Crumlin Star Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish association football club based in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, and playing in the Premier Division of the

Northern Amateur Football 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: ...

. The club plays in black.

History

The club, based at the Crumlin Star social club in

Ardoyne Ardoyne () is a working class and mainly Roman Catholic Church, Catholic and Irish republicanism, Irish republican district in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. In 1920 the adjacent area of Marrowbone saw at multiple days of communal violence be ...

beside the

Crumlin Road The Crumlin Road is a main road in north-west Belfast, Northern Ireland. The road runs from north of Belfast City Centre for about four miles to the outskirts of the city. It also forms part of the longer A52 road which leads out of Belfast to th ...

, was established in 1947. From 2010 to 2013 they were tenants at

Solitude Solitude, also known as social withdrawal, 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 wo ...

, home of

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

. They subsequently moved to the Cliff in Larne as the NAFL require Premiership clubs to have "total control of their ground" in the event of ground-sharing. They play in the Northern Amateur Football League (NAFL), and were generally based in the league's lower divisions in the twentieth century. Their honours included divisional titles for 2B in 1990–91 and 2C in 1999–00. The club won their second 2B title in 2003–04 and the following season won the 2A title. They won this title again in 2008–09 and 2009–10 at which point they were promoted to Division 1C, the first level of the NAFL to be recognised as intermediate rather than junior. The club then won Division 1C in 2010–11 and the following season also added the 1B title to gain a first promotion to Division 1A, the second tier of the NAFL.Crumlin Star page at NAFL
/ref> During this spell their main goal threat came from Joe Gormley, who scored 61 goals for the club during the 2010–11 season. The club also made the final of the Border Cup in 2011–12, where they defeated higher division opposition in

Islandmagee Islandmagee () is a peninsula and civil parish on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Whitehead. It is part of the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rur ...

. Star would complete a back to back double the following year when they won the same competition defeating Rathfriland Rangers 2–1, Bricky and Mooney with the goals. Later that same season (2012–13) Star won the NAFL Division 1A title to secure promotion to the Premier Division, the highest tier of the NAFL. They then secured a treble success by adding the Clarence Cup. The club qualified for the

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 ...

for the first time in 2011–12, reaching the third round by overcoming Lisburn Rangers and Abbey Villa before losing to Immaculata. They made the fourth round the following year, losing to Bangor, having earlier defeated Bryansburn Rangers in the first round 1–0, along with Barn United in the second and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

in the third. Crumlin Star won the 2016–17 NAFL Premier Division title, finishing six points clear of second-placed

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...

Attack

In 2011 the club, which is identified with the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

- republican community, were the subject of a sectarian attack on

the Twelfth The Twelfth (also called Orangemens' Day) is a primarily Ulster Protestant celebration held on 12 July. It began in the late 18th century in Ulster. It celebrates the Glorious Revolution (1688) and victory of Protestant King William of Ora ...

. After returning from an outing to Dundalk Stadium, members of the team were attacked at Alliance Avenue (a street marking the border between republican Ardoyne and

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

Upper Ardoyne) by a crowd of 30–40 people armed with cudgels and bottles. Eight of the team suffered injuries with Ciaran Reid sustaining a broken leg and foot and Anthony Braniff requiring stitches to an injury above his eye.Crumlin Star football team injured in twelfth attack

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Honours

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 **2018–19, 2022–23, 2024-25 * Northern Amateur Football League Premier Division: 3 **2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 * Clarence Cup: 3 **2012–13, 2017–18, 2024-25 * Border Cup: 5 **2011–12, 2012–13, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23 * Northern Amateur Football League 1A: 1 **2012-13 * Northern Amateur Football League 1B: 1 **2011-12 * Northern Amateur Football League 1C: 1 **2010-11

Junior honours

* Northern Amateur Football League 2A: 3 **2004-05, 2008–09, 2009–10 * Northern Amateur Football League 2B: 2 **1990-91, 2003–04 * Northern Amateur Football League 2C: 1 **1999-00 *Irish Junior Cup: 1 **1951–52 *County Antrim Junior Shield: 1 **2009–10 **NAFL Walter Moore cup 2013-14

External links

Club web site

nifootball.co.uk
– (For fixtures, results and tables of all Northern Ireland amateur football leagues)

Notes

{{Football in Northern Ireland Association football clubs in Northern Ireland Northern Amateur Football League clubs Association football clubs in Belfast 1947 establishments in Northern Ireland Association football clubs established in 1947