Willowfield F.C. Explained

Clubname:	Willowfield
Fullname:	Willowfield F.C.
Nickname:	the Willows^[1]
Founded:	1889
Dissolved:	1930
Ground:	Gibson Park
Leftarm1:	000080
Body1:	000080
Rightarm1:	000080
Socks1:	000080

Willowfield F.C. is a defunct intermediate football club which existed in Northern Ireland during the inter-war years.

History

The Willowfield club, associated with and funded by the Willowfield Unionist Club, existed from at least 1889,^[2] and it turned senior in 1918.^{[3] [4]}

In the 1927–28 season, it became the first from outside the Irish League to win the Irish Cup since the League's formation in 1890. It defeated Larne 1–0 in a replay at Windsor Park, the Willows having held the lead in the first game from the 40th to the 85th minute.^[5] Willowfield had previously reached the Irish Cup final in 1923–24, when it lost 1–0 to Queen's Island (again at Windsor Park), the winning goal coming as early as the 2nd minute.^[6]

The club played in the Irish Intermediate League from 1921.^[7] However the club struggled with finance through the 1920s^[8] and folded in 1930.^{[9] [10]} A new amateur club with the same name was founded in 1932^[11] and its greatest success was winning the Clarence Cup in 1935–36, beating Malone R.C. 3–0 in the final.^[12]

Colours

The club wore dark blue shirts, white shorts, and dark blue socks.^{[13] [14]}

Grounds

The club played from 1918 to 1926 at the Cregagh Recreation Grounds (home of Cregagh Cricket Club), and then at the Willowfield Recreation Grounds (now Gibson Park Avenue), which was opened on 4 September 1926.^[15] It is now the home of Malone Rugby Club, who acquired it in 1935.

Honours

Senior honours

• Irish Cup

1

• • 1927–28

Intermediate honours

• Irish Intermediate League

1

• • 1927–28
• Irish Intermediate Cup

2

• • 1923–24, 1927–28
• Steel & Sons Cup

1

• • 1927–28

Willowfield Junior honours

• Irish Junior Cup: 2
  • 1906–07, 1907–08
• Beattie Cup: 3
  • 1914–15, 1915–16, 1922–23
• County Antrim Junior Shield: 1
  • 1916–17†

† Won by Willowfield II

References

1. Irish Challenge Cup . Ireland's Saturday Night . 9 February 1924 . 4.
2. Comber v Willowfield . Ulster Football and Cycling News . 25 October 1889 . 11.
3. Graham Hamilton (ed.). 100 Years of Football: The History of the County Antrim Football Association (Belfast: County Antrim Football Association, 1988), p. 55
4. Jim Weir and Alan Higgins, A History of Willowfield Football (Belfast: Jim Weir and Alan Higgins, 2021), p. 17
5. Local notes and news . Larne Times . 7 April 1928 . 4.
6. This evening's football . Ireland's Saturday Night . 29 March 1924 . 3.
7. Intermediate League . Northern Whig . 6 August 1921 . 3.
8. Willowfield Unionist Club . Northern Whig . 12 February 1926 . 5.
9. Jim Weir and Alan Higgins, A History of Willowfield Football (Belfast: Jim Weir and Alan Higgins, 2021), p. 30
10. Cliftonville Olympic re-elected . Northern Whig . 19 June 1930 . 11.
11. Willowfield F.C. . Ireland's Saturday Night . 27 May 1933 . 2.
12. Clarence Cup final . Belfast News-Letter . 9 May 1936 . 11.
13. The Irish Cup Final . Belfast News-Letter . 31 March 1924 . 3.
14. Celtic defeat Willowfield . Northern Whig . 9 May 1927 . 4.
15. photograph . Belfast Telegraph . 4 September 1926 . 10.