Queen's Island was a football club from

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 ...

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 team was champion of the Irish League for the 1923/24 season and winner of the

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 ...

in 1924.

History

Queen's Island Football Club was formed in the summer of 1920, their first match was a friendly against Ulster Rangers, they were elected to the Intermediate League for the start of the 1920/21 season, they finished 5th place in the Intermediate League whilst winning the

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 ...

at their first attempt, defeating Forth River 2-0 in the final at

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 ...

on St Patrick's Day 1921. After their debut season in the Irish Intermediate League, Queen's Island applied to join the Irish League, Willowfield and Belfast United also applied but Queen's Island were elected. At the end of the 1928/29 season, they were voted out of the Irish League, being replaced by

Derry City 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 ...

. Although they only spent eight seasons in senior football, Queen's Island's record of one championship and three runners-up spots was very impressive. In the 1928-29 season they conceded a record 130 goals in 26 games. They went on to compete in junior leagues such as the Irish Football Alliance and would compete up to the 1960s, during their time in the Alliance league they played matches at Skegoneill avenue, home of

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 ...

Irish Football Alliance

After the club's days in the Irish Football League the club plied their trade in the Irish Football Alliance. During their days as an Irish League side Queen's Island called two venues "home": *

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

(shared with

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

) ''1920-23'' * Pirrie Park ''1923-24 to 1928-29''

Irish League record

* *Deducted 2 points. * **Finished bottom. Not re-elected for following season.

Honours

Senior honours

* Irish League: 1 **1923–24 *

: 1 **1923–24 *

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 Foo ...

: 1 **1923–24 *

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 ...

: 3 **1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25

Intermediate honours

* Irish Intermediate Cup: 1 **1920–21

Representative players

Five Queen's Island players won Ireland caps (one each): *

Tom Cowan Thomas Cowan (born 28 August 1969) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a defender. During his career he played for Clyde, Rangers, Sheffield United, Stoke City, Huddersfield Town, Burnley, Cambridge United, Peterborough United, York ...

Tucker Croft Thomas "Tucker" Croft was an Irish international footballer who played professionally in Ireland and the United States as an inside right. Club Born in Belfast, Croft played in his native Ireland for Dundela, Glentoran and Queen's Island. In ...

Joe Gowdy Joseph Gowdy (born 7 December 1897) was a footballer from Northern Ireland who played as a right half, although in his early career he was a centre forward and in latter years was deployed at centre half. He came to prominence after World War I ...

, Bert Mehaffy and John Gough.Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats
/ref> The following Queen's Island players represented the Irish League at inter-league level: * Armstrong, Blair, Chambers,

Croft Croft may refer to: Occupations * Croft (land), a small area of land, often with a crofter's dwelling * Crofting, small-scale food production * Bleachfield, an open space used for the bleaching of fabric, also called a croft Locations In the Uni ...

, Fergie,

Gough Gough ( ) is a surname. The surname probably derives from the Welsh (English: "red"), given as a nickname to someone with red hair or a red complexion or as a reduced form of the Irish McGough which itself is an Anglicized form of Gaelic , a patro ...

, Gowdy, Gray, Holmes, McKeown, McLeod, Mehaffy, Scott and Wilson.

External links

Queen's Island at The Irish Football Club Project

References

{{Former Irish League senior clubs Defunct association football clubs in Northern Ireland Defunct Irish Football League clubs Association football clubs in Belfast Former senior Irish Football League clubs Association football clubs established in 1920 Association football clubs disestablished in the 1960s 1920 establishments in Ireland 1960s disestablishments in Northern Ireland