Lisburn Distillery F.C.

Lisburn Distillery is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. The club, founded in 1880, originated in west Belfast, where it was based at Grosvenor Park at Distillery Street off the Grosvenor Road until 1971. After sharing Skegoneill Avenue (Brantwood) and Seaview (Crusaders) for some years the club moved in 1980 to a permanent new home at New Grosvenor Stadium, Ballyskeagh, County Down, on the southern outskirts of Belfast. The club was known as Distillery until 1999, when it changed its name to 'Lisburn Distillery' in an attempt to associate itself more closely with its adopted borough (now city) of Lisburn. The club colour is white.

History

Distillery in Belfast

Distillery's story begins with Robert Baxter. Baxter moved from Banbridge to Belfast's Grosvenor Street in 1878. A keen cricketer, he became friendly with some of the employees of the nearby Royal Irish Distillery and, in the summer of 1879, they formed the V.R. Distillery Cricket Club under his captaincy. By the end of 1880, the members of the cricket club decided to form a football club in order to stay active during the winter months: Distillery Football Club was born and held its first practice session on 20 November 1880.

The directors of Dunville's, especially James Barr, took great interest in the club from the start. They agreed to fill in a waste pond at the back of the distillery to make a ground for the team. The ground, Daisy Hill, was elevated several feet above sea level. Because it was filled in, it was soon known in the community under several nicknames such as 'Cinder Park' and 'Coke Yard'. On 11 December, Distillery F.C. played its first match there against Dundela, winning 1-0.

During the 1882-83 season, the team moved from Daisy Hill to a larger ground at Broadway. James Barr paid for the move of the club (including a new pavilion and changing facilities) from Broadway to Grosvenor Park, close to Daisy Hill. In 1923 Distillery moved to York Park as Dunville's decided to sell the Grosvenor Park ground. In 1929, however, the firm agreed to re-lease the ground back to the club in a generous gesture as the club's premises in York Park had been blown down in a gale and a deputation had asked for help. Further testament to the close link between the distillery and the club, another of Dunville's directors, Robert Grimshaw Dunville, donated a cup to the Irish Football Association in 1894 to be competed for by the major teams. Originally called the Dunville's Cup, this cup was later renamed the City Cup. Ironically, it wasn't until 1905 that Distillery would win its 'own' City Cup.

From winning their first piece of silverware, the Irish Cup, by beating Wellington Park 5-0 in April 1884, Distillery grew into a major football force in Ireland in the late 19th and the early part of the 20th century. Their first overseas foray was to Scotland in December 1884 and ended in a 0-4 defeat to Harp of Dundee. Five years later, they achieved a 2-1 win over the English club Newton Heath which, is now known as Manchester United.The club's finest hour in European competitions was undoubtedly the 3-3 draw at home in 1963 against the Portuguese club Benfica, certainly in those days among the strongest European club teams. Former England International Tom Finney came out of retirement to play for Distillery FC - it was the only time that he played in the European Cup in his illustrious career.

Move to Ballyskeagh

Distillery suffered during the Troubles. In 1971, a firebomb attack caused Grosvenor Park to burn down and the club was forced to vacate the grounds it had called home for most of its existence. Not only did the fire eliminate the grounds, it also destroyed most of the club's records. After sharing grounds with a number of clubs for almost a decade, Distillery found a new home ground at Ballyskeagh Road, in the borough of Lisburn, in 1980. To symbolise the club's rising from the flames, a new badge was designed featuring a phoenix on a football. This badge replaced the original simple white 'DFC' shield.

In 1995, Distillery was relegated to the newly-formed First Division. In 1999 they won the First Division Championship and with it promotion back to the Premier Division. Later that year, the club's name was officially changed to Lisburn Distillery and the 'rising phoenix' badge replaced with one incorporating Lisburn's coat of arms. Lisburn Distillery continue to compete in the Irish Premier Division (now IFA Premiership).

In 2008 the Whites played in the Intertoto Cup and played TPS Turku from Finland. TPS Turku won 6-3 on aggregate.

In July 2009, Lisburn Distillery played in the first round of the newly formed Europa League. They were drawn against FC Zestafoni from Georgia. On 2 July, Distillery played their home match at Mournview Park but walked away with a devastating 5-1 defeat. On 8 July, the Whites played their away match in Georgia. The outcome was not looking good for the Ballyskeagh men and their fate was sealed with a thrashing 6-0 defeat in Georgia. FC Zestafoni won 11-1 on aggregate and proceed into the 2nd round of the Europa League to play Helsingborg.

In April 2011, Lisburn Distillery won the Irish League Cup with a 2-1 final win over Portadown.

Managerial chaos

The club sacked its long-term manager Paul Kirk on 14 May 2009 after 14 years in charge. This was not a popular move among players or supporters. A threatened mass walk-out never materialised, although some players such as Curtis Allen did leave the club.

Jimmy Brown

Jimmy Brown was surprisingly appointed the new manager on 19 May 2009 returning to the club for his second spell of management. However his reign only lasted four months when on Friday 19 September, he left Lisburn Distillery following an awful run of games (in which the side had failed to win a solitary game) and heavy criticism from the fans. When asked to comment, Brown said "I do this with a heavy heart. I am not a quitter but the decision was taken in the best interests of the club." In eleven league matches and two UEFA Europa League games, Brown won no games, drew one and lost eleven during his tenure at the club.

Tommy Wright

Following a training session on Thursday 24 September, first team assistant coach Harry Fay had a meeting with chairman Jim McGrory and the Board to discuss becoming the new first team manager. However within 24 hours he opted to decline the offer and the following day former Northern Ireland International goalkeeper Tommy Wright was appointed to the role. The appointment of Wright proved to be inspired as the club made a miraculous recovery from being twelve points behind their nearest rivals Institute to eventually end the season some eight points clear of the drop zone. This was achieved by a remarkable eleven game end of season unbeaten run which meant that the season of 2009-10 would therefore become the one that will be celebrated by Lisburn Distillery supporters in future years as the season of "The Great Escape". Wright's remarkable transformation of the club continued in season 2010-11 as he, not only guided the club to a top half finish in the league table but also, on Saturday 2nd April 2011, won the clubs first silverware in eighteen years as they won the CIS League cup defeating Portadown 2-1 in the final at Mourneview Park, Lurgan. Wright resigned from the post after a training session on 1st November 2011, to take on the job of assisstant manager at St Johnstone.

Financial developments

As with other Northern Ireland semi-professional Clubs, Lisburn Distillery have struggled financially in recent years. Increased wages costs for players and staff, combined with regulatory and infra-structure costs imposed by IFA and UEFA, have placed increasing financial pressure on most of the football clubs participating in the IFA Premier League.

Chairman resigns

On 24 December 2009, Club Chairman Jim McGrory resigned and two other directors John Duffy and Thomas Beckett stood down from the Board of Directors. The reasons are unclear, but it is believed that the financial position of Lisburn Distllery FC has worsened in recent months, and that large debts, related to taxes and rates, are owed to various Statutory bodies. A general meeting of the shareholders has been scheduled for 7 January 2010 to discuss the Club's finances and future. On 26 February 2010, the Club and its Creditors agreed a Creditors Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), postponing the payment of existing Creditors for up to two years, pending a disposal of the Club's ground at Ballyskeagh.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Notable former players