50 Years - The Story of the Championship Season PART ONE

At the end of the 1956/57 season Ards had secured a 4th place finish in the Irish League. Just three months later Ards would embark on an historic season that would see the club reach heights never before accomplished.

Prior to this one and only championship winning season, Ards had twice been Irish Cup winners and had claimed other silverwear in the form of the Ulster Cup and County Antrim Shield. But never before had a serious challenge been mounted for the top prize.

All that changed in the summer of 1957 when Ards began their eleventh year back in senior football following the war. Younger supporters may be interested and even astonished to learn that for the first four months of the season, Ards would not be involved in league action. It was not until Saturday 30th November that action in the Irish League would get underway. Clubs had to first compete in the Ulster Cup, the Gold Cup and finally the City Cup, meaning some nineteen matches would go before the kick-off of any real action.

So this championship season begins not with a league match but a trip to Clandeboye Park on 17th August 1957 to play Bangor in the Ulster Cup. Reports claim that Ards appeared to be easily in control of this game, but took time to turn their possession into chances and in fact fell behind to an Irwin strike on 19 minutes. Approaching half-time however, Ards finally found their feet and goals from McCaffrey and McConnell had the visitors in front. On 48 minutes a corner from Billy Humphries flew straight into the net and that took the steam well and truly out of Bangor. Another two goals followed in the final minutes, one each for Richardson and McCaffrey to round off a 5-1 opening day win.

Between 21st and 31st August Ards were to play four further Ulster Cup games that would make or break our chances of reaching the knock-out stages. Two goals from Billy Humphries in a three-all draw with Glenavon put the side on three points (only two for a win remember) before a defeat to eventual tournament winners Distillery brought the side down to earth. To their credit Ards then went to Shamrock Park to defeat Portadown 6-1, though the Mid-Ulster side had at best been only averaging a mid-table finish for the past number of seasons.

Alas a 4-0 defeat to Linfield in the final group match on the final day of August ended Ards' interest in the competition but led in interestingly to a second meeting of the season with Bangor. This time the opening round of the Gold Cup was being contested and Ards again made the short journey to Bangor to come away with a victory. A Hugh Lowry hat-trick single-handedly swept the Bangor challenge aside and Ards would go to face Ballymena in mid-September.

The first Saturday in September then saw the start of the City Cup, a league-based competition that involved all twelve sides playing each other once only. Ards first faced Coleraine away, the fifth game out of seven on the road so far, and inflicted upon Coleraine their first home defeat of the season. Goals from Lawther and Richardson had Ards two in front by the break before Liam Munroe made it three and Lawther claimed a second a minute later. Waterstone scored Coleraine's only consolation in the 4-1 defeat and Ards were off and running in the City Cup... to be continued