Lisburn Distillery Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club who are based in Ballyskeagh,

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

. A founder member of the Irish League, they currently play in the

NIFL Premier Intermediate League The NIFL Premier Intermediate League is the third division of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national association football league in Northern Ireland, and the highest intermediate division in Northern Ireland, occupying level three in ...

, the third tier of the

Northern Ireland Football League The Northern Ireland Football League (commonly abbreviated to NIFL), known historically, and still colloquially, as the Irish League, is the national football league of Northern Ireland. The Irish League was originally formed in 1890, with the l ...

. The club was simply known as Distillery Football Club from 1880 to 1999.

History

The club, founded in 1880, originated in west

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, where it was based at Grosvenor Park at Distillery Street off the Grosvenor Road until

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. After sharing

Skegoneill Avenue Skegoneill Avenue is a Association football, football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is the home of Brantwood F.C., has a capacity of 5,100 and was built in 1952. It is located on the street of the same name, a residential road linking ...

(

Brantwood Brantwood is a historic house museum in Cumbria, England, overlooking Coniston Water. It has been the home of a number of prominent people. The house and grounds are administered by a charitable trust, the house being a museum dedicated to Jo ...

) and Seaview (

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

) for some years, the club moved in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

to a permanent new home at New Grosvenor Stadium, Ballyskeagh,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, on the southern outskirts of Belfast. The club was known simply as Distillery from its foundation until

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, when it changed its official name to 'Lisburn Distillery' to associate itself more closely with its adopted borough (now city) of

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

. However, the club is still colloquially referred to as "Distillery". The club colour is white. A founder member of the Irish League in 1890, the club was relegated from the Premiership in May 2013.

European record

Overview

Matches

Current squad

Managerial history

Drumbo Park - Pavilion - geograph-1445555

* Neil Harris (1932–34) * Michael Hamill (24 July 1934 to 31 March 1935) * Bob Preston (19 April 1935 to 6 January 1937) * Joe McCleery (4 March 1937 to 14 August 1937) * William McDevitt (25 January 1938 to 20 Mar 1939) * Alf Peachey (3 May 1940 to 29 March 1945) * Gordon Clark (18 February 1949 to 12 January 1950) * Eddie Lonsdale (16 January 1950 to 11 August 1950) * Robert Gunning (12 August 1950 to 7 September 1951) *

Jimmy McIntosh James McLaughlin McIntosh (5 April 1918 – 4 April 2000) was a Scottish professional association football, footballer and manager. As a player McIntosh was a fast, strong, stocky forward.Maurice Tadman Maurice Roy Tadman (28 June 1921 – 26 November 1994) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. He began his career in non-league football with Bexleyheath & Welling before playing alongside his older brother George at Char ...

(30 June 1955 to 16 December 1958) * George Eastham Sr. (16 June 1959 to 12 March 1964) * Tommy Casey (25 January 1967 to 12 October 1968) *

Jimmy McAlinden James McAlinden (27 December 1917 – 15 November 1993) was an Irish footballer who played as a forward for several clubs, most notably, Belfast Celtic, Portsmouth, Shamrock Rovers and Southend United. As an international, McAlinden also played ...

(5 February 1969 to 12 May 1975) * Roy Welsh (29 September 1975 to 31 October 1977) * Gibby MacKenzie (31 October 1977 to 19 December 1979) * Bertie Neill (20 December 1979 to 5 February 1981) * Tommy Lowrie (13 February 1981 to 6 September 1981) * Jimmy Brown (18 Sep 1981 to 7 December 1981) * Marty Quinn (September/October 1988 to 18 November 1989) * Billy Hamilton (16 December 1989 to 16 February 1996) * Paul Kirk (17 February 1996 to 14 May 2009) * Jimmy Brown 19 May 2009 to 18 September 2009 * Tommy Wright (26 September 2009 to 2 November 2011) * John Cunningham (6 November 2011 to 7 May 2012) * Tim McCann (24 May 2012 to 16 April 2013) * Tommy Kincaid (2 May 2013 to 12 Oct 2015) * Sean-Paul Murray (3 November 2015 to 24 May 2016) * Colin McIlwaine/Colin McIlwaine & George O'Boyle (24 May 2016 to 5 April 2019)) * Stephen Hatfield (23 April 2019 to 8 March 2020) * Johnny Clapham (17 March 2020 to 22 April 2022) * Raymond Alexander (12 May 2022 to 15 June 2022) * Barry Johnston (21 June 2022 –

