Newington Football Club (previously known as Newington Youth Club) is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Championship. The club originates from the Newington area of Belfast and ground shares with NIFL Premiership side Cliftonville.

Current squad

player, no=, nat=NIR, pos=DF, name Joshua Diver

History

The club was formed in north Belfast as Jubilee Olympic Football Club in 1979 and joined the Dunmurry League in 1980. The club changed its name to Newington Youth Club in 1986, won its first trophy—the Breen Cup—in 1987 and became the dominant team in the Dunmurry League for the remainder of their affiliation. In 1990–91 Newington became the first Dunmurry League club to win the County Antrim Junior Shield. The club joined the

Northern Amateur 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: ...

in 1994. They played in Division 2C and won five trophies, including the league title in their first season. The following season saw them win Division 2B, gaining promotion to the top junior division of the Amateur League in the process. Their greatest achievement in junior football came on 1 May 1997 when they won the biggest prize in junior football – Irish FA Junior Cup. Newington defeated

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of al ...

team Lisbellaw United in the final. A Division 2A title followed and soon the club was elevated to intermediate status, gaining a place in Division 1B in 2000. Newington continued to go from strength to strength, winning 1B at the first attempt, followed by the Division 1A title in 2001–02. However, Newington's facilities at their home ground (Muckamore Park, Antrim) failed meet the required standards to gain promotion to the Amateur League Premier Division. In 2004–05, Newington reached the quarter-finals of the Steel & Sons Cup, automatically qualifying for the County Antrim Shield; and their first match against senior opposition. A 2–0 defeat at

Lisburn Distillery Lisburn Distillery Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate football club who are based in Ballyskeagh, County Down. A founder member of the Irish League, they currently play in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League, the third tier of t ...

. At the end of that season, the club finished runners-up in Division 1A, but recent improvements to Muckamore Park meant that this time promotion to the Premier Division was realised. In 2005–06, only eleven years after joining the League in its lowest division, Newington won the Amateur League title (and Border Cup) at the first time of asking. This season also saw the club reach the quarter-finals of the Irish Cup, losing out to Larne. In 2007–08, the club reached the semi-finals of the Irish Intermediate Cup, and in 2008–09 won the Amateur League title for the second time. On 14 January 2012 the club managed what the BBC described as "one of the biggest shocks in Irish Cup history" when they defeated Glentoran 1–0 in the fifth round at the east Belfast giants' own ground, The Oval. Rated 20–1 by bookmakers to win the match, the club triumphed through Neil Quinn's goal and were drawn to face

Dungannon Swifts 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 ...

in the sixth round. On 24 May 2013, the biggest game in the club's history to date, they achieved promotion to NIFL Championship 2, the third tier of national football. They faced

Mid-Ulster Football League The Daily Mirror Mid-Ulster Football League, or simply referred to as the Mid-Ulster League, is an association football league in Northern Ireland. It contains 9 divisions. These comprise two intermediate sections: the Intermediate A and Intermed ...

champions

Dollingstown Dollingstown is a large village in County Down, Northern Ireland, lying between Lurgan and Magheralin. It is within the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon district. In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2011 Census it had a population of 2,126 people. ...

in a two-legged play-off for promotion, and won the tie on the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaker, tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the ...

after it finished 4–4 on aggregate. A 3–2 away defeat followed by a 2–1 home win was enough to seal promotion. After previously being known as Newington Youth F.C., the club are now known as Newington Football Club.

Grounds

The club originates in the Newington area of Belfast, although owing to the lack of facilities for junior and intermediate clubs in north Belfast they have played home matches at Muckamore Park in Antrim, at

Brantwood FC Brantwood Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club playing in the Ballymena & Provincial Football League. The club, founded in 1901, hails from Belfast and plays its home matches at Skegoneill Avenue. Club colours are royal ...

on Skegoneill Avenue, Richardson Park in

Dunmurry Dunmurry (; ) is an urban townland in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Dunmurry is in the Collin electoral ward for the local government district of Belfast City Council. History Until the end of the 18th century, Dunmurry was largely an agricultura ...

, and The Cliff in Larne. In 2008, the club became involved in a partnership with IFA Premiership club Crusaders, with a view to securing funding for a new, shared ground in north Belfast. As part of the arrangement, Newington used Crusaders’ ground

Seaview Seaview or Sea View may refer to: Places * Clifton Beach, Karachi, also known as Sea View, a beach in Pakistan * Sea View, Dorset, a suburb in England * Seaview, Isle of Wight, a small village in England * Seaview, Lower Hutt, an industrial suburb ...

for home matches in 2008–09, marking a return to home matches in the club's native north Belfast. From the 2013–14 season, the club's first season in NIFL Championship 2, until 2017–18, the club played at Seaview again. In 2018, the club moved to share

Solitude Solitude is a state of seclusion or isolation, meaning lack of socialisation. Effects can be either positive or negative, depending on the situation. Short-term solitude is often valued as a time when one may work, think, or rest without distu ...

with Cliftonville.Northern Ireland Football League
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Honours

Intermediate honours

* NIFL Premier Intermediate League: 1 ** 2021-22 * Steel & Sons Cup: 2 ** 2017–18, 2021-22 *

: 5 ** 2005–06, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13 *

Border Cup The Border Cup was an association football cup competition for clubs in the Scottish Borders. The competition was founded in 1890 and was last competed for in the 1955–56 season. Format The competition was a knock-out tournament contested by th ...

: 1 ** 2005–06

Junior honours

* Irish Junior Cup: 1 ** 1996–97 * County Antrim Junior Shield: 1 ** 1990–91

Sources

* Newington Football Club, ''And if you know your history...'', https://web.archive.org/web/20090514235835/http://www.newingtonyc.co.uk/history.html. Retrieved 14–05–09.

References

{{NIFL league Association football clubs in Northern Ireland Association football clubs established in 1979 Association football clubs in Belfast 1979 establishments in Northern Ireland NIFL Premier Intermediate League clubs