| File:Linfield.gif | |||
| Full name | Linfield Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | "The Blues" | ||
| Founded | 1886 | ||
| Ground | Windsor Park, Belfast | ||
| Capacity | 18,500 | ||
| Chairman | David Crawford | ||
| Manager | David Jeffrey | ||
| League | Irish Premier League | ||
| 2005-06 | 1st | ||
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Linfield F.C. (the Blues) is a Irish football club playing in the Irish Premier League. Founded in March 1886 in south Belfast, Linfield play at Windsor Park, which is also the 'home' of the Northern Ireland international team.
Biggest and Best club in Ireland
The club, which has the biggest managerial circumference of any club side in the province, has a playing record unsurpassed in domestic football, winning the Premiership title 46 times (the 46th time on the 18 March, 2006), and the Irish F.A. Cup 36 times. They won a domestic double in 2006, their 18th, which broke a tie with Scottish team Rangers for the top spot on the all-time world list.
In 2005, Linfield won the first ever Setanta Cup, a competition between the top teams of both the Republic of Ireland's and Northern Ireland's premier leagues when they beat strong favourites Shelbourne.
Linfield are the most successful club in the world in terms of trophy count, having officially passed the 200 mark with their league title win in 2004. Rangers are the only club in the world who have won their League title more times than Linfield.
2005-06 season
Linfield were crowned the Irish League Champions 05/06 on 18 March by beating Armagh City 1-0. A few weeks later, on the day they were presented with the Gibson Cup, Linfield were defeated by Lisburn Distillery 3-1, their first defeat in almost 50 domestic matches. In the league section of this run Linfield won 21 and drew 4. Linfield have also picked up two trophies in their current campaign, winning both the League Cup, defeating Glentoran 3-0 at Windsor Park and the County Antrim Shield, defeating Ballymena 2-1 at Seaview. They were put out of the Setanta Cup at the semi-finals by League of Ireland leaders Drogheda United. They won the Irish Cup on 6 May 2006 by beating Belfast rivals Glentoran 2-1 in front of a capacity crowd. Linfield striker Peter Thompson scored both goals, one in each half, to see off Glentoran and complete a clean sweep of all domestic competitions this season. Incidentally, it made 48 goals for the season making him one of the top scorers in Europe. The club now looks to go down the road of full-time football and have re-signed several players on full-time deals, including Peter Thompson, Paul McAreavey, Michael Gault and Alan Mannus. Linfield also signed Northern Ireland Under 21 international Thomas Stewart, on a full-time contract after he was released by Wolverhampton Wanderers
Sectarianism
The club are marked by a staunchly Protestant support base. Factions of the club's supporters have been criticised over the years for being sectarian and engaging in sectarianism through the singing of sectarian songs and slogans. It is a problem the club has sought to address over the years and while the climate has improved at the ground recently, sectarianism is still an affliction that persists as a blot on the club's reputation to this day, although the club prides itself on having the most mixed playing staff in the entire country.[citation needed] In July 2006, the club announced the launch of the "True Blues" scheme, designed to eradicate the problem.
History
Linfield Football club was founded in March 1886 as the Linfield Athletic Club by workers of the Linfield Spinning Mill. Initially the club played its home fixtures on ground at the back of the mill known as 'The Meadow.' In 1889 the clubs growth resulted in a move to Ulsterville Avenue. Here the club played Nottingham Forest F.C. in the first round of the English FA Cup (at that time the competition was open to clubs in all 4 parts of the UK) achieving a 2-2 draw in Nottingham, however they withdrew from the replay.
The move to Ulsterville proved short lived as the ground was sold to housing developers and the club was forced to play their home games at opponents' grounds. Eventually Robert Gibson, the club president managed to secure the lease of a ground at Myrtlefield, in South Belfast. These three ground changes resulted in a desire to have a proper home ground and consequently a piece of land known as the 'bog meadows' just off lower Windsor Avenue was bought in 1904. The first game to take place at what later became Windsor Park was on September 2, 1905 against Glentoran F.C..
