 Ards
FC History
adapted from Ards Football Club - The Official History 1923-1988 by Robert Magee continued... Eastham was dismissed as manager in 1970 and was replaced as player-manager by Billy Humphries who had returned from England. Ards were being noted for the great football they were playing, yet somehow were failing to gain any actual success. With a poor season for both of the traditional top sides Linfield and Glentoran in 1972/73 that allowed the Ards challenge to rise and eventually finish second to Crusaders in the league championship. That led to a UEFA Cup appearance and a match with Belgian side Standard Liege. The first leg at home saw 8000 fans witness an historic 3-2 victory, Ards' only ever victory in Europe. The second leg result was a disappointment though as Ards lost 6-1. The following year good times continued and they embarked on their most successful season ever. 1973/74 saw Ards win their greatest haul of four trophies under player-manager Billy Humphries. Perhaps the greatest ever Ards squad formed the famous 'four-trophy team' and won the Ulster and Gold Cups, the Irish Cup and an all-Ireland trophy, the Blaxnit Cup. The Irish Cup final saw Ards play Ballymena at Windsor Park and win the trophy for the fourth and final time with a 2-1 victory.
A couple of weeks later and Ards were defeating Finn Harps and Drogheda on their way to the Blaxnit Cup final against Ballymena. A 3-1 win finished off a superb season for Ards and the Blaxnit trophy remains with Ards today. A disastrous meeting with PSV Eindhoven in the Cup Winners' Cup the following year saw Ards lose 14-1 on aggregate and several of the players who had made up the successful 1973/74 team began to leave the club. For the 74/75 season Ards produced their official Ardsview match programme for the first time. Between 1976-79 Ards finished in a league position of third for four successive seasons.
As the eighties began, the success of the mid-seventies was beginning to seem just a memory, as the side never again regained the promise it had once showed. The club was also losing money and this led to some discontent between the board of directors and some share-holders. This led to a boycott of games and at one such match the attendance was recorded as 63. A number of new faces were brought onto the board and things calmed down for the start of the 82/83 season. In December of that year Humphries was finally dismissed as manager after not such a poor start to the season and it was well into the nineties before he again set foot inside Castlereagh Park. Jimmy Todd eventually took over the side though could produce no further success for the team and the nineties arrived without a single trophy won during the last decade. A short-lived spell by the Irish League's most successful ever manager Roy Coyle ended badly as he departed for Derry City. His replacement Paul Malone, although not the most popular manager did lead the team, under David Jeffrey's captaincy, to the Irish Cup final in 1993, where after three games the side was eventually beaten by local rivals Bangor. At Castlereagh Park, improvements were being made with the construction of a new stand and toilet blocks.
A County Antrim Shield final appearance in late 1993 finally brought an end to the trophy famine and after 19 years Ards had some silverware to polish following a 4-2 victory over Crusaders. The League Cup followed the following year, both trophies won under Roy Coyle, who had returned to the club. There was unrest brewing on the terraces for a number of seasons after that though and many were calling for the replacement of the board, which seemed unable to keep up with the demands of supporters. Financial problems were being highlighted and in 1998 the directors proposed to the shareholders that the Castlereagh Park ground should be sold to pay off debts and the remaining money used to build a new stadium. This was agreed though the contract and amount received for the ground was kept secret. Those directors were replaced in 2000 by a new consortium of businessmen, who had hoped to save the club but they too soon departed.
Relegation from the top flight of the Irish League was followed by three years in the First Division before Trevor Anderson finally lead his side back to the big time by winning the First Division in 2000/01. The truth about the ground sale emerged and it was discovered Ards would have quite a fight to gain any of the money agreed for. The club had been given notice to quit Castlereagh Park by the new owners and for a season Ards played games at Solitude in Belfast. An agreement with new ground owners Morrisons of Scotland ensured Ards their payday, though the money was used paying off creditors whose bills just seemed to be increasing. With little left to build a new stadium Ards found themselves homeless and since 2002/03 have played 'home' games in Carrickfergus, Bangor and Ballyclare. A partnership with the local council should lead to a new stadium being built in Newtownards, but as of the 2011/12 season Ards continue to play as the nomads of Irish League football.
PHOTOS: Adrian Monaghan: Early Ards, 40s programme, 1952 team, 50s Glenavon, George Eastham, 50s Castlereagh Park, 1958 team, Billy Humphries, Lee stand Andrew McCullough: Billy McAvoy, 1974 team, Castlereagh Park demolition Billy Graham: Eindhoven BBC: 1st Division
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First
senior game 25th August 1923, v Barn United (a) First
senior trophy won First
international player League
champions First
European match Four
trophy season Relegation
from senior football Sale
of Castlereagh Park |
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