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Early
History of Ards FC
 the
following has been reproduced from an
article by Dennis S Nash,
which appeared in the
Newtownards Chronicle on 30th December
2004
Although the official start date of Ards FC has correctly been accepted as
being 1902, the move to set up a team can in fact be traced right back to 1899
to a meeting in the main office of Webb & Co. Ltd.
WS Adams, who was a
manager at the weaving firm, can be regarded as the man who first raised the
possibility of having a football team in Newtownards.
Mr Adams had been paying a visit to Scotland to conduct a survey of work
practices and was greatly impressed by the recreational amenities which were so
much in evidence. Upon his return he set about investigating means whereby
Webb's could follow this trend and it was not long before his inquiries led to
the thought of forming a football club in the town.
Tom Robinson, who lived in the Red Row just over from the factory on the
Crawfordsburn Road, was endorsed as team captain and a steering committee was
immediately put in place. James Freeland, who was cashier at Webb's, accepted
the position of secretary, A Adams was placed as treasurer and Tom White became
the first chairman of Ards FC.
Accounts from the time do confirm that the team started to use a pitch down
at the recreation ground and Messrs Graham, Foster, Robinson and White undertook the task of preparing the markings and getting matters ready
for a series of friendly fixtures. This schedule of friendlies involved other
teams from Newtownards as well as sides from Comber and the outlying districts.
When the 1900/01 season came around the team extended the scope of their
activities and teams from around Belfast visited the Comber Road headquarters as
the programme of friendly fixtures continued. It was in 1902 that Ards entered
the competitive arena as members of the Junior League.
The arrival into serious competition was accompanied by the procuring of a
brand new set of jerseys and it is interesting to realise that for their first
appearance in the Junior League the team wore all red jerseys. This strip, made
from 'extra heavy wool', was woven by Messrs Stevenson & Co of Newtownards.
In their first season the team fared extremely well and ended up as joint
holders with Linfield Swifts of the Junior Charity Shield.
Players who played throughout the series of friendlies included Mike
Trolan,
"Leash" Francis, Charlie Robb, "Whoffey" Frances, Billy
McIvor, John McClean, "Char" Runnigan, Robert James McMillan and Jimmy
Douglas.
It is also interesting to note that when the team started playing competitive
matches on the recreation ground, an admission charge of 3d was levied. Season
tickets were made available right from the start and these were sold for five
shillings. One of the very early home games in the Junior League attracted a
gate of £6 and while this may be regarded as very little by today's standards
it must be remember that the total represented a crowd in advance of 700.
Players and officials grouped for one of the earliest photographs taken of
the club included John Kinnaird, Charlie Robb, James Murphy, Samuel Carlyle, C
Murphy, Jim Nixon, J Ritchie, James Jones, Sam Robinson, George Heaney, Davy
Thompson, Billy McIvor, Sergeant Atchison, James Martin, John Savage, Samuel
Walker, Bob McKay, George Murphy, Bob McMillan, Davy Boal, Ned Harvey, David
Moore, John McClean, Char Runnigan and of course Tom Robinson.
Tom captained the team for the first two seasons but eventually moved to live
in England where he died at Catherham, Surrey in April 1968 at the age of 89.
His body was brought back to Newtownards and he is buried in Movilla Cemetery.
It is highly significant that, although the story behind this particular
research was written over 100 years ago, there is still a direct descendant from
at least one of the characters from that story still connected to the Ards
Football Club. That descendent is Billy Graham and he stills keeps followers of
Ards fully informed with all the facts and figures relating to times stretching
back over half a century.
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