Honours

Senior honours

* Irish League (tier 1): 6 (inc. one shared) ** 1895–96, 1898–99, 1900–01,

1902–03 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

, 1905–06 (shared), 1962–63 * Irish League First Division (tier 2): 2 ** 1998–99, 2001–02 *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Samuel Gelston's Whiskey Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland. Ina ...

: 12 ** 1883–84, 1884–85, 1885–86, 1888–89, 1893–94, 1895–96,

, 1904–05, 1909–10, 1924–25, 1955–56, 1970–71 *

Irish League Cup The Northern Ireland Football League Cup (BetMcLean League Cup for sponsorship purposes), also known colloquially as the Irish League Cup, is a national football knock-out cup competition in Northern Ireland open to all member clubs of the Nort ...

: 1 ** 2010–11 *

County Antrim Shield The County Antrim & District Football Association Senior Shield (more commonly known as the County Antrim Shield) is a football competition in Northern Ireland. The competition is open to senior teams who are members of the North East Ulster Fo ...

: 14 ** 1888–89, 1892–93, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1899–1900, 1902–03, 1904–05, 1914–15, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1945–46, 1953–54, 1963–64, 1985–86 * Gold Cup: 5 ** 1913–14, 1919–20, 1924–25, 1929–30, 1993–94 *

City Cup The City Cup was a rugby league competition involving Australian premiership teams. The post season tournament was a regular feature in the years 1912–1925. City Cups were also played in 1937, 1942 and 1959. The inaugural city cup was contested ...

: 5 ** 1904–05, 1912–13, 1933–34, 1959–60, 1962–63 *

Ulster Cup The Ulster Cup was an annual football competition held by the Irish Football League for senior clubs. History Beginning in 1949, it was held on fifty-one occasions until being suspended after the 1998/99 season and discontinued after a one-of ...

: 2 ** 1957–58, 1998–99 * Belfast Charity Cup: 5 ** 1899–00, 1915–16, 1920–21, 1928–29, 1930–31 * Dublin and Belfast Inter-city Cup: 1 ** 1947–48 (shared)

Intermediate honours

Irish Intermediate Cup The Irish Intermediate Cup is a Northern Irish football competition for teams of intermediate status, including NIFL Premiership reserve sides. It is a straight knock-out tournament and is currently sponsored by McCombs Coach Travel. The curre ...

: 3 ** 1892–93†, 1902–03†, 1947–48‡ *

Steel & Sons Cup The Steel & Sons Cup (also referred to as the Steel Cup) is an intermediate football competition in Northern Ireland run by the North East Ulster Football Association (also known as the County Antrim & District Football Association). The compe ...

: 1 ** 1900–01ƒ * George Wilson Cup: 3 ** 1956–57‡, 1981–82‡, 1987–88‡ * McElroy Cup: 2 ** 1918–19‡, 1920–21‡ † Won by Distillery Rovers (reserve team) ‡ Won by Distillery II (reserve team) ƒ Won by Distillery West End (reserve team)

Junior honours

* Irish Junior League: 3 ** 1890–91‡, 1892–93‡, 1902–03‡ * Irish Junior Cup: 1 ** 1887–88‡ ‡ Won by Distillery II (reserve team)

References

External links

* Association football clubs established in 1880 Association football clubs in Northern Ireland Association football clubs in County Down 1880 establishments in Ireland Sport in Lisburn Former senior Irish Football League clubs Founding members of the Irish Football Association NIFL Premier Intermediate League clubs Association football clubs in Belfast Works association football teams in Northern Ireland {{NorthernIreland-footyclub-stub