Rathfriland Rangers Football Club is a
Northern Irish
Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...
intermediate football club, playing in the
NIFL Premier Intermediate League.
Overview
The club is based in
Rathfriland,
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 ...
, was formed in 1962 and joined the Newcastle & District League before attaining intermediate status and then joining the Amateur League in 1986.
[H. Johnstone & G. Hamilton (n.d.) ''A Memorable Milestone: 75 Years of the Northern Amateur Football League'', p. 213] The club currently consists of four teams: the 1st XI (Rangers), 2nd XI (Reserves) 3rd XI (Swifts) as well as an under-17 squad. The Reserves team plays in the
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 ...
Reserve Championship, whilst the Swifts are in Reserve division 2 of the Mid-Ulster Football League. The club won 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 ...
in 2022, defeating
Armagh City
Armagh City was a United Kingdom Parliament constituency in Ireland.
Boundaries
This constituency was the parliamentary borough of Armagh in County Armagh. It was the successor constituency to the Armagh City constituency of the Parliament of I ...
in the final.
In 2023, the club was promoted to the
NIFL Premier Intermediate League for the first time.
The club is captained by former
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 ...
,
Glenavon
Glenavon Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club that competes in the NIFL Premiership. Founded in 1889, the club hails from Lurgan and plays its home matches at Mourneview Park. Club colours are blue and white. Gar ...
and
Portadown midfielder Andy Kilmartin.
Current Squad
Honours
*
Northern Amateur Football League: Premier Division
** 2021-22, 2022-23
*
IFA 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 ...
:
**2021-22''
*
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 ...
:
**2016–17
*
Bob Radcliffe Cup The Bob Radcliffe Memorial Cup is an intermediate football competition in Northern Ireland run by the Mid-Ulster Football Association. It was introduced in 1978. The competition culminates in the final which has traditionally been played on Boxing ...
:
**2019-20
*
Northern Amateur Football League: Division 1A
**1997-98, 2015–16
*
Northern Amateur Football League: Division 1B
**1996-97
External links
nifootball.co.uk- (For fixtures, results and tables of all Northern Ireland amateur football leagues)
Notes
Association football clubs in Northern Ireland
Association football clubs established in 1962
Northern Amateur Football League clubs
1962 establishments in Northern Ireland
{{NorthernIreland-footyclub-stub