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Glentoran Football Club is a professional
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 based in East
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 ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, that plays in the
NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...
. 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 iconic 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 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 ...
during the 1886-87 season. They reached the semi-final of the competition, where they were beaten 2-1 by
Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...
. The Irish League was established in 1890, with Glentoran being among the founding members, alongside Clarence,
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 ...
,
Distillery Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixt ...
, 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 The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...
and drew 2–2 at home and lost 3–2 away. In the following season's Fairs Cup, they faced
Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
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 United Soccer Association (USA) was a professional association football, soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League ( ...
. 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 George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...
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 Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
.


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 Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...
in the quarter-finals and were beaten 2–0 and 5–0. Four seasons later they faced
Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...
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 Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...
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 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 ...
'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 (and former Linfield player) Chris Morgan. There were confrontations between the two sets of fans following the match.
Hooliganism Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, often in connection with crowds at sporting events. A hooligan is a person that engages in illicit reckless behaviors and is a public nuisance. Etymology ...
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 National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...
. 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 Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...
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 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 ...
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 (Portsmouth), Jamie McGovern (West Brom), David Scullion (Dungannon Swifts), 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 (Dungannon) and Darren Boyce (Coleraine) 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 (where he scored fifty-three goals last term), Johnny Taylor (from Hearts) 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 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 ...
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 The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...
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 Keith Robert Gillespie ( ; born 18 February 1975) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who plays as a winger for FC Mindwell in the Mid-Ulster Football League. He began his career at Manchester United after winning the FA Yo ...
on a free transfer.


Young (2010–2012)

In March 2010, after McDonald resigned, former player Scott Young was put in charge of the Glens until the end of the 2010–11 season along with Pete Batey as assistant manager and Tim McCann as head coach. Young led Glentoran into the 2009–10 Irish League Cup final against
Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...
. The bannsiders were the favourites for the match but the Glens were the team who came out victorious, winning 4–1 on penalties after the match ended in a 2–2 draw. At the end of the season, Young along with Batey and McCann signed a deal with the Glens to stay on as manager. Former Glentoran manager Roy Coyle, who brought a huge amount of success, became director of football. Young released some of the club's higher-profile players, including
Michael Halliday Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday (often M. A. K. Halliday; 13 April 1925 – 15 April 2018) was a British linguist who developed the internationally influential systemic functional linguistics (SFL) model of language. His grammatical descri ...
and
Keith Gillespie Keith Robert Gillespie ( ; born 18 February 1975) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who plays as a winger for FC Mindwell in the Mid-Ulster Football League. He began his career at Manchester United after winning the FA Yo ...
. Halliday joined North Belfast side
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 ...
. Kyle Neill also left the club and joined Glenavon. Dean Fitzgerald and Shane McCabe were also among the players released. Gary Hamilton went out on loan to Glenavon, and back in December 2011 took on the role as manager of the club (after the resignation of Marty Quinn), after being released of his playing obligations by Glentoran. During Young's first season as manager, Glentoran's financial difficulties escalated, until
HMRC His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (commonly HM Revenue and Customs, or HMRC, and formerly Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) is a Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department of the UK government responsible for the tax collectio ...
issued Glentoran a winding-up order, and gave the club until the beginning of January 2011 to clear all outstanding debts which totalled over £300,000. A fundraising organisation, Spirit of '41 (which was named after the year when The Oval was bombed by Germans and the massive effort to rebuild it) was set up, and to this day has raised over £25,000. On 12 January 2011, a special EGM was held which set out the proposals that would save Glentoran from oblivion and change radically how the club is run. The vote was passed unanimously with the condition that 3 new board members were added, including a new chairman, and the previous chairman stepped down to vice-chairman. On 5 October 2010, Glentoran player
Matty Burrows Matthew Burrows (born 15 October 1985) is a former professional football player from Northern Ireland who played as a midfielder. Burrows scored a jumping backheel volley goal against Portadown to seal victory for Glentoran in injury-time of a ...
scored a backheel goal against
Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...
, which won Burrows the
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
goal of the season and
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
goal of the season. The goal also achieved millions of views on YouTube and went up against world-famous player
Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...
for the FIFA goal of the season award. Burrows narrowly lost out on the award with many saying he did not win because he wasn't a high-profile player. On 7 July 2011, Glentoran beat Macedonian side FK Renova in the Europa League first qualifying round after the Glens overturned a 2–1 away defeat by winning the home leg 2–1 at The Oval and thus levelling the score on aggregate. The match was decided by penalties. Glentoran progressed after winning the shoot-out 3–2. Young started his second season very well, with a 2–1 win away to
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 ...
. However, the 2011–12 season would turn out to be disappointing for Young and the club. Rory Patterson was set to come back at the club, but could not agree on the contract following the finance problems. Patterson joined Glentoran's bitter rivals Linfield. However,
Matty Burrows Matthew Burrows (born 15 October 1985) is a former professional football player from Northern Ireland who played as a midfielder. Burrows scored a jumping backheel volley goal against Portadown to seal victory for Glentoran in injury-time of a ...
returned to the club, but struggled to maintain his place. The club then started to go through a run of poor results and started to lose supporters. Despite beating Linfield three times, Glentoran lost in the
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 ...
final to
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 ...
and continued their losing streak in the league. On 14 January 2012, Glentoran were knocked out of the 2011–12 Irish Cup by Amateur league side Newington Youth Club. Young then resigned after the game. Director of Football Roy Coyle was put in charge for the match against Ballymena United.


