Limavady Wanderers was a former Irish

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 from

Limavady Limavady (; ) is a market town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, with Binevenagh as a backdrop. Lying east of Derry and southwest of Coleraine, Limavady had a population of 12,032 people at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

History

The club was founded out of the Limavady Wanderers Cricket Club. Its earliest recorded match, in October 1882, was against fellow Limavady side Alexander, and ended early as the Wanderers walked off in protest at a decision to allow an Alexander goal. The clubs met again in the first round of the 1882–83; as the competition was drawn on regional grounds, and there were only three clubs in the county, one was given a bye, and the lot fell on

Moyola Park Moyola Park is a country estate near Castledawson, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is currently the home of Lady Moyola, widow of Lord Moyola, former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. The estate is and is home to Moyola Park G ...

; Alexander uncontroversially won the tie 5–2. The club only played three more matches in its first season, but won them all, and finished the year with a positive balance sheet. The two Limavady sides met again in the

1883–84 Irish Cup The 1883–84 Irish Cup was the 4th edition of the Irish Cup, the premier knock-out cup competition in Irish football. Distillery won the tournament for the 1st time, defeating Wellington Park Wellington Park is the protected area which e ...

, this time in the second round as Wanderers had beaten the Victoria side (from the Royal Irish Constabulary stationed in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

), and, as both sides had had 100% records in the season, a large crowd attended the Wanderers' ground, but Alexander was once more victorious. The members of both Alexander and Wanderers decided to merge the two sides in 1884, dissatisfied with continually meeting in Cup competitions and not being able to put up a stronger opposition to clubs from Belfast. The merged club was simply called

Limavady F.C. Limavady Football Club was an Irish 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 ...

; although the original idea was to have the united club as a competition representative, allowing the two progenitor clubs to maintain an independent existence for friendlies, in fact the Wanderers only continued as a cricket club.

Colours

There is no known source for the Wanderers' colours, but, as Alexander wore blue and white jerseys, and the combined club wore blue, white, and red, it is possible that the Wanderers contributed the red to the ensemble.

Ground

The club played at Lisnakelly, and practised at a field owned by George Cather J.P.

References

{{Reflist Association football clubs established in 1882 Association football clubs disestablished in 1884 Defunct association football clubs in Northern Ireland Association football clubs in County Londonderry 1882 establishments in Ireland 1884 disestablishments in Ireland Founding members of the Irish Football Association