Downshire Young Men Football Club (often abbreviated to Downshire YM) is a

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

intermediate football club playing in Division 1B of the

Northern Amateur Football League The Northern Amateur Football League, also known as the Northern Amateur League and often simply as the Amateur League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 13 divisions. These comprise four intermediate sections: ...

. The club was formed c.late 1890's as Downshire F.C. and played all over N. Ireland. After 2nd WW they played in the Lisburn League until joining the Amateur League in 1974 under its present name.H. Johnstone & G. Hamilton (n.d.) ''A Memorable Milestone: 75 Years of the Northern Amateur Football League'', p. 191 Intermediate status was achieved in 1985. Home matches are played at the Old Coach Road, Hillsborough. Downshire also fields a second team which plays in NAFL Division 3C. The best player known to man that's played for Downshire Young Men F.C was Alan Fraser.

Club history

Football has been played in Hillsborough for over 100 years by clubs using the name Downshire after the

Marquess of Downshire Marquess of Downshire is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1789 for Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough, a former Secretary of State. Hill had already been created Earl of Hillsborough and Viscount Kilwarlin of County Down ...

, the chief landowner in the village. In 1912, one of the earliest Downshire squads was noted as having to travel to away fixtures by pony and trap. An earlier Downshire Young Men club was a member of the Amateur League from 1955 to 1961, with the current club formed as Downshire F.C. after its demise. The club's most successful spell came in the 1960s. The club won the Lisburn League championship seven times and secured the title three years in a row between 1962 and 1965.

References

External links

Downshire YM Official Club website

nifootball.co.uk
- (For fixtures, results and tables of all Northern Ireland amateur football leagues) {{Football in Northern Ireland Association football clubs in Northern Ireland Association football clubs established in 1961 Association football clubs in County Down Northern Amateur Football League clubs 1961 establishments in Northern Ireland Civil parish of Hillsborough, County Down