{{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019
The Lisburn Racquets Club is a sports club in
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 ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. The club was formed in 1932 by the members of
Lisburn Cricket Club
Lisburn Cricket Club is a cricket club in Lisburn, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, playing in the Premier League of the NCU Senior League.
Established in 1836, the club is the oldest in Northern Ireland. It is also one of the most successful, h ...
to keep their members together during the winter months. It played in the
British Legion
The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...
Hall until the late 1950s and then moved to the Black Hall on the Hillhall Road. It incorporates Alpha
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...
Club, Lisburn Racquets
Squash
Squash may refer to:
Sports
* Squash (sport), the high-speed racquet sport also known as squash racquets
* Squash (professional wrestling), an extremely one-sided match in professional wrestling
* Squash tennis, a game similar to squash but pla ...
Club & Hilden
Tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
Club.
In the 1960s it fund raised with the members of Hilden Tennis Club, with whom it had many members in common and with grant aid from the Department of Education it built the first stage of the current club. Play started here in November 1971.
A number of extensions have been added over the years – the major one being the addition of a 12 court badminton hall in 1996 with the help of
Lottery Funding
A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...
. This hall is also used by ten schools during the day and for netball and football – one of its current users being the
Manchester United F.C. Academy
Manchester United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Manchester United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team. They play in the Premier League 2, the highest tier of the Professional Development League. The team is effecti ...
.
Alpha is the largest badminton club in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
and over the last 15 years has won the All-Ireland Senior Cup 10 times. In doing so it qualified to represent Ireland in the Europe Cup – a competition for the champion club teams of all the European countries.
Alpha is divided into a number of sections decided mainly by the standard of player and partly by age. The Senior Club plays on Tuesday evenings with players of approximately League Division 1 standard. The Minor Club plays on Thursday evenings with players ranging from League Division 2 to Division 6 standard. The Tyros Club plays on Wednesday evenings with players from League Divisions 7 to 9 standard.
It has over 550 children divided into 10 sections playing on Friday evenings and on Saturdays from 9.00 – 6.00 with 30 league teams playing in the Ulster Juvenile Leagues.
The three adult sections have 13 teams in the leagues with entries also in the All-Ireland Cup competitions. The Senior section has many current Irish International players, all of the Northern Commonwealth Games team and many promising junior players many of whom have played for Ireland.
Each year Club Championships are held for most of the sections of the Club with preliminary rounds during the season and about fifty finals on a Saturday at the end of the season – late March or early April depending on when Easter falls.