Ballymena RFC
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Ballymena Rugby Football Club is a
rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...
club based in the town of
Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 31,205 people at the 2021 United Kingdom census, making it the List of localities in Northern Ireland by population, seven ...
,
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 ...
, playing in Division 2A of the All-Ireland League. It is affiliated to the
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 ...
branch of the
Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) () is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where a ...
. The club fields five adult teams and an under-20s team. In youth rugby, there are under-18s, under-16s and under-14s teams.


Formation

Ballymena RFC was first affiliated to the Northern Branch of the
Irish Rugby Football Union The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) () is the body managing rugby union in the island of Ireland (both Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where a ...
in 1887, but the Club as we know it today, began after the First World War, in 1922, and entered the Junior League in the 1923–24 season, playing their games in the local Demesne. Within the next 10 years, they twice won both the Provincial Towns· Cup and the Junior Challenge Cup, and even competed, albeit with little success, in the Senior Challenge Cup. The Post War Era at the end of the Second World War, the Club reformed, and were now playing at the Showgrounds, using the changing facilities provided by
Ballymena Academy Ballymena Academy is a mixed gender, voluntary Grammar schools in the United Kingdom, grammar school in the market town of Ballymena in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It was founded in 1828 as a small provincial school for children in the tow ...
, whose Headmaster, the late W.H. Mol, had taken over the position of Club President. Ballymena a Senior Club After a number of successful years, which produced successive Junior League Championship wins in 1950–51 and 1951–52, an application was made to the Ulster Branch for admission to the senior ranks, and so, in the 1952–53 season, Ballymena became a Senior Club. Two years later, they moved to their present home at Eaton Park, then a modest 9 acres, which they had acquired from the Mid-Antrim Sports Association, and where other sports like Cricket, Tennis, Men's Hockey and later Athletics, were being catered for. Only the first of these has survived, and continues to flourish as a very successful and thriving Section of the Club. The following couple of decades saw Eaton Park expand to 30-odd acres, and the erection of a pavilion, a function hall, training floodlights, a grandstand and a clubhouse with kitchen facilities. Success After acquiring senior status in 1952, Ballymena had to wait ten years for their next playing success, winning the Senior Cup in 1962–63, benefiting from the leadership and superb place-kicking of captain
Jonathan Moffett Jonathan Phillip "Sugarfoot" Moffett (born November 17, 1954) is an American drummer, songwriter and record producer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Beginning in 1979, Moffett collaborated with the Jackson family, particularly Michael Jackson, ove ...
. This was followed by a number of lean years, which, however, still produced Internationals like
Syd Millar Sydney Millar (23 May 1934 – 10 December 2023) was a Northern Irish rugby union prop who played for Ballymena RFC and Ulster and international rugby for Ireland and the British Lions. After retiring from playing rugby he became a rugby coa ...
, a past-President of the I.R.F.U., and a past-Chairman of the International Rugby Board, Barton McCallan and the legendary W.J. McBride. Trail Blazers in 1970, Ballymena blazed a trail in Irish rugby by appointing a principal coach, Maurice Crabbe, adopting a squad system and setting up a club coaching scheme, and the stage was set for the golden decade that was to follow, during which Ballymena were arguably the foremost club in Ulster and Ireland. They contributed many players to the Ulster Provincial side and to the Irish International team during this period, which came to a climax in 1980 with a major Club tour to Canada.


Honours

* All-Ireland League: 1 ** 2002–03 * Ulster Senior Cup: 14 ** 1962–63, 1969–70, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2011–12, 2012–13 * Ulster Senior League: 14 (3 shared) **1972–73 (shared), 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2004–05 (shared), 2005–06 (shared), 2015–16 *
Ulster Towns Cup The Ulster Towns Cup is a rugby union competition organized by the Ulster Rugby, Ulster branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is confined to teams outside of Belfast. Since the resumption of play after World War II, where a town is represen ...
: 13 ** 1927–28, 1931–32, 1952–53, †1962–63, †1969–70, †1972–73, †1973–74, †1976–77, †1978–79, †1990–91, †1993–94, †1999–2000, †2004–05 * Ulster Junior Cup: 8 ** 1928–29, 1929–30, †1971–72, †1972–73, †1997–98, †1999–2000, †2000–01, †2004–05 † Won by 2nd XV


Notable players

:''See also ''


Ireland

The following Ballymena players have represented
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
at full international level. * Jonny Bell *
Isaac Boss Isaac Boss (born 9 April 1980, in Tokoroa, New Zealand) is a New Zealand–born Irish rugby union former player. His grandmother was born in Glenarm, County Antrim, thereby qualifying him to play for Ireland. He played scrum-half or ful ...
* David Humphreys *
Willie John McBride William James McBride CBE, better known as Willie John McBride (born 6 June 1940), is a former rugby union footballer from Northern Ireland who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He made 63 appearances for Ireland, ...
* Matt McCullough *
Syd Millar Sydney Millar (23 May 1934 – 10 December 2023) was a Northern Irish rugby union prop who played for Ballymena RFC and Ulster and international rugby for Ireland and the British Lions. After retiring from playing rugby he became a rugby coa ...
*
Jonathan Moffett Jonathan Phillip "Sugarfoot" Moffett (born November 17, 1954) is an American drummer, songwriter and record producer from New Orleans, Louisiana. Beginning in 1979, Moffett collaborated with the Jackson family, particularly Michael Jackson, ove ...
* Dion O'Cuinnegain *
Trevor Ringland Trevor Maxwell Ringland, (born 13 November 1959) is a Northern Irish solicitor, former rugby union player and unionist politician. From June 2013 to July 2014, he served as co-chairman of the NI Conservatives. After attending Larne Grammar Sch ...
* Gary Longwell * Steve Smith * James Topping * Jamie Smith * Andrew Trimble * Bryan Young * Luke Marshall * Chris Henry


British and Irish Lions

The following Ballymena players have also represented the
British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...
.''The Ireland Rugby Miscellany'' (2007): Ciaran Cronin *
Willie John McBride William James McBride CBE, better known as Willie John McBride (born 6 June 1940), is a former rugby union footballer from Northern Ireland who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He made 63 appearances for Ireland, ...
:
1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
,
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
,
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
,
1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...
,
1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
*
Syd Millar Sydney Millar (23 May 1934 – 10 December 2023) was a Northern Irish rugby union prop who played for Ballymena RFC and Ulster and international rugby for Ireland and the British Lions. After retiring from playing rugby he became a rugby coa ...
:
1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
,
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
*
Trevor Ringland Trevor Maxwell Ringland, (born 13 November 1959) is a Northern Irish solicitor, former rugby union player and unionist politician. From June 2013 to July 2014, he served as co-chairman of the NI Conservatives. After attending Larne Grammar Sch ...
:
1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...
* Steve Smith:
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
*
Tommy Seymour Thomas Samuel Fenwick Seymour (born 1 July 1988) is a Scottish former professional rugby union player. He made 55 international appearances for the Scotland national rugby union team 2013–2019, scoring 20 tries which placed him fourth-top try ...
:
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...


References


External links

* {{Rugby union in Ulster Rugby union teams in Ireland Rugby union clubs in Northern Ireland Rugby union clubs in County Antrim Rugby clubs established in 1887 Sport in Ballymena All-Ireland League rugby union clubs Ulster Senior League (rugby union) teams