1973/1974.^[5]

In 1978, the club was elevated to intermediate status upon joining the newly-established Northern Ireland Intermediate League. In 1991, Moyola Park gained admission to the Irish League B Division. A successful spell under manager Kenny Shiels saw the club win the Smirnoff Cup (1999/2000) and the Craig Memorial Cup (2000/01), and finished as runners-up in the (renamed) Second Division (2000/01) and Irish Intermediate Cup. The club’s greatest modern success followed in 2001/02 when, under new manager Eric Halliday, Moyola Park won the Second Division title (as well as retaining the Craig Memorial Cup.^[5]

References

1. ^ http://www.sportni.net/MoyolaParkAssociationFootballClub.htm
2. ^ Sport Northern Ireland, £1.9m facility for Moyola Association Football Club
3. ^ Strabane Chronicle, 15-10-2009, Impressive Dergview move up to third slot
4. ^ Moyola Park open Mill Meadow
5. ^ ^{a b c} Moyola Park Association Football Club - A Potted History

External links

• Moyola Park FC Website
• Irish Premier League Website
• Irish Football Club Project
• Irish FA Website
• Irish League Forums
• nifootball.co.uk (fixtures, results and tables of all leagues)