# Lisburn Distillery F.C.

Lisburn Distillery Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate football club who are based in Ballyskeagh, Lisburn. A founder member of the Irish League, they currently play in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League, the third tier of the Northern Ireland Football League. The club was simply known as Distillery Football Club from 1880 to 1999.

## History

The club, founded in November 1880, originated in west Belfast, where it was based at Grosvenor Park at Distillery Street off the Grosvenor Road until 1971.
On 30 December 1952, at Distillery’s Grosvenor Park ground, the first full match played under floodlights, anywhere in Ireland, took place. The home side’s opposition were English team Burnley F.C.. The first officially approved competitive match under floodlights in the British Isles took place at Grosvenor Park on 25 March 1953 when Distillery Seconds played Ballymena United Reserves in the George Wilson Cup and the first floodlight league game in the British Isles took place at Grosvenor Park on the 24th December 1953 when Distillery played Coleraine.
After sharing Skegoneill Avenue (Brantwood) and Seaview (Crusaders) for some years, the club moved in 1980 to a permanent new home at New Grosvenor Stadium, Ballyskeagh, County Antrim, on the southern outskirts of Belfast. The main stand at New Grosvenor Park is named after legendary player Bertie McMinn.
The club was known simply as Distillery from its foundation until 1999, when it changed its official name to 'Lisburn Distillery' to associate itself more closely with its adopted borough (now city) of Lisburn. However, the club is still colloquially referred to as "Distillery". The club colour is white. A founder member of the Irish League in 1890, the club was relegated from the Premiership in May 2013.

## European record
### Overview

| Competition | Matches | W | D | L | GF | GA |
| European Cup | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
| UEFA Europa League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
| European Cup Winners' Cup | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
| UEFA Intertoto Cup | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| TOTAL | 10 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 34 |

### Matches

| Season | Competition | Round | Opponent | Home | Away | Aggregate |
| 1963–64 | European Cup | PR | Benfica | 3–3 | 0–5 | 3–8 |
| 1971–72 | European Cup Winners' Cup | 1R | Barcelona | 1–3 | 0–4 | 1–7 |
| 2005 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1R | Žalgiris Vilnius | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| 2008 | UEFA Intertoto Cup | 1R | TPS Turku | 2–3 | 1–3 | 3–6 |
| 2009–10 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR | Zestaponi | 1–5 | 0–6 | 1–11 |

## 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.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | NIR | Francis Brennan |
| — | MF | NIR | Justin Grattan |
| — | DF | NIR | Dean Lewis |
| — | DF | NIR | Dylan Whiteway |
| — | DF | NIR | Jonathan Angus |
| — | DF | NIR | TJ Magill |
| — | GK | NIR | Rhys Clougherty |
| — | DF | NIR | Adam McCart |
| — | MF | NIR | Aaron Cochrane |
| — | DF | NIR | Bradley Lyttle |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | NIR | Pearse McVarnock |
| — | DF | NIR | Breandan O'Neill |
| — | MF | SCO | Cieran Clougherty |
| — | FW | NIR | Brendan Glackin |
| — | MF | NIR | Mark McKee |
| — | FW | NIR | Joe Tully |
| — | GK | NIR | Joe McConnellogue |
| — | MF | NIR | Josh Lynch |
| — | MF | NIR | Jack Kinner |

## Former players

* Peter McCann

## Managerial history

* Neil Harris (1932–34)
* Michael Hamill (24 July 1934 to 31 March 1935)
* Bob Preston (19 April 1935 to 6 January 1937)
* Joe McCleery (4 March 1937 to 14 August 1937)
* William McDevitt (25 January 1938 to 20 Mar 1939)
* Alf Peachey (3 May 1940 to 29 March 1945)
* Gordon Clark (18 February 1949 to 12 January 1950)
* Eddie Lonsdale (16 January 1950 to 11 August 1950)
* Robert Gunning (12 August 1950 to 7 September 1951)
* Jimmy McIntosh (20 June 1952 to 17 February 1955)
* Maurice Tadman (30 June 1955 to 16 December 1958)
* George Eastham Sr. (16 June 1959 to 12 March 1964)
* Tommy Casey (25 January 1967 to 12 October 1968)
* Jimmy McAlinden (5 February 1969 to 12 May 1975)
* Roy Welsh (29 September 1975 to 31 October 1977)
* Gibby MacKenzie (31 October 1977 to 19 December 1979)
* Bertie Neill (20 December 1979 to 5 February 1981)
* Tommy Lowrie (13 February 1981 to 6 September 1981)
* Jimmy Brown (18 Sep 1981 to 7 December 1981)
* Marty Quinn (September/October 1988 to 18 November 1989)
* Billy Hamilton (16 December 1989 to 16 February 1996)
* Paul Kirk (17 February 1996 to 14 May 2009)
* Jimmy Brown 19 May 2009 to 18 September 2009
* Tommy Wright (26 September 2009 to 2 November 2011)
* John Cunningham (6 November 2011 to 7 May 2012)
* Tim McCann (24 May 2012 to 16 April 2013)
* Tommy Kincaid (2 May 2013 to 12 Oct 2015)
* Sean-Paul Murray (3 November 2015 to 24 May 2016)
* Colin McIlwaine/Colin McIlwaine & George O'Boyle (24 May 2016 to 5 April 2019))
* Stephen Hatfield (23 April 2019 to 8 March 2020)
* Johnny Clapham (17 March 2020 to 22 April 2022)
* Raymond Alexander (12 May 2022 to 15 June 2022)
* Barry Johnston (footballer) (21 June 2022 to 10 March 2025)
* Stephen Hughes (footballer) (11 March 2025 - present)

## Honours
### Senior honours

* Irish League (tier 1): 6 (inc. 1 shared)
** 1895–96, 1898–99, 1900–01, 1902–03, 1905–06 (shared), 1962–63
* Irish League First Division (tier 2): 2
** 1998–99, 2001–02
* Irish Cup: 12
** 1883–84, 1884–85, 1885–86, 1888–89, 1893–94, 1895–96, 1902–03, 1904–05, 1909–10, 1924–25, 1955–56, 1970–71
* Irish League Cup: 1
** 2010–11
* County Antrim Shield: 14
** 1888–89, 1892–93, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1899–1900, 1902–03, 1904–05, 1914–15, 1918–19, 1919–20, 1945–46, 1953–54, 1963–64, 1985–86
* Gold Cup: 5
** 1913–14, 1919–20, 1924–25, 1929–30, 1993–94
* City Cup: 5
** 1904–05, 1912–13, 1933–34, 1959–60, 1962–63
* Ulster Cup: 2
** 1957–58, 1998–99
* Belfast Charity Cup: 5
** 1899–1900, 1915–16, 1920–21, 1928–29, 1930–31
* Dublin and Belfast Inter-City Cup: 1
** 1947–48 (shared)

### Intermediate honours

* Irish Intermediate Cup: 3
** 1892–93†, 1902–03†, 1947–48‡
* Steel & Sons Cup: 1
** 1900–01ƒ
* George Wilson Cup: 3
** 1956–57‡, 1981–82‡, 1987–88‡
* McElroy Cup: 2
** 1918–19‡, 1920–21‡
† Won by Distillery Rovers (reserve team)
‡ Won by Distillery II (reserve team)
ƒ Won by Distillery West End (reserve team)

### Junior honours

* Irish Junior League: 3
** 1890–91‡, 1892–93‡, 1902–03‡
* Irish Junior Cup: 1
** 1887–88‡
‡ Won by Distillery II (reserve team)