Dungannon Swifts F.C.

Dungannon Swifts
Full name Dungannon Swifts Football Club
Nickname(s) The Swifts
Founded 1949
Ground Stangmore Park
Ground Capacity 5,000 (350 seated)[1]
Chairman Keith Boyd
Manager Rodney McAree
League NIFL Premiership
2015–16 NIFL Premiership, 7th

Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish, semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the Irish League First Division in 1997. Dungannon earned promotion from Irish League First Division to the Premier Division in the 2002–03 season.

The Swifts hail from Dungannon, County Tyrone and plays their home matches at Stangmore Park. Club colours are royal blue with white trim (home strip) and yellow with a red trim (away strip).

Dungannon have a mentality of developing future players from their youth system and deploying them into the first team at a relatively young age.[2][3][4] The clubs' current manager is Rodney McAree, following the resignation of Darren Murphy on 24 October 2015, after over 3 years in charge.

Club history

Club formation

The history of Dungannon Swifts Football Club began in 1949 with the formation of the club. The names of the founder committee members include Thomas Neill, Jimmy Sands, Maurice Graham, Alfred Burnett, Albert Kelly, George Richards, Albert Watt, Joe Meldrum Snr., Jack Fowler, John Martin and Ben Clarke.

The early years

In the 1949–50 season, the Swifts won the Mid Ulster Shield on their first attempt. The Swifts defeated Portadown Juniors 3–0 at Shamrock Park. The goalscorers were Johnson (1) and Neill (2). The remainder of the side included Blair, Carson, Pierson, Lynn, Gallery, Rice, Farrell and Henry. Seven of which were local players.[5]

The club also entered the Irish Junior Cup, at the 2nd Round stage. However a disjointed display; a man short for part of the game, from the newly formed side resulted in a 3–1 loss to Armagh Whites, in a match held at Beechvalley Park, Dungannon. With a first half equalizer scored by S. Stewart.[6]

The following season, the Swifts made their entry into the Mid Ulster League. In the same season they made it through to the Alexander Cup, Foster Cup and Mid Ulster Shield where they landed runners up in each.

A league title followed in the 1951–52 season; a season in which they also finished runners-up in the Irish Junior cup - after a replay. And a league and shield double in 1955–56.

The Club also spent a number of Seasons in the Irish Junior Alliance League from the late Fifties[7] until the league folded in the early sixties, which resulted in a return to the Mid Ulster League.

Admission into the Alliance was ratified in an I.F.A. meeting held on 26 July 1957. (It was hoped that by entering this higher grade of football; with teams being classified at Intermediate level, that it would eventually lead to entry into Irish League football.) The Swifts then began to assemble a team that would be able to compete in the Alliance League, for the forthcoming season (1957–58). A 2nd XI was formed, which entered into the Mid-Ulster League.[8]

Promotion to B Division

After twenty years in the Mid Ulster League, in 1972 the Swifts were promoted to the Irish League B Division where they managed a comfortable 4th spot in their first season.

Stangmore Park

1975 saw Stangmore Park become the official home of the Dungannon Swifts Football Club when they bought the land from Courtaulds Ltd and erected a temporary wooden Social Club. The stadium holds around 3,000 people

Continued success

In the 1980–81 season the team had one of their most successful years ever and were crowned runners up in the B Division championship. The Swifts continued to show their dominance in the Bob Radcliffe Cup over the years but the 1987–88 season showed their skills in the senior Mid-Ulster Cup when they defeated Glenavon 2–1 to bring the trophy to Stangmore Park.

In August 1982, Dungannon Swifts officially unveiled their brand new club house. The purpose built construction replaced the old wooden club house and would provide an ideal environment for club and social affairs such as bingo, dances and dinners.

19:57, Friday 25 August 1995[9]

Stangmore Park was the scene of the tragic death of Dundela’s veteran captain Michael Goddard, in a ‘B’ Division clash between the sides, on Goddard's birthday. The 38 year old collapsed 28 minutes into the game; suffering Commotio Cordis,[10] after being struck on the chest by the ball, blocking a cross, in his own area. Despite the efforts of physios and paramedics he was unable to be revived.

