Wartime History of Ards FC

the following has been adapted from
articles by Dennis S Nash, which appeared in the
Newtownards Chronicle on 10th and 24th March 2005

We really need to trace this story right back to Saturday February 22, 1941 to be able to grasp the atmosphere and circumstances ensuing from a period when the horror and hardship of World War II was a current and ever present sore in the lives of the people all over Britain.

Against such a background, football was always going to be kept in perspective and many of the postponements were the results of the constantly fluctuating fortunes as the armed struggle raged.

At that time Ards FC were in the Intermediate League and the composition of the team from one game to the next would regularly alter and shift according to the commitments of individual players within the different branches of the defence services. Spectator attendance at the games was also subject to the swings and changes brought about by prevailing circumstances and the fixture programme was played out against an ever changing and uncertain backcloth.

Even though Ards were an intermediate team at the time, they were accorded a draw in the Irish Cup and on Saturday February 22, 1941 they travelled to Windsor Park to take on the mighty Linfield side in a first round engagement. Jock Short netted a penalty that day but Ards lost 4-1. The team against Linfield was: John Davidson, Jack Cochrane, Walter Mitchell, Jock Short, Cecil Crawford, Hugh Rankin (captain), McCormack, Billy Beattie, Higson, Walter Hollinger and Moore.

The following week, Saturday March 1, 1941, Ards beat Bangor Reserves in the first round of the County Antrim Shield competition. The second round of the County Antrim came at Castlereagh Park on Wednesday March 19 but Distillery ended local interest in that particular tournament with a big 5-0 win.

The real story behind Ards' success at the start of the 1940s, arrived with the advent of the McElroy Cup competition shortly after that. The trail which was to lead to cup glory, actually started rather ignominiously when the team played out a first round draw in an away game with Brantwood. Not only was the result rather unassuming but the actual game itself turned out to be an intimidating show of passion with a player from each side ordered off.

The replay at Castlereagh Park, which took place on Saturday April 12, 1941, inevitably attracted great interest and Ards really excited the crowds with a highly convincing 6-1 victory. The Ards team was: John Davidson, Jimmy Henderson, Walter Mitchell, Jock Short, Cecil Crawford, Hugh Rankin, McCormack, Billy Beattie, Davy Burton, Charlie Fitzsimmons and Moore.

In the second round, Ards came out of the hat with Bangor and that affair was, as could be expected, one which both sets of followers looked forward to with mounting enthusiasm. It was played at Castlereagh Park on April 26, 1941 and Ards moved into the semi-finals with a very satisfying 2-0 win.

Incidentally, in the 1940/41 season, Bangor won the Intermediate Championship with Celtic Seconds runners-up and Ards finishing in third place. It was at that point that affairs in the McElroy Cup competition started to go awry. Circumstances started to crowd up the end of the season and the League authorities decided that the two semi-finals, along with the ensuing final, would have to be held over to the start of the 1941/42 campaign.

It was on Friday June 6, 1941 that Ards held their annual general meeting. The occasion was staged in the Town Hall and during the formalities it was revealed that profit totals for the year had reached a figure of close on £100. The elections for season 1941/42 took place with the results being: Chairman, J Martin Poots; Secretary, Normal Boal; Treasurer, Shaw Montgomery; Committee, Robert W Maccrory, Jack Kelly, RW Cassells, Hugh M Donaldson, George Tate, William Bailie, Tylor Gibson, Samuel Ferguson, John J Black, WA McKay, Jack Boyd, William McMillan, Harry Cavan, John Brown, Samuel Corry and David Shields.

When the 1941/42 season opened, Ards played a game against Bangor on Saturday August 24, 1941 and it will be of immense interest to all followers of the club to realise that that day, local lad George McKnight, who was only 16 years of age, made his debut.

Part two