Tobermore United Football Club is an intermediate,

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 Premier Intermediate League The NIFL Premier Intermediate League (Known as the Playr-Fit NIFL Premier Intermediate League for sponsorship reasons) is the third level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national association football league in Northern Ireland, and t ...

History

The club, founded in 1965, is based in

Tobermore Tobermore (), ) is a small village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland named after the townland of Tobermore (townland), Tobermore. The village, which has a predominantly Protestant population, lies south-south-west of Maghera and north- ...

, near

Magherafelt Magherafelt ( ; , ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,071 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county an ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

. The club's main colours are red and black. Tobermore United is the only football club in Northern Ireland that

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 ...

ever played competitively for. However, it was only for one match, on 11 February 1984, after many years of his decline, and Tobermore lost 7–0 to

Ballymena United Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The club has been man ...

. The club has a youth development scheme and it was awarded official Football Development Centre (FDC) status by the IFA. It has teams at under-11, under-12, under-14 and under-16 level. In the 2010/11 season, the club gained promotion to

IFA Championship 1 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 ...

by finishing 2nd in

IFA Championship 2 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 ...

, but were relegated again two-years later. In the 2016/17 season, the IFA Championship 2 was changed to the

. In its inaugural season, Tobermore finished 5th. In the 2018/19 season, Tobermore finished in 3rd place in the Premier Intermediate League. Following the curtailed 2019–20 Premier Intermediate League season, Tobermore finished 11th and technically bottom of the league however weren't relegated due to no appropriate promotion candidates, and given the league had already lost

Lurgan Celtic Lurgan Celtic Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate football club based in Lurgan, County Armagh, that currently plays in the Mid-Ulster Football League Junior Division 1. The club was founded 1903 and reformed in 1970, and plays in a s ...

who had withdrawn. Due to

Covid-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, the 2020/21 season wasn't played, and the Premier Intermediate League began again in the 2021/22 season. Tobermore finished bottom once again, but were not relegated as there were 11 teams in the league when there were meant to be 12 ( Ballymacash Rangers F.C. were promoted to the Premier Intermediate League and nobody was relegated to allow a 12-team league for the following season). In the 2022/23 season, Tobermore finished 6th in the

, making it into the top section of the split but finishing bottom of it.

Ground

The club plays its home matches at Fortwilliam Park outside Tobermore village. It has capacity for approximately 1,500 spectators. In 1984, it hosted a crowd of approximately 4,000 when

played his only competitive club match in Northern Ireland. The match, an

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 ...

tie between Tobermore United and

, ended 0-7 to Ballymena.

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 ...

: 3 **1980–81, 1989–90, 2006–07

Intermediate honours

* IFA Intermediate League Second Division: 1 **2004–05 *

Craig Memorial Cup The Craig Memorial Cup, also known as the William Craig Memorial Cup is an intermediate football competition in Northern Ireland run by the North West of Ireland Football Association. The competition culminates in the final which has traditionall ...

: 6 **1980–81, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2005–06, 2009–10 *

Northern Ireland Intermediate League The Northern Ireland Intermediate League was an amateur intermediate league based in the north-west region of Northern Ireland. As one of the leagues in the 4th tier of Northern Irish football, the league champions could be promoted to the NIFL P ...

: 3 **1978–79, 1981–82, 1982–83 *Northern Ireland Intermediate League Cup: 2 **1978–79, 1981–82 *North West Intermediate Cup Winners: 2 **1989–90, 2005–06

References

External links

Tobermore United (on nifootballleague.com)
{{NIFL league Association football clubs established in 1965 Association football clubs in Northern Ireland Association football clubs in County Londonderry 1965 establishments in Northern Ireland NIFL Premier Intermediate League clubs