Portadown F.C.

History

Junior years (1886–1924)

The Mid Ulster Football Association was established in 1887 and a series of meetings were held in the Young Men's Institute in Edward Street in Portadown to create a club to compete in the Mid-Ulster Cup. Early matches were played at Tavanagh, Ripley's Field, Armagh Road and Old Shamrock Park which was located close to the site of what is now Clounagh Junior High School. Among the early names to turn out for The Ports were Val Wilson, who would later become High Sheriff for County Armagh; and Harry Bell, whose father owned brickworks on the Armagh Road.

The club won the Irish Junior Cup after defeating Larne at Grosvenor Park on 18 March 1899. That same season, The Ports won their first ever cup double by winning the Mid-Ulster Cup for the first time. Portadown retained the trophy the following season and the following next five seasons before the outbreak of World War I. While the Irish Intermediate League was formed in 1916, and Portadown were selected as one of its inaugural clubs, they withdrew as a large number of the club's players left to fight in World War I. With the return of local men from the war, there was a demand for senior football in the region. A number of junior clubs in the area put aside their rivalries and backed Portadown's bid to join the Irish League. In 1923, the Irish League was expanded from six to ten clubs with the introduction of Newry Town, Ards and Barn. Subsequently, after a number of years of preparation, representatives of the club (including William Mullen, Tom Dawson and a committee) met the league chiefs in June 1924 and were able to present a case for joining the league. Portadown became a full member club of the Irish League together with the readmittance of Belfast Celtic.

Early Irish League years (1924–1932)

Portadown played their first senior game, in August 1924, against Glentoran. The first Irish League game played at Shamrock Park was against the champions Queens Island in a game that finished 0–0.

In that first season, Portadown finished fourth, two points behind Belfast Celtic with Queens Island taking second place, behind champions Glentoran. Along the way, The Ports played some memorable matches, including a 4–3 victory over Linfield at Shamrock Park and a 1–0 win against Belfast Celtic in the City Cup.

The 1925–26 season saw a continuation of their consolidation in the league with away victories at both Belfast Celtic and Linfield.

After nine seasons in senior football, Portadown won their first senior trophy, defeating Glentoran 1–0 at Solitude in the Gold Cup Final. Around 5,000 fans travelled to witness the win. With three minutes remaining and the scores level at 0–0, William Johnston scored the winning goal.

As the team returned to town that night, they were met by thousands of people at the railway station and toured the town in an open top bus before stopping at St. Mark's Church for speeches. Chairman William Mullen led the speeches before igniting a large bonfire.

Tommy Sloan trophy winning era (1932–1938)

Tommy Sloan was appointed manager in 1932 and his and Portadown's first major trophy success came in the 1933–34 season when they won the Gold Cup under Sloan's charge and won the same trophy again in the 1937–38 season before his resignation due to the coming war in 1938. He was replaced by Hugh Bullough, but would return to the club for a brief spell during World War II.

Postwar era (1945–1954)

Post-war, Portadown were in the shadow of Mid Ulster rivals Glenavon, who were undergoing their period of glory years in the 1950s that is yet to be repeated by The Lurgan Blues.

Gibby McKenzie era (1958–1977)

In 1958, the club appointed Scottish manager Gibby McKenzie. The press described him as "the fast-talking Scot with the fanatical zeal for the game who eats sleeps and breathes football" after Harry Walker's short spell in charge. McKenzie very nearly clinched that first elusive league title in the 1960–61 season with Albert Mitchell missing a penalty that would have secured the league championship against Glentoran and in the 1961–62 season, where they finished second to Linfield in these seasons and finished third in the Irish League the following season. McKenzie left The Ports for good in 1977 after his second spell in charge of the club.

Bertie Neil era (1977–1979)

In 1977, the club appointed former Bangor Bertie Neil, famed for the development of Northern Ireland legend and now Sky Sports commentator Gerry Armstrong. Neil's spell, although short, was considered successful, with another Gold Cup and an Irish Cup Final appearance in a 3–2 defeat to Cliftonville. In 1979, the club announced that Neil had left the club "by mutual consent".

Terry Kingon era (1983–1986)

After Jon Flanagan's short spell in charge, the club appointed former player Terry Kingon. His team reached the Ulster Cup final in 1985, defeating Linfield 3–1 in the semi-final at The Oval. But the serious injury in that match to star Scottish striker Billy Paton (who had scored 28 goals the previous season for The Ports) was a devastating blow.

Portadown held Coleraine to a 0–0 draw during the 90 minutes but collapsed in extra-time, losing 5–0. Paton, who had started the game with pain-killing injections, broke down early on. Deprived of his scoring qualities for the rest of the season, Portadown struggled financially and this resulted in the sale of the training ground to meet creditors' demands. Kingon did his best with limited resources and one of the fascinating features of his season in charge at Shamrock Park was the large number of drawn games involving Portadown. In fact, before he resigned in December 1986, Portadown had drawn 9 of the first 14 Irish League games, losing the other five.

Ronnie McFall era (1986–2016)

From December 1986 to March 2016, the club's manager was Ronnie McFall. He signed another in five-year contract in 2009 and signed a two-year deal in August 2014. McFall brought several successes to the club, winning their first ever league title in 1989 and league title wins in 1991, 1996 and in 2002; he also won three Irish Cups. He was born and raised in Portadown and played left-back for the club during the 1960s and 1970s. He has also played for Dundee United of Scotland, and afterwards Ards and Glentoran, the latter where he began his managerial career. McFall was the longest serving manager in European football, surpassing Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. McFall is one of the most successful managers in Irish league football. Following a run of poor results, McFall announced he would step down from his position as manager following a 3–2 defeat to Lurgan Celtic in the Irish Cup quarter-final.