He left behind a wife and two young children. A memorial match was held at Wilgar Park on Monday, 27 May 1996; between a Dundela/Glentoran Select v. Dungannon Swifts/Linfield Select, in tribute.

Senior status

In 1997, Dungannon Swifts achieved senior status on its election to the Irish League First Division.

Promotion to Irish Premier League

The Club reached the top tier of Northern Irish Football; for the first time in their history, after being crowned champions of Division 1 in the 2002–03 season. This earned them promotion to the newly formed and extended 16 team Irish Premier League. Also manager Joe McAree was presented the First Division Manager of the Year award. The season is also notable for the 12–1 home victory against Carrick Rangers on 21 December 2002. This was the biggest post war victory in the Irish League and the highest number of goals in the local game for over a century.[11]

The club finished a respectable 10th position in their first season.

Gary Bownes

The 26 year old former Ballinamallard United striker died under tragic circumstances during the 2005 close season. He had been the clubs’ top goalscorer during his debut season; with 15 goals, earning the club their highest Premier League finish. He was also the Swifts first winner of the Harp player of the month award in March 2005.[12]

An annual pre-season Memorial Cup match between the Swifts and Ballinamallard was held up until 2015; in his memory, raising money for charity.[13]

Setanta Cup

Dungannon Swifts qualified for the 2006 Setanta Sports Cup by finishing 4th in the Irish Premier League during the 2004/05 season. This success also earned Joe McAree the Manager of the year award. In the competition, Dungannon were drawn in a group with Cork City, Drogheda United and Portadown[14] and failed to qualify for the semi-finals as Cork and Drogheda grabbed the top two places. Drogheda United would later win the tournament, beating Cork City in the final.

The club also qualified for the 2007 Setanta Sports Cup. However they failed to progress to the Semi Finals from their group, despite being undefeated in their home games.

Their most recent appearance was in the 2008 Setanta Sports Cup. However a disappointing campaign ended with only one draw, drawing a blank in four consecutive games,[15] behind eventual winners Cork City, holders Drogheda United and Cliftonville.[16]

Intertoto Cup

The club qualified for its first European games by finishing 4th in the Irish Premier League during the 2005–06 season.[17] They played Icelandic club Knattspyrnudeild Keflavík in the First Round of the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup. However, they lost 4–1; with the away goal scored by Swifts stalwart Johnny Montgomery,[18] in Iceland and could not make up the deficit in the home game; drawing 0–0 at Mournview Park in Lurgan, leading to elimination at the very first stage of the tournament.

Irish Cup Final 2007[19]

The Club; managed at the time by Harry Fay, reached their first Irish Cup final in the 2006–07 season. They played league Champions Linfield at Windsor Park on 05/05/2007. Linfield took an early lead, before an equaliser by Rory Hamill. Linfield again took the lead through Glenn Ferguson, but the Swifts equalised shortly afterwards through a Rodney McAree free kick. The game was level 2–2 at the break. No further goals were scored in the second half, taking the game into extra time. Despite Linfield dominance in extra time they failed to break the deadlock taking the Irish Cup final into penalties, for the first time. Both teams failed to score from their first two spot kicks. Linfield then converted their next three, with replies from Montgomery and McAree to make the score 3–2. The decisive kick was saved by the Linfield keeper from McAllister, to secure Linfield a successive League and Cup double.

UEFA Cup

Despite their Cup final Defeat, the club qualified for the 2007–08 UEFA Cup as Irish Cup runners-up. They faced Lithuanian A Lyga runners up FK Sūduva Marijampolė in the First Qualifying Round. The 1st Leg was played on 19 July 2007 at Windsor Park, Belfast. A first half goal by Mark McAllister gave the Swifts a 1–0 advantage going into the away leg.[20] The 2nd Leg was played on 02/08/2007, at the Sūduva Stadium in Lithuania. Suduva drew level on aggregate in the first half. And despite having a man sent off with the tie level, a second half hat-trick by Andrius Urbsys meant the Lithuanian side won 4–0 on the night and 4–1 on aggregate.[21]

