Glentoran F.C.
Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Irish teams to have never been relegated.
History
The early years
Glentoran was founded in 1882 by the workers of the Protestant-dominated Harland & Wolff shipyard, and draws much of its identity from its industrial roots in East Belfast. The shipyard’s cranes still overlook their ground - The Oval - symbolising the club’s heritage. In 1889, Glentoran FC was established as a limited company, and benefited from investments by local industrial leaders Viscount Pirrie and G.W. Wolff. This investment further tied the club to the nearby Harland and Wolff shipyard workers.Glentoran made its first appearance in the Irish Cup during the 1886-87 season. They reached the semi-final of the competition, where they were beaten 2-1 by Ulster. The Irish League was established in 1890, with Glentoran being among the founding members, alongside Clarence, Cliftonville, Distillery, Linfield, Milford, Oldpark and Ulster. In the inaugural season, Glentoran finished in 5th place. In 1894, Glentoran won the first of its 23 league titles.
Vienna Cup
In 1914, Glentoran undertook their first European tour, with the key highlight being their participation and victory in the Vienna Cup. The tour began with a 4-3 loss to Deutsche in Prague, followed by a 4-1 win over Hertha Berlin. The team then traveled to Vienna for the Vienna Cup, a week-long tournament organised by the Vienna Football Club. In the first match against a Vienna select team, Glentoran dominated but conceded a late equalizer, resulting in a 1-1 draw. The final match was decisive, and Glentoran secured a convincing victory to win the Vienna Cup, making them the first British team to claim a European trophy.1960s
In 1964–65, Glentoran faced Panathinaikos in the European Cup and drew 2–2 at home and lost 3–2 away. In the following season's Fairs Cup, they faced Antwerp resulting a 1–0 defeat away and 3–3 draw at home. The Cup-Winners' Cup in 1966–67 saw Glentoran draw 1–1 with Rangers in front of a packed Oval before losing the away leg 4–0.Glentoran’s greatest moment in Europe came in a 1967 European Cup tie against Benfica. In the first leg at The Oval, Glentoran took an early lead with a penalty before football legend Eusébio equalized, ending the match 1–1. In the return leg at Benfica’s Estádio da Luz, part-time Glentoran defied expectations with a 0–0 draw. Although Benfica advanced on away goals, Glentoran became the first team eliminated by this rule and the first to prevent Benfica from scoring at home.
In 1967, Glentoran took the unusual step of running the Detroit Cougars football franchise in the United Soccer Association. The newly formed league had planned for an inaugural season in 1968, but when the rival National Professional Soccer League announced a start date of 1967 and a television contract with CBS, the league owners decided to fast track their league by importing entire squads from Europe and South America.
George Best watched Glentoran with his grandfather as a youth, but was rejected by the club for being "too small and light". However, Best did make one appearance for Glentoran, in the club's centenary match against Manchester United.
1970s
The club won the Irish league title in 1972 and 1977, coupled with an Irish Cup win in 1973. This cup win gave Glentoran a place the following season in the European Cup Winners Cup. In November 1973, Glentoran made history by becoming the first Irish club to reach the quarter-finals of the competition with a 3–1 victory over Brann in Belfast, following a 1–1 draw in Bergen. They faced Borussia Mönchengladbach in the quarter-finals and were beaten 2–0 and 5–0. Four seasons later they faced Juventus in a European Cup match and lost 1–0 at home and 5–0 away.1980s
In 1981–82, Glentoran reached the second round of the European Cup and faced eventual semi-finalists CSKA Sofia. After a 2–0 defeat away, Glentoran went 2–0 up in the return leg to force the game into extra time. The final result was 2–1, Glentoran going out 3–2 on aggregate.The 1985 Irish Cup final between Glentoran and Linfield featured a memorable incident: Glentoran fans brought a cockerel, their club emblem, and a pig painted in Linfield’s royal blue to the match, both of which stayed on the sidelines throughout. Fans repeated the cockerel tradition at the 2006 final, but Glentoran lost 2–1, ending their unbeaten post-war record of five consecutive Irish Cup final victories against Linfield, a streak that began in 1966.
1990s
In 1995 Glentoran played their traditional Boxing Day match against Linfield on a snow-covered pitch. In the first half the orange ball was damaged, and not having a replacement the teams were forced to play with a white ball for the remainder of the game. The incident was used as a "What Happened Next" question on the BBC's A Question of Sport.Former Linfield manager Roy Coyle took charge of the club in 1997 and under his stewardship the club entered another period of success. In Coyle's first cup final in charge he gave up the right to lead the team out, instead he asked long serving Kitman Teddy Horner have this honour.
