Limavady United F.C.
Limavady United F.C. is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in IFA Championship 1. The club, which comes from Limavady, County Londonderry, was formed in 1884 when Alexander F.C. (formed in 1880 by the Alexander Cricket Club, which itself was formed some time before 1880 (usually claimed to be 1876)) amalgamated with another local club The Wanderers. Alexander had been a founder member of the Irish Football Association in 1880, contributing to the purchase of the original Irish Cup. The club currently plays its home matches at The Showgrounds.
Club colours are royal blue shirts with white trim, blue socks and white shorts. Their current manager is David Platt who replaced caretaker Willie McConachie in July 2011. Recently managed by Oran Kearney, Jim McGroarty, Liam Beckett. Ollie Mullan, John Cunningham, Paul Kee,and Tommy Wright (ex N.Ireland International, Newcastle United and Manchester City goalkeeper). Nicknamed "The Roesiders" or "The Lims", in 1885 and 1886 the club reached consecutive Irish Cup Finals, losing both to Distillery - the first 3-0 and the second 1-0. After a protest by Limavady in 1886 the result was confirmed, but medals were withheld from both teams in spite of a challenge in the High Court by a Distillery player . The club provided seven internationals to the Irish national team. They were James Allen (1 cap v England 1886-7); Nathaniel Brown ( 1 v England 1886-7); Oliver Devine (4 v England and Scotland 1885-6 Wales 1886-7, and 1887-8); George Forbes ( 1 v Wales 1887-8); Tom McLean (1 v Scotland 1884-5); James Rankin (2 v England and Wales 1882-3); Joe Sherrard (3 v Scotland 1884-5, Wales 1886-7 and 1887-8). Limavady famously travelled to Liverpool in 1886, and defeated Everton F.C. 1-0. After a long time as a junior team, Limavady joined the senior Irish Football League in 1997-98, and reached its first Irish Cup semi-final in over a century in 2004-05. In 2008, the club lost its senior status when it failed to gain admission to the new IFA Premiership.
Carlos Tevez loan
In September 2011 the club vice chairman, David Brewster issued a fax to Manchester City offering to take Argentinian International, Carlos Tevez on loan after the player had refused to go on as a substitute in a Champions League fixture. The club offer suggested that they would ensure Tevez stayed match fit and would avoid being cup tied at Limavady but asked that City continued to pay his reported £200,000 per week wages, a figure higher than Limavady's entire turnover for a year.
The offer, although meant as tongue in cheek became global headline news with some news agencies believing the offer to be a serious one. The story gained the club brief worldwide recognition although Manchester City themselves did not respond.[1]
Celebrity fans
Limavady United rarely attract more than one hundred spectators at their games but the BBC's Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson attended a game in October 2011 as a guest of the club.
Honours
Senior honours
Intermediate honours
Junior honours
- North West City Cup: 3
- 1923/24, 1960/61, 1966/67
- North West Junior League: 1
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. |
|
Position |
Player=|pos=FW|nat=Ireland|name=Seamus O'Connor}} |
|
|
GK |
Lawrence McCormick
{{Fs player|no=|pos=DF|nat=|name=Jason Blackburn}
|
|
|
DF |
Michael Walsh |
|
|
MF |
Lee Harkin |
|
|
DF |
Gareth McConachie |
|
|
MF |
Ruairi McClean |
|
|
DF |
Stuart Moore |
|
|
FW |
Declan Divin |
|
|
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
|
|
DF |
Kevin Roddy |
|
|
MF |
Lee Patrick |
|
|
MF |
Colin Logue |
|
|
MF |
Adam Clarke |
|
|
MF |
Paul McLaughlin |
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|
MF |
Cathair Friel |
|
|
FW |
Trevor Hutchinson |
|
|
FW |
Trevor Parkhill |
|
External links
References
Belfast News-Letter, 12 October 1880