Lisburn Distillery Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club who are based in Ballyskeagh,

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 t ...

. A founder member of the Irish League, they currently play in the

NIFL Premier Intermediate League The NIFL Premier Intermediate League (Known as the Playr-Fit NIFL Premier Intermediate League for sponsorship reasons) is the third level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national association football league in Northern Ireland, and t ...

, the third tier of the

Northern Ireland Football League The Northern Ireland Football League (abbreviated to NIFL), formerly known as and still commonly referred to as the Irish League, is the national football league of Northern Ireland. The Irish League was originally formed in 1890, with the leag ...

. The club was simply known as Distillery Football Club from 1880 to 1999.

History

Distillery Football Club was formed in November 1880 after members of V. R. Distillery Cricket Club decided to form a football team to stay active during the winter months. The directors of Dunville's Whiskey Distillery filled in a waste pond at the back of the distillery for the team. They remained at this ground, called Daisy Hill, until 1882 when they moved to a larger ground called Broadway, based adjacent to

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

. They remained there until 1887 when they moved to Grosvenor Park, based at Distillery Street off the Grosvenor Road, close to their old Daisy Hill ground and spiritual home. In 1920, Dunville's decided the sell the Grosvenor Park ground, and while Distillery were able to play there during the 1920–21 season, during 1921–22 the club played all of its games away from home. For the start of the 1922–23 season, they secured a new ground called York Park on the

Shore Road, Belfast The Shore Road is a major arterial route and area of housing and commerce that runs through north Belfast and Newtownabbey in Northern Ireland. It forms part of the A2 road (Northern Ireland), A2 road, a traffic route which links Belfast to the C ...

, where they remained until 1927 when they returned to Grosvenor Park after Dunville's agreed to let them play there again, having not found the ground fit for their purposes. Distillery had been forced to look for a new ground after strong winds had blown down the main stand of their York Park ground. On 30 December 1952, the first full match played under floodlights, anywhere in Ireland, took place at Grosvenor Park. Distillery's opposition were English team

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. The first officially approved competitive match under floodlights in the British Isles took place at Grosvenor Park on 25 March 1953 when Distillery Seconds played Ballymena United Reserves in the George Wilson Cup and the first floodlight league game in the British Isles took place at Grosvenor Park on the 24th December 1953 when Distillery played Coleraine. Distillery remained at Grosvenor Park until 1971, when

the Troubles The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...

directly affected the club. The area around the ground was situated in a flashpoint area, creating a security risk which had already caused the club to play matches elsewhere, but the deciding factor for the club to finally leave the area was the burning down of its money-making social club in August 1971. After sharing Skegoneill Avenue ( Brantwood) and Seaview (

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

) for some years, the club moved in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

to a permanent new home at New Grosvenor Stadium, Ballyskeagh,

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

, on the southern outskirts of Belfast. The main stand at New Grosvenor Park is named after legendary player Bertie McMinn. The club was known simply as Distillery from its foundation until

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, when it changed its official name to 'Lisburn Distillery' to associate itself more closely with its adopted borough (now city) of

. However, the club is still colloquially referred to as "Distillery". The club colour is white. A founder member of the Irish League in 1890, the club remained at the top until 1995.

European record

Overview

Matches

Current squad

Former players

* Peter McCann * Bill MacCracken

Managerial history

Drumbo Park - Pavilion - geograph-1445555

* Neil Harris (1932–34) * Michael Hamill (24 July 1934 to 31 March 1935) * Bob Preston (19 April 1935 to 6 January 1937) * Joe McCleery (4 March 1937 to 14 August 1937) * William McDevitt (25 January 1938 to 20 Mar 1939) * Alf Peachey (3 May 1940 to 29 March 1945) * Gordon Clark (18 February 1949 to 12 January 1950) * Eddie Lonsdale (16 January 1950 to 11 August 1950) * Robert Gunning (12 August 1950 to 7 September 1951) *