Patterson (2012–2015)

Former Lisburn Distillery boss Paul Kirk, former Crusaders and Ballymena United boss Roy Walker, former Cliftonville boss Eddie Patterson, and former
Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...
boss Marty Quinn were among the possible contenders for the job including former player Pat McGibbon and Ian Foster. Walker and Patterson applied for the job along with McGibbon and Foster on 1 February 2012. Patterson was appointed manager of the club on Wednesday 22 February 2012. Glentoran finished the 2011–12 league season in 6th place, a massive 28 points behind the league champions; cross-city rivals Linfield. However, some consolation came from the fact that they beat Linfield in all four league meetings between the sides that season, without conceding a goal in the process. During the summer of 2012, Patterson made several signings such as Marcus Kane, Jay Magee and Mark Clarke. The Glens started the 2012–13 season well with a 3–1 victory over Donegal Celtic. This was followed by three consecutive 1–1 draws against Glenavon, Cliftonville and Linfield. One day before the game against Linfield, the club announced the signing of Stuart Elliott, who was returning to the club where he made his name before moving across the water to play for Hull City,
Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
and Hamilton Academical. Glentoran defeated Ballinamallard United 4–1 and Dungannon Swifts 3–1 in the space of a week, pushing them up to second in the league. The Glens then secured a 0–0 home draw against Coleraine in a top of the table clash before defeating Lisburn Distillery 3–0 a week later. A 1–1 draw against Ballymena United at the Showgrounds made it nine league games unbeaten from the start of the season. However, the unbeaten run came to an end in the next game when Crusaders won 2–0 at Seaview on 6 October 2012, just 5 days after an enthralling County Antrim Shield quarter-final defeat against Linfield which saw three goals in the final minutes of the game, ending 3–2 to Linfield. One week after the Crusaders loss, Glentoran was beaten for the second successive league game (their first home loss of the season), when Portadown won 1–0 at The Oval. The club's financial problems would soon come to light again. In November 2012 it was reported that the squad had refused to train because they had not received their wages for two months. If the problem continued, it may have reached the stage where the players would have the right to be released from their contracts. Back on the field, the club had mixed results in the next six league games. Three wins, a draw, and two defeats which included a disappointing 2–1 loss away to Donegal Celtic, left the Glens sitting in fifth place in the league at the end of November, twelve points behind pacesetters Cliftonville. The 2012–13 league campaign ultimately ended with the club finishing fourth in the table. However, the season ended on a high note as the Glens overcame favourites and newly crowned league champions
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 ...
3–1 after extra time in the Irish Cup final on 4 May 2013. This was the club's first Irish Cup win in nine years. In the 2014–15 Season Glentoran won another Irish cup against
Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...
and the 2nd under Eddie Patterson. The game was played at The Oval because construction work at Windsor park had gone wrong and the Kop stand was deemed unstable and needed to be knocked down. The game finished 1–0 after a very wet afternoon in East Belfast. After defeating Carrick Rangers 2–0 at home, Eddie Patterson was sacked. Former manager Roy Coyle took over for the next game as caretaker boss.