2000s
The 2002–03 season was one of the club's most successful in recent times. Of a potential four trophies, Glentoran won three, capturing the Irish League championship, Irish League Cup and County Antrim Shield but fell at the final hurdle, losing the Irish Cup Final 1–0 to Coleraine. The only Irish League to complete the clean sweep of all trophies is Linfield who have achieved this on 3 occasions. They won 7 trophies in 1921–22 and 7 in 1961–62 and also 4 trophies in 1955–56. To come so close to a clean sweep in 2003 and fail was a bitter pill to swallow.On 23 April 2005, Glentoran defeated their rivals Linfield in the second last game but one of the league season. In the 93rd minute of the match, Glentoran, who needed victory in order to have a chance of clinching the league title, scored a goal via their centre forward Chris Morgan. There were confrontations between the two sets of fans following the match. Hooliganism was commonplace at matches between the clubs in the past.
Roy Coyle won 16 trophies with Glentoran and is the club's most successful manager in the club's history.
Financial troubles (2011–2019)
Millar (2006–2007)
After eight years in charge of Glentoran, Roy Coyle resigned as manager after a string of indifferent results. On 14 February 2006 the club announced that former Newry City manager Paul Millar was to take over the manager's position. He led the team into the Irish Cup final with rivals Linfield. Despite taking the lead in the first half, Linfield won the game with two goals from Peter Thompson. He also led his new club to their biggest ever defeat against their cross-city rivals Linfield in a 6–0 defeat at Windsor Park. The Glens had sought to reduce the gap between them and Linfield by signing Kyle Neill and Gary Hamilton from Portadown and re-signing former fan's favourite Gary Smyth. Also arriving was another former player, Jason Hill, former Portadown and Newry City player Cullen Feeney and promising young keeper Ciaran McLaughlin from Ards.Paul Millar was dismissed as manager on 17 May 2007, after just 15 months in the role. Despite leading the team to two consecutive second-place finishes behind Linfield, he lost the support of the board and fans.
McDonald (2007–2010)
On 24 May 2007 former Crusaders and Glenavon manager Roy Walker was appointed as Glentoran manager along with assistant manager Billy Sinclair. Walker previously led Crusaders to two league titles in 1995 and 1997. After leaving football management for seven years, Walker became a football analyst with BBC Radio Ulster. He was quoted as saying, "Glentoran were my boyhood team and are probably the only club which could have attracted me back."However, on 26 May 2007 it was revealed that Walker would not be able to take up the post, due to not possessing the necessary UEFA coaching qualifications. Less than a week later, Glentoran appointed Alan McDonald as manager, replacing Roy Walker, who stepped down but vowed not to rest until director of football Tom Dick resigned. Dick eventually did so but criticized chairman Stafford Reynolds, who later announced he would step down if a suitable replacement was found. As manager, McDonald secured several players, including former Glentoran player Rory Hamill, Daryl Fordyce, Jamie McGovern, David Scullion, and re-signed Chris Morgan and Tim McCann. Meanwhile, Darren Lockhart and Gary Smith left on loan to Crusaders. In January, Glentoran added Shane McCabe and Darren Boyce to the squad.
Alan McDonald won two trophies with The Glens and also led the Glens to the final of the Setanta Cup. In McDonald's first season as manager, Glentoran defeated Crusaders in the County Antrim Shield final. The next season, Glentoran won the league after a strong race with Linfield. Glentoran finished three successive seasons, 2006–2008, as runners-up to three times Double Champions Linfield. Since then, notable signings at the club include Matthew Burrows, from Dundela, Johnny Taylor and former Lisburn Distillery player Andy Waterworth for a fee of £30,000. Glentoran's build up to the season included friendlies against Hearts, Burnley and Ipswich Town. However, Glentoran's start to the season was delayed by a referee strike led by their association's Chairman, David Malcolm, citing higher wage demands. This ultimately postponed all week one fixtures. The following week, in the game against Glenavon, Glentoran's pitch was declared unplayable. Matches against Bangor and then Linfield were cancelled, and this led to Glentoran facing Bangor in the first Irish League game to be played on a Sunday. The historic scoreline was 1–0.
Glentoran also unexpectedly reached the final of the Setanta Sports Cup 2008, a cup in which the top four clubs from both the Irish League and League of Ireland play each other. Glentoran defeated Linfield with a 4–1 win, making the group a more open competition. This was followed up by a 1–0 win in a home match again St. Patrick's Athletic. In the final on 13 October 2008, Glentoran were defeated by League of Ireland side Cork City 2–1 at Turners Cross. On 2 May 2009 Glentoran won the first ever Irish Premiership by defeating Cliftonville 3–1 at The Oval. This was their first league title since a 2005 win, ending Linfield's 3-year dominance on all fronts. Alan McDonald would in the coming weeks sign a new 2-year contract with the club after much speculation, keeping him there until 2011. Glentoran's only summer signings for 2009 were Richard Clarke from Newry City and Northern Ireland international Keith Gillespie on a free transfer.