Ballinamallard United Football Club is a semi-professional

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

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 playing in the

NIFL Championship The Northern Ireland Football League Championship (known as the Playr-Fit Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national football league in Northern Ireland. Clubs in the Championsh ...

. The club, re-formed in 1975 after being dormant since the 1960s, hails from

Ballinamallard Ballinamallard or Bellanamallard (Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 172. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a small village and townland in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 1,364 people in the 2021 C ...

, near

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

, and plays its home matches at

Ferney Park Ferney Park is a football stadium in Ballinamallard, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is the home stadium of Ballinamallard United. It was first used by Ballinamallard United in 1975, when the club was founded. History Since 2006, Fer ...

. Club colours are all royal blue (home), and all white (away).

History

During 2008–09 and the first part of 2009–10, the club played at Holm Park, the home of Armagh City, while Ferney Park was brought up to Championship standard. The club's first match back at its own ground was on 5 December 2009 in its first ever major cup quarter final against Portadown in the League Cup. In February 2011 the club reached its first ever Irish Cup quarter final when it defeated Lisburn Distillery 4–2 after a 6th Round replay at Ferney Park. On 31 March 2012, the club secured promotion to the top flight of Northern Irish football for the first time in their history. A 3–2 win over Bangor secured the 2011–12 IFA Championship 1 title, and promotion to the

2012–13 IFA Premiership The 2012–13 IFA Premiership (known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the 5th season of the IFA Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland, and the 112th season of Northern Ireland Football Lea ...

. They became the first team from

to play senior football. In their first season in the Premiership the target was to avoid relegation. However, they surpassed all expectations, finishing 5th in the table. They secured a 2–2 draw at Ferney Park in their opening Premiership fixture against Dungannon Swifts, and their stand out results during the season included a 1–0 away win over eventual 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 ...

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 ...

in September 2012. They also defeated reigning champions Linfield twice 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 ...

, 3–1 in October 2012 and 1–0 in the post-split match in April 2013. In their second season 2013–14 they finished in 10th place, three points above Warrenpoint Town in the play-off place after going unbeaten in their last 6 games of the season. No play-off was ultimately needed that season. In their third season 2014–15 they finished in 9th place, 2 points above Dungannon Swifts in 10th and 9 points above Warrenpoint Town in the play-off place. The club also made history by reaching its first ever major cup semi final when it beat Glentoran in a penalty shootout in a Wasp Solutions League Cup quarter final at Ferney Park. In the 2015–16 season the Mallard's recorded their first ever win at

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 ...

beating

Glentoran 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 Iris ...

0–2 and they also recorded their first ever win at

Shamrock Park Shamrock Park is a football stadium in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Portadown F.C. Shamrock Park was previously used for stock-car racing, but this has since been discontinued. The stadium is classed as ...

and The

Ballymena Showgrounds The Ballymena Showgrounds is a football stadium in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is home to Ballymena United F.C. and Ballymena United Women F.C. It is owned by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. In addition to men's footba ...

winning 3–0 and 2–1 respectively. The Mallard's

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 ...

campaign was a disappointing one going out in the 5th Round on penalties to

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 ...

after surrendering a two-goal lead in the second half. They reached the Quarter-Finals of the League Cup before being knocked out by eventual finalists

Ards Ards (or ARDS, ARDs) may refer to: Medical * ARDS, Acute respiratory distress syndrome * ARDs, age-related diseases Places * Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland ** Ards (territory), several historical territorial divisions on the Ards Peninsula ...

in another penalty shoot out. The Mallard's contested a thrilling end to the season with Carrick Rangers and Warrenpoint Town with Ballinamallard beating Carrick 1–0 on the final day and Warrenpoint beating

Dungannon Swifts Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the I ...

1–0 meaning Carrick would automatically return to NIFL Championship 1 and Warrenpoint Town would contest the promotion/relegation play-off and the

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh (), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of alleged Laigin or ...

side would be safe. However, in the 89th minute at Taylor's Avenue Carrick Rangers equalized through Mark Surgenor meaning that Carrick would still be automatically relegated to the NIFL Championship 1 but that Ballinamallard would now contest the play-off and Warrenpoint Town would be safe in 10th place. The drama took yet another turn when in the 94th minute of the game at Taylor's Avenue in the final minute of stoppage time, Miguel Chines scored a stunning bicycle kick to win the game for Carrick Rangers meaning in fact that they would be safe prompting wild celebrations from the Carrick supporters meaning now that Ballinamallard would be automatically relegated to Championship 1 and Warrenpoint would contest the play-off. In the final turn, Warrenpoint Town conceded a controversial penalty in the dying seconds of their game with Andrew Mitchell putting it away to make it 1–1 now automatically relegating Warrenpoint Town and Ballinamallard United contesting the play-off with

Institute An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

where they managed to beat the

Drumahoe Drumahoe () is a village and townland in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies to the east of Derry. It was home to Institute F.C., an NIFL Championship football club. The busy A6 road from Belfast to Derry passes through the townland ...

side 2–1 away from home and drew 3–3 at

to secure the club's premier league status for the 2016–17 season. On 13 May 2016 it was announced legendary manager, Whitey Anderson, would be leaving the club after over ten years service.

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

assistant coach Gavin Dykes was appointed as his replacement. The Mallards went on to secure 10th place to guarantee their 6th season 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 ...

. On 30 March 2019 Ballinamallard United reached their first ever

final by beating Warrenpoint Town in a penalty shoot-out. Striker Ryan Campbell scored the winning penalty. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

on 4 May, they lost 3–0 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 ...

. In November 2023, the club appointed former Dergview boss Tommy Canning following the departure of Harry McConkey, who had managed the club since March 2018. Canning would depart the club at the end of the season, citing work commitments and travel for the reason behind his resignation. Mark Stafford, having served under Canning as assistant manager, was named as his successor.

Current squad

Honours

Senior honours

North West Senior Cup The North West Senior Cup or North West Cup is a senior football competition in Northern Ireland run by the North West of Ireland Football Association. Senior and intermediate teams from the North West FA's jurisdiction (which covers County Londo ...

: 2 **2019–20, 2022–23

Intermediate honours

* Irish League Second Division/IFA Championship 1 : 2 **2002–03, 2011–12 *

IFA Reserve League The NIFL Development League (prior to 2016, the NIFL Reserve League) is an intermediate Association football league in Northern Ireland consisting of the reserve teams of the twelve NIFL Premiership clubs. Current members (2022–23) * Ballymena ...

: 1 **2012–13† *

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 ...

: 1 **1994–95 *

Fermanagh & Western Intermediate Cup The Fermanagh & Western Intermediate Cup was an intermediate soccer competition in 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 ...

: 1 **2010–11 *Fermanagh & Western League Championship: 4 **1925–26, 1957–58, 1997–98, 2001–02 *Fermanagh & Western Mulhern Cup: 3 **1954–55, 1988–89, 2010–11 *Fermanagh & Western Reihill Cup: 4 **1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1995–96 † Won by Ballinamallard United II (reserve team)

Youth honours

*Harry Cavan Irish Youth Cup: 3 **2001–02, 2005–06, 2022–23 *IFA Youth League Cup: 1 **2011–12

References

External links

*
Ballinamallard United Statistics and Results at the Irish Football Club Project
{{NIFL league Association football clubs established in 1975 Association football clubs in Northern Ireland NIFL Premiership clubs Association football clubs in County Fermanagh 1975 establishments in Northern Ireland