Kernaghan (2015–2016)

On 9 November 2015 Alan Kernaghan was appointed as Glentoran manager. Kernaghan started with some promising results and managed to end the 2015/16 season in 5th Position.The Glens made several signings that summer in the hope of returning to the top 3 and returning to regular European football signing included former Ballymena United goalkeeper Dwayne Nelson,
Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...
defender Ross Redman, resigned former player James Ferrin, Eric Foley from Galway United and the signing of Rangers Spanish legend Nacho Novo the Glens started the season inconsistently with two 1–0 wins against Dungannon Swifts and
Portadown Portadown ( ) is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. The town is based on the River Bann in the north of the county, about southwest of Belfast. It is in the Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council area and had a population ...
and two defeats against
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 ...
and struggling Carrick Rangers. The pressure starting to mount on Kernaghan was severely increased when they were beaten 4–1 by
Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...
with many thinking the writing was on the wall for Kernaghan reign as manager and following a shock 3–2 League Cup defeat to Championship side Annagh United, Kernaghan resigned as manager of Glentoran.


Haveron (2016–2018)

Gary Haveron became manager on 28 September 2016. In January 2017, Glentoran suffered a 2–1
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 ...
5th Round defeat at the Oval to fierce rivals Linfield after extra time. Haveron was sacked by the club on 21 February 2018, following a 2–1 defeat to Ards at the Oval, with the club citing his performances were not good enough. The team was sixth in the league at that stage. Haveron did, however, lead the Glens to a 2017 Boxing Day victory, beating Linfield 2–1.


McFall (2018–2019)

Following Haverons dismissal, Glentoran reappointed Ronnie McFall as manager. A management reshuffle was announced which saw Gary Smyth become his assistant manager and Paul Leeman become a coach at the club. Kieran Harding was also an assistant to McFall. McFalls second spell proved unsuccessful. McFall left the club on 3 January 2019. At that point, the team were 9th in the league table, 5 points above the relegation zone.


Smyth (2019)

Gary Smyth became the caretaker manager of Glentoran on 3 January 2019. His first match was a 4–1 defeat to Crusaders in the Irish Cup. Paul Leeman was his assistant, with Kieran Harding, who was assistant to McFall becoming a coach. The months after saw an improvement in form. Smyth, who did not hold the required coaching qualifications to lead the club into the playoffs or UEFA competition was replaced on 31 March 2019, the deadline day for UEFA Licensing by Mick McDermott.


New ownership and management (2019–)

Mick McDermott became Glentoran manager as part of a deal involving new investment in the club, which was approved by 96% of shareholders at an EGM on 16 May 2019. Paul Millar returned as assistant manager, while Kieran Harding stayed on as coach. However, Gary Smyth and Paul Leeman were absent from the dugout in subsequent matches. On 21 May, the club announced Smyth’s departure, a decision that divided fans. Leeman left two days later, despite both being offered their previous roles under the new management team. On 4 February 2020, the Glentoran Chairman Stephen Henderson announced on behalf of the club, that it was finally free of external debt. Once having been £1.77 million in the red, the Board of Directors had cleared 80% of the debt across the decade and prior to the new investment in the club. A combination of the investor and the old board then settled the final remaining debt with the last outstanding creditor. During McDermott's first full season in charge at the East Belfast club, he and Millar led the side to victory in the Irish Cup final on 31 July 2020. Glentoran defeated Ballymena United 2–1 in the final after extra-time, with goals coming from Paul O'Neill and Robbie McDaid. McDermott was replaced by Rodney McAree on 17 January 2023. McAree managed Glentoran until the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, and guided them to European qualification. In June 2023, McAree departed Glentoran and was replaced by former Linfield manager,
Warren Feeney Warren James Feeney (born 17 January 1981) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional Association football, footballer who manages club Weymouth F.C., Weymouth. As a player he was a Forward (association football), forward who ...
. This move was one in that was viewed controversially by many Glentoran supporters, with Feeney’s Linfield history and lack of managerial success being two of the biggest sticking points with Glens fans. In July 2023, Glentoran were involved in a record-breaking Europa Conference League game against Gzira United from Malta. The first leg finished 2-2, with the second leg finishing 1-1. The tie then went to extra time and penalties, with Gzira winning 14–13 on penalties. This was the highest scoring penalty shoot-out ever in European competition. Feeney left the club by mutual consent on 15 March 2024, following a major backlash from most of the fans supporters clubs. Declan Devine was subsequently appointed as caretaker until the end of the season.


