Loughgall 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 currently 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 ...

History

The club, founded in 1967, is situated in the village of

Loughgall Loughgall ( ; ) is a small village, townland (of 131 acres) and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the historic Barony (Ireland), baronies of Armagh (barony), Armagh and Oneilland West. It had a ...

, near

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

and they play their home games in the village at

Lakeview Park Loughgall Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Ireland, Northern Irish football (soccer), football club currently playing in the NIFL Championship. History The club, founded in 1967, is situated in the village of Loughgall, near Arma ...

. The club was accepted into the old Irish League B Division in 1991, having played largely at junior level prior. Alfie Wylie is their longest serving manager, being in charge from 1986 to 1999. In the 1996–97 season, the club would have a good season, notably defeating

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 ...

in the League Cup, winning the Bob Radcliffe cup and reaching the semi-final of the Irish Cup. In the space of four years, the Lakeview Park side would win four consecutive B Divisions however would not be granted election to the 1st Division, being overlooked for other, arguably bigger clubs further down the league table.

First Premiership foray, Championship era and Premiership return (2004-)

They achieved

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

status in 2004 on promotion to the Irish Premier League, but reverted to intermediate status upon relegation in 2007. In 2007, under the management of Niall Currie, the club had their most successful season, winning the first division, Bob Radciffe, Mid Ulster Cup, Intermediate Cup and Carnegie League Cup. The villagers would win the league again in 2009–10 but would not be promoted. On 3 March 2018, Loughgall defeated Glenavon 2–1 to reach the semi-final of 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 ...

for the first time since 1997. In April 2023, the club would return to 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 ...

for the first time since 2007, following a 3–1 win away to Dundela. In being promoted, the village of

would become the smallest settlement, with a population of 283, to have a top flight team in Europe. The club would start their season away to Newry City. The club would perform incredibly well in the top flight, securing a notable victory over champions

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

, and finishing well clear of the relegation zone. The villagers plaudits would see manager Dean Smith receive Manager of the Year from the NIFWA. Striker Benji Magee had been subject of significant interest from

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

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 ...

and

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

following a strong campaign with the club, before securing a move to champions

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

in August 2024.

Current squad

Managerial history

* Noel Willis (1967–70) * George Willis (1970–76) * Sam Robinson (1977–81) * Raymond Nesbitt (1983–84) * Willie Forbes (1984–85) * Alfie Wylie (1986–99) * Alan Fraser (1999) * Ronnie Cromie (1999–01) * Jimmy Gardiner (2001–06) * Shane Reddish (2006–07) * Niall Currie (2007–Feb 2011) * Colin Malone (May 2011–Aug 2013) * Gary McKinstry (Aug 2013–Dec 2013) * Brian Adair (Dec 2013–Dec 2014) * Noel Mitchell (Jan 2015–May 2015) * Stephen Uprichard and

Steven Hawe Steven Hawe (born 23 December 1980) is a Northern Irish former footballer who played as a defender for both Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, app ...

(May 2015–November 2016) * Dean Smith (November 2016-March 2025)

Honours

Senior honours

: 1 **

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Mid-Ulster Cup The Mid-Ulster Cup is a senior football competition in Northern Ireland run by the Mid-Ulster Football Association (founded 2 April 1887). The competition has historically featured teams based in County Armagh, east County Tyrone, and west Co ...

: 3 **2003–04, 2007–08, 2019–20 (Note: The NIFL Championship gained senior status in 2016, having previously been an intermediate competition.)

Intermediate honours

* Irish League B Division/First Division /IFA Intermediate League/IFA Championship: 7 **1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2003–04, 2007–08, 2009–10 *

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 ...

: 2 **1997–98, 2007–08 * IFA Intermediate League Cup: 1 **2007–08 *

Bob Radcliffe Cup The Bob Radcliffe Memorial Cup is an intermediate football competition in Northern Ireland run by the Mid-Ulster Football Association. It was introduced in 1978. The competition culminates in the final which has traditionally been played on Boxi ...

: 12 **1978–79, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2012–13, 2014–15

References

External links

Loughgall FC Website
{{NIFL league Association football clubs established in 1967 Association football clubs in Northern Ireland NIFL Championship clubs Association football clubs in County Armagh 1967 establishments in Northern Ireland