Jimmy McIntosh James McLaughlin McIntosh (5 April 1918 – 4 April 2000) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. As a player McIntosh was a fast, strong, stocky forward.Maurice Tadman (30 June 1955 to 16 December 1958) * George Eastham Sr. (16 June 1959 to 12 March 1964) * Tommy Casey (25 January 1967 to 12 October 1968) * Jimmy McAlinden (5 February 1969 to 12 May 1975) * Roy Welsh (29 September 1975 to 31 October 1977) * Gibby MacKenzie (31 October 1977 to 19 December 1979) * Bertie Neill (20 December 1979 to 5 February 1981) * Tommy Lowrie (13 February 1981 to 6 September 1981) * Jimmy Brown (18 Sep 1981 to 7 December 1981) * Marty Quinn (September/October 1988 to 18 November 1989) * Billy Hamilton (16 December 1989 to 16 February 1996) * Paul Kirk (17 February 1996 to 14 May 2009) * Jimmy Brown 19 May 2009 to 18 September 2009 * Tommy Wright (26 September 2009 to 2 November 2011) * John Cunningham (6 November 2011 to 7 May 2012) * Tim McCann (24 May 2012 to 16 April 2013) * Tommy Kincaid (2 May 2013 to 12 Oct 2015) * Sean-Paul Murray (3 November 2015 to 24 May 2016) * Colin McIlwaine/Colin McIlwaine & George O'Boyle (24 May 2016 to 5 April 2019)) * Stephen Hatfield (23 April 2019 to 8 March 2020) * Johnny Clapham (17 March 2020 to 22 April 2022) * Raymond Alexander (12 May 2022 to 15 June 2022) * Barry Johnston (21 June 2022 to 10 March 2025) * Stephen Hughes (11 March 2025 - present)

Honours

Senior honours

* Irish League (tier 1): 6 (inc. 1 shared) ** 1895–96, 1898–99, 1900–01, 1902–03, 1905–06 (shared), 1962–63 * Irish League First Division (tier 2): 2 ** 1998–99, 2001–02 *

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

: 12 ** 1883–84, 1884–85, 1885–86, 1888–89, 1893–94, 1895–96, 1902–03,

1904–05 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' D ...

, 1909–10, 1924–25, 1955–56, 1970–71 * Irish League Cup: 1 ** 2010–11 *

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 F ...

: 14 ** 1888–89, 1892–93, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1899–1900, 1902–03,

, 1914–15, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1945–46, 1953–54, 1963–64, 1985–86 * Gold Cup: 5 ** 1913–14, 1919–20, 1924–25, 1929–30, 1993–94 * City Cup: 5 **

, 1912–13, 1933–34, 1959–60, 1962–63 *

Ulster Cup The Ulster Cup was an annual football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football' ...

: 2 ** 1957–58, 1998–99 * Belfast Charity Cup: 5 ** 1899–1900, 1915–16, 1920–21, 1928–29, 1930–31 * Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup: 1 ** 1947–48 (shared)

Intermediate honours

Irish 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 cu ...

: 3 ** 1892–93†, 1902–03†, 1947–48‡ * Steel & Sons Cup: 1 ** 1900–01ƒ * George Wilson Cup: 3 ** 1956–57‡, 1981–82‡, 1987–88‡ * McElroy Cup: 2 ** 1918–19‡, 1920–21‡ † Won by Distillery Rovers (reserve team) ‡ Won by Distillery II (reserve team) ƒ Won by Distillery West End (reserve team)

Junior honours

* Irish Junior League: 3 ** 1890–91‡, 1892–93‡, 1902–03‡ * Irish Junior Cup: 1 ** 1887–88‡ ‡ Won by Distillery II (reserve team)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Association football clubs established in 1880 Association football clubs in Northern Ireland Association football clubs in County Down 1880 establishments in Ireland Sport in Lisburn Former senior Irish Football League clubs Founding members of the Irish Football Association NIFL Premier Intermediate League clubs Association football clubs in Belfast Works association football teams in Northern Ireland