Ballymena United F.C
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| Full name | Ballymena United Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Sky Blues |
| Founded | 7 April 1928 |
| Ground | Ballymena Showgrounds |
| Capacity | 4,390 |
| Chairman | John Taggart |
| Manager | David Jeffrey |
| League | NIFL Premiership |
| 2016–17 | NIFL Premiership, 4th |
Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds.The club is managed by iconic Irish League player/manager David Jeffrey.
Ballymena United was formed on 7 April 1928, when four local businessmen and football enthusiasts decided that the town of Ballymena needed a senior football team in the Irish League
Nicknamed the 'Braidmen' or 'Sky Blues', latterly because of the colour of the home shirts, Ballymena have a rich history in Irish Cup, having won the competition six times – the most for a provincial club outside of Belfast. The club has never won the league title in its history, but has finished runners-up on two occasions. The club has also won the County Antrim Shield on six occasions and the Northern Ireland Football League Cup.
The main club rivals of Ballymena United are local club Coleraine. The extremely-hostile annual Boxing Day fixture between the two teams attracts large crowds and is one of the high-profile fixtures in the Northern Irish football league calendar.
Following the demise of Ballymena Football Club at the end of the 1933–34 season, three men, Simon McCrory, William mcneice and T. Moore, set about forming a new club in Ballymena with a view to seeking admission to the Irish League as Ballymena's replacement. Crusaders were also applicants for the vacancy, but at the League's annual general meeting on 20 June 1934, the new club known as Ballymena United was chosen unanimously.
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