Newry City AFC make a return from relegation

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Ronan Kinney (Warrenpoint) and Daniel Hughes (Newry City)Image source, Newry Reporter
Image caption,
Ronan Kinney (Warrenpoint) and Daniel Hughes (Newry City)

Friday night rounds off a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Newry City Athletic Football Club.

Relegated from the top flight in 2011, the club went out of business in 2012 before being reformed.

A Wimbledon-esque rise through the divisions followed.

In May of this year the club earned promotion to the Irish Premiership with a 6-3 aggregate victory over Carrick Rangers.

At 19:45 on Friday top-flight football returns to the city, when Newry take on Dungannon Swifts at the Showgrounds.

The rise from the ashes was captured by filmmaker Ally McKenzie in his award winning 2017 documentary 'Here We Are'.

According to Newry City fan Mr McKenzie: "They had fallen beyond understanding really. To the point that there was no club. There was nothing here for them".

"It was circumstances off the pitch that caused it.

"It was unfair to the fans and unfair to the people at the club but thankfully they managed to find the right structure, the people who were passionate about the club, to rebuild the club.

"They've done it in the right way and now we are back in the Premiership."

Local support

Although participation levels in soccer (as the sport is commonly known in this part of south Down) are high, support for local clubs has traditionally been poor, with sports fans preferring to get their kicks at Down Gaelic Athletic Association's (GAA) 20,000 capacity Pairc Esler stadium, which stands next door to the Showgrounds.

But opportunity knocks. As Down's GAA fortunes fluctuate, soccer is back in the city and with it a local rivalry.

This is because as Newry fell, local rivals Warrenpoint Town rose.

Newry Reporter sports editor Gareth McCullough believes that while GAA will likely remain the locals' first love, soccer now has a chance to flourish.

"The last time Newry and Warrenpoint played at the Showgrounds was in 2011," he said.

"There was close to 2,000 people here that day. It was the best attended game in any league in Northern Ireland that weekend.

"That was when they were in the Championship.

"They are now both in the Premiership so that should bring out a huge crowd in. It's a spectacle.

"Regardless of whether this is a GAA heartland or not it is still a huge football area and it is a massive thing to have two teams in the Premiership."

A new rivalry

Although the two teams will now be competing for the best local players, sponsors and perhaps even fans, Warrenpoint chairman Connaire McGreevy is excited about the prospect the new rivalry offers.

"It is really exciting to have two teams from the Newry and Mourne area in the Premiership," he said.

Image caption,
Filmmaker Ally McKenzie won an award for his 2017 documentary on Newry City AFC's meteoric rise from the ashes, 'Here We Are'.

"Obviously it raises interest levels for local people and they are talking about the rivalry that may or may not be there. The teams are separated by just five miles so this new local derby will emerge."

The two teams will meet at the Showgrounds in September.

The return fixture takes place on Boxing Day in Warrenpoint. For obvious reasons these games are being labelled 'The Mourne Ultimatum'.

But just who will have the 'Mourne Supremacy' remains a matter for debate.