Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds.
The club was formed in 1934 after the dissolution of Ballymena F.C., a club formed on 7 April 1928 when four local businessmen and football enthusiasts decided that the town of Ballymena needed a senior football team in the Irish League. Nicknamed the 'Braidmen' or 'Sky Blues', latterly because of the colour of the home shirts, United have won the Irish Cup five times. The main club rivals of Ballymena United are Coleraine. The annual Boxing Day derby fixture between the two teams attracts large crowds and is one of the high-profile fixtures in the Northern Irish football league calendar.
History Foundation and the War (1934–1946) Following the demise of Ballymena Football Club at the end of the 1933–34 season, a number of locals set about forming a new club in Ballymena with a view to seeking admission to the Irish League as Ballymena's replacement. Crusaders were also applicants for the vacancy, but at the league's annual general meeting on 20 June 1934, the new club known as Ballymena United was chosen unanimously.
The new club took appointed a manager - which was a departure from the previous practice of team selection by committee. The club's first manager, Joe Millar, had arrived from Bournemouth & Boscombe and had previously been capped for Ireland. He used his contacts in Scotland to bring a number of Scottish players to the Showgrounds. However, despite these new players and an Irish Cup semi-final appearance, United suffered in their first season finishing tenth in the league. The 1934–35 season also saw the introduction of the reserve side.
In the 1935–36 season, the club finished tenth in the league table and failed to progress in the majority of the cup competitions. Ahead of the 1936–37 season, Jock McNinch left for Sligo Rovers. McNinch left the club after 315 games and was the last remaining link to the 'old' Ballymena side. During the summer, his contribution to the club was recognised when the club granted him a testimonial, the first such gesture by United.
Ballymena United finished bottom of the Irish League for the first time, after managing only four league wins over the course of the season. An Irish Cup run to the semi-final stage, before elimination to Belfast Celtic was the only cheer for the club. They carried this poor form into the following season when they suffered a record defeat to Derry City (1–9) and lost the next six games before the board appointed Steve Mitchell as player-manager. Mitchell turned things around as Ballymena won 14 of their next 17 games. Despite their championship form, they rose from bottom to fifth in the table, 8 points behind eventual winners Belfast Celtic. The club also made their first appearance in the final of the County Antrim Shield though lost 3–2 to Linfield.
This run of confidence ran all the way through to the following season, as Ballymena United nearly completed a double of the Irish League and Irish Cup – eventually finishing runners-up in both competitions. Finishing five points behind Belfast Celtic in the league race and a fourth Irish Cup final saw a third defeat to Linfield in the final, this time a 2–0 defeat at Solitude. However, one year on, Ballymena United went one better by lifting the 1940 Irish Cup after a 2–0 win over Glenavon. This was the last 'proper' Irish Cup before province wide football was suspended due to World War II. United did not play again until the 1946–47 season. The club withdrew from the Irish League shortly after the end of the season when the Showgrounds was taken over to assist the war effort.
Post-war United (1946–1957) Even though World War II ended in time for the commencement of the 1945–46 season, it was not until the following term that Ballymena United made their comeback into the Irish League. Home friendlies early in 1946 were arranged against Belfast Celtic and Linfield but both were cancelled because the Showgrounds complex was not ready following the removal of the troops who were stationed there.
A new manager, Billy Reid, was appointed on 1 May but only lasted until late October, resigning after citing he could not devote enough time to the job and control of team affairs went back to committee. United made a comeback on 17 August 1946 with a 2–1 home victory in the Gold Cup against Distillery. The Braidmen joined the Irish Regional League in its final season before the return of the Irish League the following season and finished sixth. The Sky Blues did suffer their heaviest ever defeat during the Regional League campaign, losing 10–1 to Belfast Celtic. Ballymena United began the 1947–48 season with a new manager, Bob McKay, who was promoted from his role last season as chief scout and had previously been in charge of Dundee United. McKay guided Ballymena United to third place in the Irish League. Despite a first round exit to Linfield in the Irish Cup, the game attracted a record crowd of 9,067 which afterwards saw the transfer of Frankie Houghton to Newcastle United for £6,000 – which was quite a considerable sum back then.
April 1948 saw United play their first competitive game outside Northern Ireland when they travelled to Dublin to play Shelbourne in the Inter-City Cup, a game which Ballymena lost 1–0 but progressed to the quarterfinals after winning the first leg 4–1 – this set up a clash with Shamrock Rovers who won the tie 8–3 on aggregate. The season did not end trophyless as a 2–1 victory over Linfield in May 1948 brought the County Antrim Shield to the Ballymena Showgrounds for the first time in the club's history – that game saw the competitive debut of Eric Trevorrow, a 20-year-old signing from Glasgow junior club, Parkhead Juniors.
