Warrenpoint Town F.C.

Warrenpoint Town
Full name Warrenpoint Town Football Club
Nickname(s) The Point
Founded 1987
Ground Milltown, Warrenpoint
Capacity 1,450 (100 seated)
Chairman John Bird
Manager Barry Gray
League NIFL Premiership
2013–14 11th

Warrenpoint Town Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club's home ground is Milltown, Warrenpoint.

History

The club was formed in 1987, and for the first 23 years of its existence played at regional league level. After being crowned champions of the Mid-Ulster Football League Intermediate A division in the 2009–10 season, the club was elected to Championship 2 for the first time by the Championship Committee. During their first season, they defeated Cliftonville 3–1 on penalties at Solitude in the fifth round of the 2010–11 Irish Cup - at the time, the biggest result in the club's history. It went on to become a very successful season for the club, as they adapted to the step-up to Championship 2 emphatically, winning the division by nine points and losing only one of the 30 games in the process. This secured their second consecutive promotion, elevating them to Championship 1, the second tier of Northern Irish football.

In their first season in Championship 1 they found the next step up more difficult to adapt to but still avoided relegation, finishing in 12th place - nine points clear of the relegation zone. At the start of the 2012–13 season the demise of Newry City allowed the club to inherit some of Newry's players - strengthening their squad substantially.[1] They eventually finished as runners-up, and qualified for the promotion play-off against Donegal Celtic, who had finished second-bottom in the Premiership. Warrenpoint won the tie on the away goals rule after it ended 2–2 on aggregate, to reach the top flight for the first time in the club's history.[2] This rounded off a very successful few years for the club, going from the Mid Ulster Football League Intermediate A division to the Premiership in only four seasons.

In their first season in the top flight, the club played their home fixtures at Dungannon Swifts' ground, Stangmore Park, until 30 November 2013 because their home ground did not meet Premiership criteria.[3] During this period the ground was upgraded to top flight standard.The clubs intension , if they retain top flight status they intend to leave Milltown and move to a larger stadium.

Honours

Intermediate honours

Current squad

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

No. Position Player
1 Northern Ireland GK Jonathan Parr
2 Northern Ireland DF Darren King
3 Republic of Ireland MF Conor McDonald (on loan from Dundalk)
4 Northern Ireland DF Jonathan Cowan
5 Republic of Ireland DF Dermot McVeigh
8 Northern Ireland MF Patrick Mooney
9 Northern Ireland FW Daniel Hughes
10 Northern Ireland FW Stephen Hughes
11 Republic of Ireland MF Stephen McCabe
12 Republic of Ireland MF Pádraig Smith
14 Republic of Ireland MF Ciarán Rooney
No. Position Player
15 Nigeria FW Samuel Osobe
16 Northern Ireland DF Liam Bagnall
17 Northern Ireland MF Mark Hughes
18 Northern Ireland DF Stephen Moan
19 Northern Ireland MF John McGuigan
21 Republic of Ireland DF John Boyle
22 Northern Ireland MF Ruairí Devlin
23 Northern Ireland FW Timmy Grant
24 Northern Ireland GK Martin Marron (On loan from Portadown)
25 Northern Ireland MF Marty Havern
27 Republic of Ireland FW Ciaran O'Connor (on loan from Dundalk)
28 Republic of Ireland FW Darren Forsyth

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Newry old boys out to make point". Belfast Telegraph. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2013.
  2. ↑ "Warrenpoint Town overcome Donegal Celtic in Premiership play-off". BBC Sport (BBC). 10 May 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  3. ↑ "Irish Premiership: Warrenpoint Town 2-1 Coleraine". BBC Sport. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.

Coordinates: 54°7′4.318″N 6°15′48.186″W / 54.11786611°N 6.26338500°W