Portstewart F.C.

Portstewart
Full name Portstewart Football Club
Nickname(s) The Seahawks
Founded 1968
Ground Mullaghacall, Portstewart, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Chairman Eamonn Murray
Manager Johnny Law
League NIFL Premier Intermediate League
2017–18 7th

Portstewart Football Club is an intermediate, Northern Irish football club from Portstewart, County Londonderry. The club was founded in 1968[1] and currently plays in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League. The club's main colours are sky blue and navy. Portstewart are nicknamed "The Seahawks". Portstewart Reserves play in the Coleraine and District Morning League[2].

History

Although there are records of teams playing under the name of Portstewart as far back as 1926, Portstewart Football Club was founded in 1968, to play in the Castlerock and Coleraine District League afternoon section. Led by Tony McKeague, Portstewart won the league and the Doherty Cup in their debut season. The next season the club progressed into the North West League Division 2 and earned promotion to the North West Division 1.

Portstewart took another stride forward in 1979, when they applied to join the Northern Ireland Intermediate League (NIIL). The most defining moment in the club's history came when they appointed Frankie Moffatt, for the first of two spells, as manager in 1984. Moffatt delivered the league title in his first year in charge and followed this up with success in the NIIL Challenge Cup and NIIl League Cup. Following spells at Ballymoney United and then Coleraine, Moffatt returned as manager in 1991.

Portstewart created history in 1994, when they defeated Limavady Utd 1–0 in the William Youngers Intermediate Cup final, becoming the first junior team in over 100 years of the competition to lift the trophy. In 2003, Portstewart were accepted into newly created Irish league Division 2.

Moffatt's decision to step down as manager resulted in his assistant Trevor McKendry taking charge of team affairs, and under his leadership Portstewart continued to grow. McKendry led the team to the North West Cup final in 2004 when they were narrowly defeated by Tobermore United. In the 2005/06 season, when Portstewart gained promotion to second tier of Irish League football for the first time in the club's history. Portstewart won the 2007/08 Craig Memorial Cup beating Tobermore United, 2–1.

In 2016, the club was relegated from the Northern Ireland Football League, but was promoted back after only one season[3]. The 2016/17 season saw Portstewart win the Northern Ireland Intermediate League, Intermediate Challenge Cup and Intermediate League Cup. The club also reached the fifth round of the Irish Cup where they got defeated by Glenavon[4].

The 2017/18 season, saw Portstewart get to the final of Craig Memorial Cup, losing 2–1 to Maiden City[5]. On 17th July 2018, the club announced the resignation of long-serving manager and former captain, Gary Taylor. 3 days later, Johnny Law was appointed as the new manager.

Stadium

The club's home ground, Mullaghacall, was officially opened in 1997 by Harry Gregg MBE. A revamp in the Irish league saw a number of clubs demoted in 2008 into an interim league until ground improvements were completed. A new stand was built at Mullaghacall in 2009 and the club once again entered into the reformed Irish league.

Players

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Northern Ireland MF Joel Bradley
Northern Ireland DF Luke Bradley
Northern Ireland DF Ciaran Clark
Northern Ireland MF Ryan Doherty
Northern Ireland DF Jonathan Gawne
Northern Ireland DF Lee Forgrave
Northern Ireland MF Jay Hamilton
Northern Ireland MF Christopher Hanson
Northern Ireland MF Sean Heneghen
Northern Ireland MF Nicky Hudson
Northern Ireland MF Glenn Law
Northern Ireland MF Lee Lindsay
No. Position Player
Northern Ireland GK Joel Maddison
Northern Ireland MF David McClements
Northern Ireland FW Saul McCaughan
Northern Ireland MF Luke McDowell
Northern Ireland MF Conor McKinley
Northern Ireland DF James Peden (captain)
Northern Ireland FW Josh Rohdich
Northern Ireland DF Karl Steele
Northern Ireland FW Johnny Stewart
Poland DF Kamil Stypulkowski
Northern Ireland MF Richard Vauls
Northern Ireland MF Johnny Watt

Honours

Intermediate honours

References

  1. ↑ https://uk.soccerway.com/teams/northern-ireland/portstewart-fc/5070/
  2. ↑ https://www.leaguewebsite.co.uk/coleraineanddistrictleague/TeamDirectories?div=14934&category=all&team=191865
  3. ↑ https://www.colerainetimes.co.uk/sport/football/football-three-and-easy-for-portstewart-1-7981948
  4. ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38544830
  5. ↑ https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/irish-league/maiden-victory-highlights-the-magic-of-cup-in-festive-final-36438494.html
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