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Ballymena United made a blistering start in their first season in the Premier League in 1997 – 98 and looked to be genuine title challengers by Christmas time as they topped the table after a stunning 4 – 3 victory over reigning Champions Crusaders – which also meant one of the biggest crowds in years at Warden Street for the Boxing Day derby against Coleraine ; with an estimated 7, 000 strong crowd packing into the Showgrounds.
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Ballymena and United
* Ballymena, United Kingdom
Director of Football Roy Coyle was put in charge for the match against Ballymena United.
Former Lisburn Distillery boss Paul Kirk, former Crusaders and Ballymena United boss Roy Walker, former Cliftonville boss Eddie Patterson, and former Coleraine boss Marty Quinn were among the possible contenders for the job including former player Pat McGibbon and Ian Foster.
Baird started his career at Northern Irish club, Ballymena United, before moving to Southampton in 1998.
* Braid United play in the Ballymena Saturday Morning League
Ballymena United is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland.
The club was formed on 7 April 1928 as Ballymena FC but following a dispute regarding illegal payment of amateur players in 1934, the club folded but reformed the following season as Ballymena United FC.
The main club rivals of Ballymena United would be local rivals Coleraine, the traditional ‘ Boxing Day ’ fixture between the two teams attracts large crowds and is one of the most high profile fixtures in the Northern Ireland football calendar.
Ballymena defeated Glentoran, Broadway United and Coleraine en-route to a final showdown with League Champions Belfast Celtic at Solitude.
Immediately attempts were made to reinstate the club but when these were rejected it was suggested that the club be renamed Ballymena United and merge with a junior club, Ballymena Crusaders.
Taking over the senior place vacated by Ballymena FC the previous season Ballymena United approached the new season with some confidence.
Ballymena United finished bottom of the Irish League for the first time, after managing only four league wins over the course of the season.
This run of confidence ran all the way through to the following season, as Ballymena United nearly completed an historic double of the Irish League and Irish Cup – eventually finishing runners-up in both competitions.
However, one year on Ballymena United went one better by lifting the 1940 Irish Cup after a 2 – 0 win over Glenavon in which Sclater and Moore.
Ballymena United did not return to the League until 1946 – 47, when they returned to the Belfast & District League for one season, before the Irish League reformed the following year.
The following season, Ballymena United won the Festival of Britain Cup, beating Crusaders 3 – 0 at Solitude.
In 1957, Scottish born Alex McCrae took over as player-manager of Ballymena United.
The 1958 Irish Cup-winning team was deemed one of the best Ballymena United teams ever to grace the Showgrounds, and it deservedly beat Jackie Milburn ’ s Linfield in the showpiece final – with McGhee and Russell scoring the goals in a 2 – 0 win at the Oval in front of 24, 000 spectators.
Fraser's replacement and the man set to lead Ballymena United into the new century was former Glenavon and Bangor manager, Nigel Best who was appointed in May 1999.
Former Northern Ireland and Ballymena United goalkeeper Tommy Wright took over as manager on a full-time basis – a first for the club.
Walker began his fourth year at Warden Street ahead of the 2011 / 2012, with Ballymena United continuing their slumber as the ' sleeping giant ' of Irish League football.
Ballymena and made
Ballymena ’ s directors refused claiming that they were being made scapegoats for a practice which was widespread among the other clubs in the Irish League.
Ian Paisley was eventually made a freeman of Ballymena in December 2004 instead.
Ballymena and their
The family later bought a paper mill in Ballymena, and were able to produce enough paper not only for their own publication but for the whole province of Ulster.
On 1 December 2005, firmus launched their first supply in Northern Ireland, to the large Michelin tyre factory in Ballymena.
The new club gathered together a number of players from the area and further afield and played their first competitive game on 20 August 1928 in front of a packed Ballymena Showgrounds, against reigning Irish League champions Belfast Celtic ; the ‘ Light Blues ’ lost the game 3 – 0.
However, five days later Ballymena gained their first point in a 2 – 2 away to Larne and created another landmark when Jimmy McCambridge scored the club's first ever goal.
