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Ulster F.C.
Full name	Ulster Football Club
Nickname(s)	the Red Hand
Founded	1877
Ground	Prospect 1877-79; Ulster Cricket Ground 1879-1930s
League	Irish Football League
	Home colours
	Home colours

Ulster Football Club is a defunct Irish association football club that was based in Ballynafeigh, Belfast.

History

It was initially founded in 1877 as a rugby club, but later switched codes to association football. It was subsequently a founding member of the Irish Football League in 1890. The club later switched back to rugby and continued playing into the 1930s.^{[citation needed]}

The club was founded by members of Ulster Cricket Club and played its home games at the Ulster Cricket Ground. It is listed as a rugby club in Richard M. Peter's Irish Football Annual 1880 and during the 1879–80 season it played 24 games, taking on, among others, local rivals North of Ireland and Queen's College, Belfast.^[2]

On October 24, 1878, the club hosted a demonstration game between two Scottish association football teams, Queen's Park and Caledonian. This game is recognised as the earliest organised association football match played in Ireland.^[3] Ulster duly played a game in April 1879 to Association rules against Queen's College at Ormeau Road, the sides drawing 3–3, Ulster's goals coming from a scrimmage, C. Thompson, and A. Murray;^[4] but otherwise the club continued playing rugby, before switching to association football for the 1882–83 season.

During the 1880s and early 1890s, both Ulster and its home ground played a prominent role in the early history of association football in Ireland. Ulster reached the Irish Cup final on three occasions, winning the competition in 1887 after defeating Cliftonville 3–0 in the final.^[5] They were also founder members of the Irish Football League and finished as runners-up during its first two seasons, 1890–91 and 1891–92. The club was a member of the League for six seasons in total: four between 1890 and 1894 and two from 1901 to 1903.^[6] In between times, the club reverted to rugby, playing in the Ulster Senior League from 1894 to 1901.^[7] During the 1880s, Ballynafeigh also hosted several Irish Cup finals and Ireland international games.^[8]^[9]

Colours

The club played in black and red.^[10]

Honours

Irish Cup 1:
- 1886–87

Notable former players

Ireland internationals

Twelve Ulster F.C. players represented Ireland at international level, winning 44 caps between them.^[11]^[12] Reynolds also went on to play for England.

References

^ Belfast News-Letter, 5 January 1892
^ Neal Garnham The Origins and Development of Football in Ireland. Ulster Historical Foundation, 1999. ISBN 0-901905-93-3
^ Neal Garnham The Origins and Development of Football in Ireland. Ulster Historical Foundation, 1999. ISBN 0-901905-93-3
^ "Ulster v Queen's College (Scottish Association rules)". Northern Whig: 8. 7 April 1879.
^ Northern Ireland - Cup Finals
^ Northern Ireland - Final League Tables 1890-1998
^ Belfast News-Letter, 24 July 1894
^ England - International Results 1872-1899
^ Scotland - International Matches 1881-1890
^ "Ulster v Black Watch". Belfast News-Letter: 3. 24 November 1888.
^ Northern Ireland’s Footballing Greats
^ "Fred McKee" (in German). weltfussball.de. Retrieved 22 August 2014.