Omagh
Town FC (Northern
Ireland)
Omagh
Town FC was formed in August 1962, as Omagh Celtic Football Cub, and used to
wear maroon and blue. The club was founded by Aines McGeehan, who wanted to
provide the area of Omagh with a football team. The club had both Catholic and
Protestant players playing for it. They played their home matches at Quarry
Field Mullaghmena.
It
was only seven years later, in 1969, when the club changed its name to Omagh
Town Football and Athletic Club. The name changed was accompanied with a ove to
a new ground, at the Military Holm, which lasted three years before another
ground move to The Showgrounds. Change was something that the club went through
on various occasions, especially when it came to their kit colour and in 1974
they underwent their first, changing from their original colours, maroon and blue,
to white and black.
In
their early years, the club played in the lower, intermediate leagues in
Northern Ireland, without much, But when the 1990 came around, things started
to progress on and off the field for ‘The Town’. The cub oved ground to St
Julian’s Road, building a 5,000-capacity stadium on a piece of land that used
to be a council dump. Their move was coupled with entry into the Irish League,
the top tier of football in Northern Ireland. They were included after the
increase in clubs in the league went from fourteen to sixteen. Omagh Town
joined alongside Ballyclare Comrades.
The
first season, in 1990-91 saw Omagh Town finish a respectable 12th.
The following season in 1991-92 saw an improvement as they finished eight.
Another 12th place finish in 1992-93 was then followed by a
disastrous season in 1993-94 when they finished rock bottom of the league,
coming 16th , winning only six games all season.
Luckily
for the club there was no relegation that season and so they played in the top
tier for the 1994-95 season. Despite finishing 9th,they still found
themselves being relegated to the First Division as the Irish Premier League
was cut from 16 teams to eight for the 1995-96 season.
After
coing runners-up in the First Division in the 1996-97 season, finishing behind
Ballymena United, the club returned to the topflight for the 1997-98 season,
with the league expanded again from eight clubs to ten. They finished the
season in 9th place, which meant they had to play in a
relegation/promotion play-off. In it, the faced the runners-up of the First
Division, Bangor, who they beat to retain their Premier Division status. The
club also qualified for the Intertoto cup, courtesy of their Irish Cup run,
which saw them reach the semi-finals. The next season saw the club play their
first ever European tie, facing Slovakian side, Rimavska Sobota in the First
round. They drew the home leg, 2-2 while losing the away leg, 1-0, subsequently
being knocked out, 32 on aggregate.
The
following season they were relegated after finishing rock bottom, finishing 10th,
winning only five games all season. They remained there for a short period of
time, until the 1999-00 season when they won the First Division by six points.
The
cub finished 7th the following season, and then 5th in
the 2001-02 season, just missing out on qualifying for the Intertoto cup once
again. However, finishing fifth in the next season and another good cup run,
making it to the semi-final once again, but being beaten by Glentoran, 4-1, saw
the club qualify for the Intertoto Cup for the second time in the clubs
history. This time they met Belarusian side, FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk, however,
unlike their first ever tie in European competition, this one wasn’t as close.
The Town were hammered 7-1 in the home leg and beaten just 1-0 in the away leg.
It would be the last time the club would participate in a European football
competition.
The
2003-04 season saw the club drop down the table to 13th, in an
expanded league that saw 16 clubs once again compete in the top tier. But their
regression continued into the next season, with the club finishing rock bottom
winning just five games all season and getting relegated to the Intermediate
League First Division.
Things
were looking bad for the club on and off the pitch and news started circulating
that their financial situation was worse than people thought. Even when the
club were playing in the Premier Division, and qualifying for Europe, they
still saw their attendances dwindle, so when they were relegated, it was seen
as the final nail in their coffin.
It
was on the 7th June, 2005 that the club announced it was ceasing to
exist due to financial problems and just like that, Omagh Twon FC disappeared
from the footballing world.
#NeverForget