The first win for the new club came in early September when the Braidmen defeated Ards 2 – 1 at Castlereagh Park ; this sparked a remarkable 12-match unbeaten run which lasted until December, the Sky Blues finished a highly respectable 6th in the 14 team Irish League in their debut season, but it was the Irish Cup which saw the ‘ Ballymena Babes ’ shine.
A remarkable 2 – 1 victory over Celtic followed with goals from Jamie Shiels and ‘ Hoody ’ McCambridge as Ballymena FC lifted the showpiece trophy in their first season as a senior club.
Despite the optimism that now followed Ballymena following their successes last season they finished fifth in the table and produced a number of scintillating high-scoring performances throughout the season.
The 1930 – 31 campaign was much the same as the previous season from the men from the Braid ( the river on which Ballymena stands ) as they scored goals freely but could only manage another fifth place finish for their efforts and remarkably a third consecutive Irish Cup final appearance.
They carried this disastrous form into the following season when they suffered a record defeat to Derry City ( 1 – 9 ) and losing the next six games before the board appointed Steve Mitchell as player-manager – he instantly turned things around as Ballymena won 14 of their next 17 games.
Despite the fact that the Irish League had not left Celtic Park between 1936 and 1948 ; Belfast Celtic were forced to leave the Irish League and Ballymena benefited by grabbing some of their talented players, including a new player-manager Billy McMillan.
This left Shiels with a number of totally inexperienced teenagers fighting his cause, however despite their best efforts, slumped to a dismal fifth place finish during the 2001 – 02 season – Ballymena United's lowest ever placing in their history.
Promotion back to the restricted sixteen team Premier League proved difficult at first for Shiels and his untested side – however the influence from former Nottingham Forest forward Nigel Jemson proved key to Ballymena ’ s success during the 2003 – 04 campaign as they equalled their best placed finish in the Premier League by finishing sixth and also gaining a return to European competition for the first time in 15 years through the Intertoto Cup.
The Adairs disposed of most of their Ballymena estate to the occupying tenants in 1904, under the provisions of the Irish Land Act of 1903.
The Electric Light Orchestra were banned from playing in the township of Ballymena with Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party ( DUP ) dominated council reasoning that their appearance would attract " the four Ds Drink, Drugs, Devil and Debauchery ".
The Freshmen from Ballymena, Antrim, led by Billy Brown and Derek Dean, combined to produce harmonies on their covers of hits by The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean.
competed in the Ballymena & Provincial Intermediate League until their disbandment in 2012 and were crowned league champions in 2005.
Ballymena and first
McCreadie returned and Town were promoted again, coming in as runners-up to Ballymena in the first division.
0n 30 March 2009, the company said it had signed up Ballymena soft drinks manufacturer Norbev as its first electricity customer.
The coupling between two carriages of a Ballymena to Belfast train broke and a first class coach fell on it side but fortunately did not drag other vehicles with it.
For the first time on the NCC a start-to-stop booking of was required as only 31 minutes were allowed for the from Ballymena to Belfast.
* August 24-The narrow gauge Ballymena and Larne Railway starts passenger operations in County Antrim, the first on the Irish 3 ft narrow gauge.
The first locomotives for the Belfast and Ballymena Railway were purchased from Bury, Curtis, and Kennedy.
To round the season off, and in a tribute to the impact Ballymena caused on the local scene, Kilmarnock visited the Showgrounds in late April as Scottish Cup holders and carved out a narrow 1 – 0 win over Ballymena, the Irish Cup holders – the first ever club programme was produced for this game.
Despite an early exit from the Irish Cup for the first time, Ballymena continued to threaten a very competitive league, finishing sixth.
1996 – 97's crop of players finally brought a League Championship to the Ballymena Showgrounds for the first time, albeit the First Division, which Alan Fraser's side impressively won at a canter.
The new club secured its first trophy in the 1931 – 32 season, defeating Ballymena United 3 – 0 at Solitude to win the Gold Cup.
The first modern Roman Catholic Church in Ballymena was consecrated in 1827.
Ballymena is about from Slemish Mountain the legendary first known Irish home of Saint Patrick.
The Belfast to Ballymena railway line was opened in 1845, which travelled through the area, providing one of the first transport links to the village from both Belfast and Carrickfergus.
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