Ards F.C.
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| Full name | Ards Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Red & Blues |
| Founded | 1900 |
| Ground |
Clandeboye Park, Bangor Co. Down |
| Capacity | 2,000 (500 seated) |
| Chairman | Brian Adams |
| Manager | Colin Nixon |
| League | NIFL Premiership |
| 2015–16 | NIFL Championship, 1st (promoted) |
Ards Football Club is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1900, is based in Newtownards, but plays its home matches at Clandeboye Park in Bangor, which it shares with Bangor. Club colours are red and blue.
Ards were forced to sell their Castlereagh Park home in 1998 to try to reduce their crippling debts. The stadium remained well tended for another three years while ambitious plans for a new ground further down the road were developed. In 2002 Castlereagh Park was demolished, as planned. Ards hoped to play at a new community-owned site, a stone's throw from Castlereagh Park that was due to be developed in 2010 by the local council. This plan has since been shelved, and they are still the nomads of Northern Irish football. During the time since Ards left Castleragh Park, they have shared football grounds at Cliftonville's Solitude and Carrick Rangers' Taylors Avenue, their rivals Bangor's ground, Clandeboye Park and Ballyclare Comrades' ground, Dixon Park.
For the 2012–13 season they played their home games at Clandeboye Park and were promoted to the NIFL Premiership for the 2013–14 season and went straight back down that season. Ards 2014–15 season was a season of change,with many players coming and going from the club and the season ultimately ended in disappointment with them finishing 3rd. The 2015–16 was a better one with Ards reaching the league cup final by knocking out premiership sides Ballinamallard United and Coleraine before losing 3–0 in the final to Cliftonville at Solitude. Ards kept a comfortable hold at the top of the table before becoming league champions on the last day of the season beating Loughgall to secure their promotion back to the Premiership after a two-year absence.
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