Larne F.C.

The club was founded in 1889 after Rev. Turner, Mr WN Brown and L. Jackson Holmes watched a game of football between Distillery and the Black Watch regiment of the army and thus took inspiration to create Larne FC on 14th October 1889.

The club in their early days would play against Ballyclare as well as the Fisherwick club in Doagh, when, amid the rise in football interest at the turn of the century, the club experienced relative success at a junior level, winning an IFA Junior Cup in 1901, as well as winning an Intermediate Cup and a Steel & Sons Cup prior to the outbreak of the First World War.

Larne would enter senior football for the first time in 1923, reaching two Irish Cup finals in the 1920s and 30s, before dropping out of senior football as a consequence of World War Two.

The following decades would see a relative amount of success for the club, with a first ever senior trophy win in the Ulster Cup in 1950, as well as a dominant period in Intermediate football over the next 20 years, winning a great deal of silverware.

As a result of the departure of Derry City from Irish League football in 1972, Larne would thus take the place of the Candystripes in senior football, with numerous relatively successful Irish Cup runs however the Invermen would never make it as far as the final.

Following the appointment of Paul Malone as player/manager in 1984, the club would have quite a strong decade that spilled into the early 90s, with several respectable league finishes and another Ulster Cup win in 1987.

The club would slip into decline from the early 90s, Malone would depart in 1991, with Larne being relegated to the old first division in 1995 with the next 8 years seeing a period of regular financial trouble and struggle to compete for promotion.

Tommy Kincaids appointment in 2001 saw a small revival for the club, achieving promotion in 2003 before Jimmy McGeough taking over in 2004. In this period the club would be defeated in the League Cup and Irish Cup finals to Cliftonville and Portadown respectively.

From 1972 until 2008, the club had senior status, but reverted to intermediate status when it failed to gain a place in the new IFA Premiership. The club regained senior status in 2016, when the NIFL Championship became the second tier of senior football for the 2016–17 season.[3]

Larne have notably been runners-up of the Irish Cup on six occasions (1928, 1935, 1987, 1989, 2005 and 2021) and runners-up of the League Cup twice (1991–92 and 2003–04) without ever winning either Cup - a record in both respective competitions for the most final appearances without ever winning.[4][5]

The club in 2018 was taken over by Purplebricks co-founder Kenny Bruce, when the club sat bottom of the NIFL Championship, had dwindling attendances and was in considerable financial difficulty. Bruce set out the aim to bring eventual European success to Larne through investment in the playing staff and facilitites.[6]

The club in January 2018 would cause significant shock in Irish League circles when Waterford United striker David McDaid opted to sign for the NIFL Championship club amid heavy interest from Premiership side Linfield.[7]

The club lifted the 2018–19 NIFL Championship title. This was the club's first ever senior tier league title, their first league title since an intermediate title win in 1972, and the first senior honour since lifting the Ulster Cup in 1988. This secured a return to the top flight for the first time since suffering relegation to the second tier in the 2007–08 season after failing to meet the criteria for the new IFA Premiership.

As was expected, Larne would compete in the top half of the Irish League Premiership immediately after achieving promotion, and in their first season in European competition in 2021, Larne would secure one of the biggest European wins for a Northern Irish club, knocking out Danish side Aarhus Gymnastikforening over two legs with a 2–1 win in Larne, and a draw in the away leg to set up a tie with Futebol Clube Paços de Ferreira.[8] after a 4–0 defeat in Portugal, Larne would take a famous 1–0 win at Inver Park in the return leg.[9]

In their fourth season back in the top flight, The Inver Reds would win a historic first Irish League title in 2023 following a 2–0 win over Crusaders in April 2023.[10] As a result of this, the club would make their first ever appearance in the qualifiers for the UEFA Champions League in the summer of 2023, taking on Finnish giants HJK Helsinki.[11] After a 1–0 loss in Helsinki, the Inver Reds would take the tie to extra time in Belfast, with the game ending 2–2.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SCO Rohan Ferguson 2 DF  SCO Shaun Want 4 DF  NIR Aaron Donnelly 5 DF  NIR Craig Farquhar 6 MF  SCO Joe Thomson 7 MF  IRL Daniel Kearns 8 MF  ENG Mark Randall 9 FW  NIR Paul O’Neill 10 FW  NIR Lee Bonis 11 MF  SCO Scott Allan (On loan from Arbroath) 14 DF  NIR Levi Ives 15 DF  ENG Kieran Lloyd (On loan from Wigan Athletic u23s)

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 DF  IRL Cian Bolger 19 FW  USA Ilijah Paul (On loan from Real Salt Lake) 21 MF  NIR Leroy Millar (vice-captain) 22 DF  NIR Micheál Glynn 23 DF  NIR Tomás Cosgrove (captain) 24 MF  NIR Sean Graham 25 MF  NIR Dylan Sloan 26 MF  NIR Corey Smith 28 GK  ENG Aidan Dowling 29 FW  SCO Andy Ryan 99 DF  MEX Jaziel Orozco (On loan from Real Salt Lake)

On Loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  NIR Sean Brown (On loan at Bangor until 1st July 2024) — DF  NIR Ben Walker (On loan at Bangor until 1st July 2024) — MF  NIR Ethan Simpson (On loan at Ballyclare Comrades until 1st July 2024) 3 DF  ENG Ali Omar (On loan at Bangor until 16th January 2024) 17 FW  ENG Isaac Westendorf (On loan at Ballymena United until 1st January 2024) 30 FW  NIR Matthew Lusty (On loan at Dungannon Swifts until 1st July 2024)

• Larne FC Website
• Larne FC Official Twitter