...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.

Attention turned immediately to the delayed semi-final tie in the McElroy Cup competition. Ards had been paired with Distillery Seconds and the affair took place on Wednesday August 27 1941. Ards, with a goal in the very last minute of play, earned a 4-4 draw but immediately afterwards claimed the tie on account of the fact that Distillery had played at least four ineligible players in their line-out.

The circumstances behind the protest really arose because of the fact that the competition rules clearly stated that all players taking part in a McElroy Cup game had to 'have played at least two games for the team in the current season'.

Distillery claimed that since the game had been held over from the previous season, it was appearances in the 1940/41 season which were applicable. Ards, on the other hand, suggested that the words 'the current season' had to be taken as making reference to the actual season when the match was played. Ards had gone to great pains to make sure that their lineout conformed to the strict interpretation of the rules and the authorities, at a hearing on Friday September 12, 1941, upheld the case and Distillery were eliminated from the tournament.

Celtic Seconds had beaten Cliftonville Olympic in the other semi-final so the scene looked ready for the long awaited final. Not so. Arguments continued about just how the ruling should be administrated and, as the weeks dragged past no date for the final could be agreed. A most interesting game came along in the meantime when, to defy all odds, Ards were drawn against Celtic Seconds in the semi-final of the Steel & Sons Cup. Ards lost that engagement in a replay but still the matter of the pair meeting again in the McElroy final remained unresolved.

With the 1940/41 final still awaiting settlement, the rather farcical situation of the authorities starting to make plans for the first round draw for 1941/42 competition began to create more problems. Just before Christmas on Saturday December 20 1941, to be precise, Ards drew 5-5 with Summerfield in a league game. That particular match was significant for the fact that another local player made his debut that day. The debutant on this occasion was Harold Black. The Ards team was: Davidson, McKnight, McAuley, Cochrane, Martin, Rankin, Patterson, McKnight, Duke, Hollinger and Black.

Once the festive season had cleared, it was back to the task of trying to get the 1940/41 McElroy Cup final played. Attempts were made by Ards to have the game scheduled for Bangor but the suggestions were disregarded and finally it was settled that the match would go ahead at Grosvenor Park on Tuesday April 14, 1942. However, that arrangement too had to be altered because Celtic Seconds had reached the semi-final of the County Antrim Shield and that match was given preference.

Finally, a truly amazing one year and six days after they had played the first round, Ards, at long last, faced the final. It was at Grosvenor Park on Saturday April 18, 1942 that the game was finally played and Ards made the wait worthwhile by winning 3-1. The victorious side was Davidson, McKnight, Crymble, Irvine, Crawford, Rankin, Beattie, McCreary, Hollinger and Black. Todd, McCreary and Crawford scored the goals and Crawford missed a penalty. The gate receipts amounted to £84.

Another trophy quickly followed - the Clements Lyttle. In the early stages of that competition, Ards defeated Naval XI 6-1 in the first round, Lurgan Rangers 4-1 in the second round and Distillery Seconds in the semi-final. The final was played at Grosvenor Park on Tuesday May 26, 1942 and Ards beat Aircraft United 1-0 to bring the Clements Lyttle to Newtownards for the second time. Harold Black scored the wining goal and the team was: Davidson, Feeney, Henderson, McKnight, Crawford, Rankin, Todd, Beattie, Irwin, Hollinger and Black.

Incidentally, Ards United had won the Clements Lyttle previously. In just over four weeks, Ards had won two trophies. However, on the downside, just four days after winning the Clements Lyttle, the team lost the McElroy when they fell 6-1 away to Ballyclare Comrades in a second round match. This result meant that a cup which had been won on April 18 had actually been lost by the end of the following month.

Although the McElroy Cup was won in April 1942, it never actually came to Newtownards. The cup had been lost in air-raids in Belfast the previous year and was never found.

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