Stadium and redevelopment

In March 2003, the club's board of directors advised the shareholders of Glentoran Recreation Company Ltd to sell the Oval to a property development holding company called Girona. To date, no new ground has materialised. A campaign waged by a group of volunteer supporters called Rest In East, was then set up to keep the club in east Belfast. The club's board of directors have suggested moving close to Comber, well outside the city bounds of
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 ...
, which the majority of supporters firmly oppose. On 3 November 2005 a fans forum voted 417–0 in favour of forming Glentoran Community Trust, the first supporters' trust to be formed in Northern Ireland. It was officially formed on 15 May 2006 and registered with the Registry of Companies Belfast under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts 1965–1978. The trust sits completely independent of the parent club, giving the ordinary non-shareholding supporter a voice. On 29 January 2008, the GCT took another historic step, when one of its members, Stephen Henderson was elected to the board of directors by the shareholders of Glentoran FC, with the most votes ever gained in an election. This would prove an important step for the club during the financial crisis that would soon engulf it. On 12 January 2011, a resolution was passed that gives the GCT two permanent board members. Recently, Glentoran formed a strategic alliance partnership with Insaka AFC, the football club of the African Youth Diaspora in the Irish Republic by forming Insaka-Glentoran Football Academy at the same time becoming the first club on the island of Ireland to adopt a whole club approach to the UEFA 'Respect' campaign. On 24 May 2016, supporters approved a board recommendation, at the club end of season AGM, to demolish and redevelop The Oval into a modern new community-based stadium, over alternative proposed moves to sites at Sydenham and Titanic Quarter. Funding will come from a £10million amount that has been on hold for the Glens under the Government's £110m sports grounds improvement programme that has led to the creation of the new Windsor Park and Ulster Rugby's Kingspan Stadium in tandem with redevelopment at venues across the country. In March 2021 Glentoran submitted plans to redevelop
The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...
, at cost of £8m to £10m. However the plans were suspended after the 2022 collapse of Stormont, as funding could not be secured.


European record


Overview


Matches


UEFA ranking


Players


Current squad


On loan


Academy

Glentoran runs the Glentoran Academy, to help promote football to younger players. It is the fastest growing football academy in the country and includes players, both boys and girls from the age of 4. The academy also includes a disability section and a Polish language section, where playing for the team requires attendance at training and at English language classes. In 2015–16, the club had 44 players representing Northern Ireland at different age groups, twice as many as any other club. In the summer of 2016, 4 more players left the academy to take up places at English professional clubs academies. The academy was set up in June 2008.