The following season began with some optimism after the success of the previous campaign. However, Ballymena finished tenth in the Irish League and failed to make headway in any of the cup competitions. This ultimately cost Bob McKay his job in May 1949 during an AGM in which McKay berated the board for interference with his team selections. Norman Kernaghan took over as player-manager and after a moderate first season he finished his second campaign as Irish Cup finalists and County Antrim Shield winners in 1950–51 – beating Cliftonville in the final.
For the second successive season, Ballymena lifted a piece of silverware – one of only two occasions this has occurred – as Ballymena United lifted the Festival of Britain Cup after beating Crusaders 3–0 in the final in May 1952. The competition took the place of the Ulster Cup for one year as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations to mark the end of the war and the revival of Britain. The Sky Blues finished sixth in the race for the Gibson Cup and defender Eric Trevorrow was given the honour of being named Ulster Footballer of the Year by the Castlereagh Glentoran Supporters Club.
A third-place finish that season had many believing that United would pick up where they left off, becoming the biggest provincial side in the country; Having been the first team outside Belfast to win the County Antrim Shield. However, a series of poor seasons was stopped in 1951 with the club's second County Antrim Shield – beating Cliftonville 2–0.
Despite the fact that the Irish League had not left Celtic Park between 1936 and 1948; Belfast Celtic was forced to leave the Irish League and Ballymena benefited by grabbing some of their players, including a new player-manager Billy McMillan. McMillan was replaced by Walter Rickett after two seasons. United reached the Irish Cup Final in 1951, only to be beaten by Glentoran 3–1 at Windsor Park, with their only goal coming from Currie.
The following season, Ballymena United won the Festival of Britain Cup, beating Crusaders 3–0 at Solitude. The one-off competition was played in 1952 to coincide with the Festival celebrations throughout Great Britain, and the trophy still resides at the Showgrounds.
However, after this victory, United went through another unsuccessful period in the mid-1950s and finished bottom of the league twice. In 1955, the club was forced to launch an appeal to clear its mounting debts – the Ballymena people responded – debts were paid, and a small amount was left over to go into the club's coffers.
New beginning (1957–1969) In 1957, Scottish born Alex McCrae took over as player-manager of Ballymena United – he had been an inside-forward for Charlton Athletic and Middlesbrough in his playing days. He brought instant success to the Braid, as Ballymena finished third and won the Irish Cup in 1957–58. The 1958 Irish Cup winning team beat Jackie Milburn's Linfield in the final – with McGhee and Russell scoring the goals in a 2–0 win at the Oval in front of 24,000 spectators.
The next year the team also reached the Irish Cup final (their eighth final); the Sky Blues were expected to beat Glenavon in a Windsor Park final. However, United failed to beat Glenavon, only drawing 1–1 and were defeated 2–0 in the replay.
The former Liverpool player, Geoff Twentyman, then came along as manager and brought the Ulster Cup to the Showgrounds in 1960 with a 3–1 win over Glenavon. Barr grabbed two final goals while McKinstry picked up the other. The following season, the Sky Blues were only two points away from winning the Irish League for the first time – finishing third in 1961–62.
Twentyman's success did not continue, and he was replaced in time by George Smith, Dave Hickson, Alex Parker, and Dave Hickson again. However, manager after manager failed, as the Braidmen constantly finished mid-table in the Irish League, with only one trophy in the 1960s. McCrae was then brought back to end another period of failure at the Warden Street Showgrounds.
Rollercoaster seventies (1970–1978) The club reached an Irish Cup Final in 1970, which United lost 2–1 to Linfield at Solitude. This was Linfield's last game at Solitude for over a quarter of a century, due to civil unrest. It was also the first Irish Cup Final with substitutes – Nicholl filled that role for United.
Next came a "colourful" time in United's history as Scottish-born Sammy Frickelton appeared at the Showgrounds to the delight of many fans.
Teenage goalkeeper Jim Platt was transferred to Middlesbrough (where he won 21 caps for Northern Ireland) for £7,000 and Ballymena Council purchased the Showgrounds. United was now under the charge of Arthur Stewart (as McCrae mysteriously resigned after a board member complained about his wages) as player/manager. United were involved in the incident which led to Derry City's expulsion from the Irish League as their bus was burnt on a visit to the Brandywell during the height of the troubles in the province.
On the field Jimmy Martin was a key player as his goals brought United's best performance in the Texaco Cup – where the Sky Blues lost to Scottish side Airdieonians at the semi-final stage 1972, who went on to lose to Derby County in the final. United picked up the City Cup in 1971 for the only time in their history; Bobby Averill scored the goal as the Sky Blues picked up a long overdue trophy against Ards at the Oval.f
In 1974 that same club beat United in the Irish Cup Final at Windsor Park. John Sloan scored but Ards ran out 2–1 winners. However, United won the Gold Cup – beating Glentoran 3–2 with Quentin McFall, Dessie Orr and Jimmy Brown scoring for the Sky Blues for the first and only time in the competition's history.