Honours

Senior honours

Intermediate honours

† Won by reserve team

Junior 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 Andy Coleman
3 Northern Ireland DF Chris Hegarty
4 Northern Ireland DF Dougie Wilson
5 Northern Ireland MF David Armstrong
6 Northern Ireland DF Terry Fitzpatrick
7 Northern Ireland MF Jamie Glackin
8 Northern Ireland MF Matthew Hazley
9 Northern Ireland FW Andrew Mitchell
10 Northern Ireland MF Ryan Harpur
11 Northern Ireland FW Alan Teggart
12 Northern Ireland MF Jarlath O'Rourke
No. Position Player
14 Northern Ireland DF Andrew Burns
15 Northern Ireland MF Kris Lowe
16 Northern Ireland MF Seanan Clucas
18 Northern Ireland GK Stuart Addis
19 Northern Ireland MF Cormac Burke
20 Northern Ireland FW Paul McElroy
22 Northern Ireland DF Dermot McCaffrey
23 Northern Ireland FW Stefan Lavery
24 Northern Ireland DF Ryan Mullan
25 Northern Ireland MF Ruari McDonald
29 Republic of Ireland MF Peter McMahon

Club staff

Current role Name
President David Flack
Chairman Keith Boyd
Treasurer Gillian McConnell
Secretary Simon Graham
Bar manager Michelle Hegarty
Youth development officer Rodney McAree
General manager Joe McAree

Notable former players

Managers

Chairmen

References

  1. ↑ "Football Ground Guide: Stangmore Park". footballgroundguide.com. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  2. ↑ Rutherford, Adrian (2013-12-31). "MBE award 'humbling' for former Dungannon Swifts boss Joe McAree". Belfast Telegraph.
  3. ↑ Hughes, Kevin (2014-01-15). "Dungannon Swifts legend Joe McAree honoured by MBE". Tyrone Times.
  4. ↑ "People Focus: Dungannon Swifts' Kris Lowe "Working on a Dream"". Tyrone Life. 2016-03-27.
  5. ↑ "Dungannon Swifts Great Victory [Mid Ulster Shield back to Tyrone]". The Courier & News. 1950-05-18.
  6. ↑ "Irish Junior Cup - 2nd Round". The Tyrone Courier & Dungannon News. Oct 1949.
  7. 1 2 3 "MELDRUM REFLECTS ON MAGICAL CAREER". News Letter. 2000-03-06.
  8. ↑ Tyrone Courier and Dungannon News, 1957, various editions.
  9. ↑ "Soccer match tragedy". The Courier & News. 1995-08-30.
  10. ↑ Higgins, John P.; Andino, Aldo (2013). "Soccer and Sudden Cardiac Death in Young Competitive Athletes: A Review". Hindawi Publishing Corporation. Journal of Sports Medicine. 967183.
  11. ↑ "Swifts in goal rampage". BBC Sport. 2002-12-21.
  12. ↑ Morris, Jake; Fullerton, Darren (2005-06-27). "Mystery death of soccer player.". The Free Library by Farlex. The Mirror.
  13. ↑ "Gary Bownes game with an added twist kick starts season". The Impartial Reporter.
  14. ↑ "Derry face Big Two in Setanta Cup". BBC Sport. 2006-12-07.
  15. ↑ "Good 'News' for Mallards". League of Ireland History. 2014-02-24.
  16. ↑ "Drogheda United 3-0 Dungannon Swifts". RTE Sport.
  17. ↑ "Dungannon secure Intertoto place". BBC Sport. 2006-04-24.
  18. ↑ "O'Neill and Montgomery leave Swifts". Ulster Herald. 2013-07-09.
  19. ↑ "Linfield win cup after shoot-out". BBC. 2007-05-05.
  20. ↑ "Dungannon Swifts 1-0 FK Suduva". BBC. 2007-07-19.
  21. ↑ Hughes, Kevin (2007-08-03). "Football: A SUD END FOR SWIFTS; UEFA CUP: FK Suduva 4 Dungannon 0 (SUDUVA WIN 4-1 ON AGG) Dungannon crash to Euro defeat in Lithuania.". The Free Library by Farlex. The Mirror.
  22. ↑ RTE
  23. ↑ "Joe McAree MBE - Full Article with tributes included.". Dungannon Swifts FC. 2014-01-02.

External links

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