Managerial history

:''See .'' List only counts permanent managers. * Sam Jennings (1936–38) * Louis Page (1939–40) * Frank Thompson (1945–47) * Frank Grice (1948–55) * Jimmy McIntosh (1955–57) * Ken Chisholm (1958) * Tommy Briggs (1959–60) * Alex Young (1968) * Peter McParland (1968–71) * Kieran Dowd (1971/72) * Alex McCrae (1972) * George Eastham Sr. (1972–74) * Arthur Stewart (1977–78) * Ronnie McFall (1979–84) * Billy Johnston (1985–87) * Tommy Jackson (1987–93) * Robert Strain (1993/94) * Tommy Cassidy (1994–97) * Roy Coyle (1997–2006) * Paul Millar (2006–07) * Alan McDonald (2007–10) * Scott Young (2010–12) * Eddie Patterson (26 February 2012 – 17 October 2015) * Alan Kernaghan (9 November 2015 – 30 August 2016) * Gary Haveron (28 September 2016 – 21 February 2018) * Ronnie McFall (22 February 2018 – 3 January 2019) * Gary Smyth (3 January 2019 – 31 March 2019) * Mick McDermott (1 April 2019 – 17 January 2023) * Rodney McAree (17 January 2023 – 4 June 2023) *
Warren Feeney Warren James Feeney (born 17 January 1981) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional Association football, footballer who manages club Weymouth F.C., Weymouth. As a player he was a Forward (association football), forward who ...
(5 June 2023 – 15 March 2024) * Declan Devine (22 April 2024 –)


Honours


Senior honours

* Irish League/Irish Premier League/IFA Premiership: 23 ** 1893–94, 1896–97,
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 ...
, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1920–21, 1924–25, 1930–31, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1976–77, 1980–81, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1998–99, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2008–09 *
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 ...
: 23 ** 1913–14, 1916–17, 1920–21, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1934–35, 1950–51, 1965–66, 1972–73, 1982–83, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1995–96, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2019–20 * Irish League Cup: 7 ** 1988–89, 1990–91, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2009–10 *
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 ...
: 27 ** 1900–01, 1901–02, 1910–11, 1915–16, 1917–18, 1920–21, 1924–25, 1930–31, 1939–40, 1940–41, 1943–44, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1956–57, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1977–78, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1989–90, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2024–25 * Charity Shield: 2 **1992 (shared), 2015 Defunct competitions * Gold Cup: 14 ** 1916–17, 1951–52, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1966–67, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1982–83, 1986–87, 1991–92, 1994–95, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01 * City Cup: 15 ** 1896–97, 1898–99, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1913–14, 1914–15, 1931–32, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1956–57, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1972–73, 1974–75 * Ulster Cup: 9 ** 1950–51, 1952–53, 1966–67, 1976–77, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1988–89, 1989–90 * Belfast Charity Cup: 8 ** 1895–96, 1901–02, 1906–07, 1910–11, 1922–23, 1924–25, 1925–26 (shared), 1928–29 (shared) * Floodlit Cup: 2 ** 1987–88, 1989–90 * County Antrim Centenary Chalice: 1 ** 1987–88 * Belfast City Cup: 3 ** 1915–16, 1916–17, 1918–19 (shared) * Substitute Gold Cup: 1 ** 1941–42


All-Ireland honours

* Blaxnit Cup: 1 ** 1972–73 * Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup: 1 ** 1943–44


European honours

* Vienna Cup: 1 (Not a real European Cup) **1913–14


Intermediate honours

''Honours won by Glentoran II'' *
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 ...
: 1 ** 1908–09 * Irish League B Division: 1 **1958–59 * Irish Intermediate League: 4 **1915–16, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1929–30 * B Division Section 2/Reserve League: 8 **1985–86, 1986–87, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03 *
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 ...
: 9 **1893–94, 1897–98, 1908–09, 1912–13, 1915–16, 1917–18, 1930–31, 1940–41, 1961–62 * George Wilson Cup: 11 **1965–66, 1966–67, 1979–80, 1986–87, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14 * Steel & Sons Cup: 13 **1904–05, 1908–09, 1910–11, 1914–15, 1918–19, 1932–33, 1937–38, 1957–58, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1989–90, 2000–01, 2001–02 * McElroy Cup: 4 **1915–16, 1917–18, 1933–34 (shared), 1938–39


Junior honours

''Honours won by Glentoran II'' * Irish Junior League: 6 ** 1896–97, 1897–98, 1901–02, 1904–05, 1908–09, 1909–10 *Irish Junior Cup: 1 ** 1889–90


Notes


References


See also

* Glentoran Women


External links


Official Website

Glentoran Community Trust – the first ever Supporters Trust in Northern Ireland

BallymacGSC.com – Popular Supporters Club Website & Away Bus Information


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