There have been many developments to 'Windsor Park' over the years. 'Midgely Park' was purchased in 1951, the current office and boardroom complex completed in 1968, and the social club in 1970. The 6800 capacity North Stand, officially opened by the FIFA president João Havelange on October 20 1984 was a joint venture with the government and the Irish Football Association and the most recent 4000 capacity Kop Stand was completed in the late 1990s.
Linfield traditionally play Rangers F.C. in a pre-season friendly at Windsor Park. The match is popular with fans of both sides, due to the good relationship between the two clubs and their unionist heritage. The game on 6 July, 2006 was won 2-0 by Rangers, with goals from Kris Boyd and Thomas Buffel.
Linfield thrashed Glentoran on a number of occasions during season 2005-2006, including a 3-0 triumph in the CIS Cup Final, 4-1 at the Oval on Boxing Day, which included a sublime Glenn Ferguson volley. The finest victory however had to be the 6-0 drubbing in the Setanta Cup, which saw the Blues topping the Group of Death which included Shelbourne and Derry City as well as the Glens.
Windsor Park
Linfield's home ground is Windsor Park, which is located in south Belfast. The governing body of Northern Irish football, the Irish Football Association, leases the ground for use by the Northern Ireland national football team.
European record
As the province's most successful club side, Linfield have been regular campaigners in European football. Their most notable achievement was reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup in 1967. After beating FC Aris Bonnevoie of Luxembourg and Valerenga of Norway, they faced CSKA Sofia in the final eight. This resulted in a 2-2 draw at home and 1-0 defeat away.
In the 1984/85 season, after overcoming Shamrock Rovers on away goals, Linfield faced eventual semi-finalists Panathinaikos in the second round. After a 2-1 defeat away, Linfield went 3-0 up in the return leg at Windsor Park only to draw 3-3.
In the 1987/88 campaign Linfield's home game against Lillestrom was marred by hooliganism, resulting in UEFA sanctions which meant that the club had to play their next two home games in European competitions at Welsh club Wrexham A.F.C. in the 1988/9 and 1989/90 seasons.
The 1993/94 campaign saw Linfield drawn with Dynamo Tbilisi of Georgia. After losing 3-2 on aggregate, they were reinstated when their opponents were expelled from the competition. Linfield faced FC Copenhagen in the first round proper. They won the first leg 3-0, and lost the second leg 4-0 after extra time. This proved costly, as victory would have meant a lucrative financial tie against eventual champions AC Milan in the next round.
Honours
- League titles: 46
- 1890/91, 1891/92, 1892/93, 1894/95, 1897/98, 1901/02, 1903/04, 1906/07, 1907/08, 1908/09, 1910/11, 1913/14, 1921/22, 1922/23, 1929/30, 1931/32, 1933/34, 1934/35, 1948/49, 1953/54, 1954/55, 1955/56, 1958/59, 1959/60, 1960/61, 1961/62, 1965/66, 1968/69, 1970/71, 1974/75, 1977/78, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1984/85, 1985/86, 1986/87, 1988/89, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1999/00, 2000/01, 2003/04, 2005/2006
- Irish Cups: 37
- 1890/91, 1891/92, 1892/93, 1894/95, 1897/98, 1898/99, 1901/02, 1903/04, 1911/12, 1912/13, 1914/15, 1915/16, 1918/19, 1921/22, 1922/23, 1929/30, 1930/31, 1933/34, 1935/36, 1938/39, 1941/42, 1944/45, 1945/46, 1947/48, 1949/50, 1952/53, 1959/60, 1961/62, 1962/63, 1969/70, 1977/78, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1993/94, 1994/95, 2001/02 2005/06
- League Cups: 8
- 1986/87, 1991/92, 1993/94, 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/00, 2001/02, 2005/06
- Setanta Cup: 1
- 2005
- City Cups: 20
- Gold Cups: 31
- Ulster Cups: 15
- County Antrim Shield: 41
- All-Ireland Cups: 3
- Budweiser Cups: 1
- Coca-Cola Cup: 3
Italics – Linfield won the league and the Irish Cup. In 1993/94, Linfield added its League Cup for a domestic treble. As such, Linfield are the most successful club in the world with the most honours won, whilst Rangers F.C. of Scotland being the next most successful.
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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