In the 1989–90 season, the club finally won the Irish League, and in the final match there was a pitch invasion by the club's fans. In the following 1990–91 season, the club dominated the Irish League, nearly defeating every team in the division. They retained the title that season and they beat rivals Glenavon in the Irish cup final 2–1 to secure the club's first ever league and cup double. The season after was less successful with a number players starting to age and attendances started to fall.

In the 1993–94 season, the club had partially recovered from this slump and were involved in a three-way battle for the title between themselves and Linfield and Glenavon. With an updated, The Ports took on Glenavon and the winners would secure the league title, however a draw at Mourneview Park would hand the title to Linfield. Glenavon raced into a two-goal lead against Portadown at Mourneview Park, and with Linfield drawing with Glentoran, The Lurgan Blues would have won their first league title in 34 years. However, Portadown scored two quick fire goals to level it at 2–2 and with Linfield beating The Glens – the Belfast side were now champions. Everything at Mourneview had now turned in Portadown's favor, who were creating chance after chance with the Ports missing the chance to win the title themselves when Robert Casey missed an easy chance, with Linfield eventually being crowned champions. For the 1995–96 season, a new crest was introduced and The Ports won their third league title that season, with Gary Haylock and Sandy Fraser the instigators in the title winning team.

After their title win, the club lost several players to retirement and to other clubs. McFall signed Notts County striker Vinny Arkins, who noted that McFall refused to let him walk away from talks until he signed the contract offered to him. A generation of players such as Philip Major and Kyle Neill coming through and a few signings helped McFall build another team to win yet another league title in 2002 and losing 2–1 to Linfield in the Irish Cup Final to prevent another league and cup double.

Promotion and Premiership spells 2020-

The club achieved promotion in the 2020-21 NIFL Championship season, having fought Ballinamallard United down to the wire, in a season that was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The following season, the Ports finished 9th, with wins over Glenavon and Larne to secure NIFL Premiership safety. Striker Lee Bonis contributed 14 goals throughout the season.

The following season proved to be a more difficult one, which saw the departure of manager Matthew Tipton with the club languishing in the relegation play-off place, under threat from the chasing Warrenpoint Town.

Former midfielder Paul Doolin was appointed as Tiptons replacement, and his initial appointment saw Ports defeat Warrenpoint Town, Ballymena United and Coleraine to secure safety from automatic relegation and set up a play-off with neighbors Annagh United. A standout performance from Billy Stedman saw the Ports come from 2–1 down to win 3–2 in the 1st leg, and a 1–0 win in the 2nd leg securing safety for the 2021–22 season.

The following season the Ports would struggle for form, picking up just 1 point from 11 games, with heavy criticism from supporters following a 3–1 home defeat to newly promoted Newry City, in what many considered a must win game, and a worrying sign of what was to come. Doolin would depart the club after a 4–0 defeat away to Crusaders the following game.

The club would move fairly quickly to appoint Dundela manager Niall Currie, who previously managed the Ports from 2016 to 2018. Currie would bring in former Glenavon striker and free agent Greg Moorhouse, who would prove a needed addition to address the Ports lack of goals.

The Ports would continue to struggle before Christmas, picking up their first win of the season at home to Ballymena United on 10 December. Currie would sign heavily in the January transfer window, bringing in players from former club Dundela, as well as notably Cathair Friel and Alan O'Sullivan, on loan from Coleraine and Warrenpoint Town respectively, and Paul McElroy from Ballymena United.

O'Sullivan would star with two goals in a 3–1 win over Mid Ulster rivals Glenavon in February, with the Ports picking up a further 10 points from the next 5 games, including a 4–3 win away to Newry City, having been 3–2 down in stoppage time, with some heralding 'The Great Escape' for a side whose survival hopes appeared to be gone at Christmas. However, the great escape wasn't to be, and the Ports 3–2 defeat away to relegation rivals Dungannon Swifts sealed their relegation after a spirited survival attempt under Currie.

European record

By competition

Last updated on 26 February 2023.

Current squad

As of 24 July 2026

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Managerial history

Ronnie McFall is the clubs longest serving and most successful manager, managing the club between 1986 and 2016.

Honours

Source:

Senior honours

Irish League: 4

1989–90, 1990–91, 1995–96, 2001–02

Irish Cup: 3

1990–91, 1998–99, 2004–05

Irish League Cup: 2

1995–96, 2008–09

Charity Shield: 1

1999

NIFL Championship: 2

2019–20, 2023–24

Mid-Ulster Cup: 24

1898–99, 1899–1900, 1902–03, 1903–04, 1905–06, 1907–08, 1909–10, 1931–32, 1933–34, 1946–47†, 1960–61†, 1962–63†, 1964–65†, 1969–70†, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1997–98, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2023–24

Gold Cup: 6

1933–34, 1937–38, 1952–53, 1971–72, 1978–79, 1992–93

Ulster Cup: 2

1990–91, 1995–96

Floodlit Cup: 3

1990–91, 1992–93, 1994–95

Carlsberg Cup: 1

1972–73

Texaco Cup: 1

1973–74

City Cup: 1

1938–39

Intermediate honours

IFA Championship: 1

2008–09~

George Wilson Cup: 1

1996–97†

Bob Radcliffe Cup: 2

1982–83†, 1983–84†

† Won by Portadown Reserves

~ Portadown were an intermediate side when they won the IFA Championship in 2009. From 2016 the league was awarded senior status, thus their subsequent wins in 2020 & 2024 are not considered intermediate honors.

Junior honours

Harry Cavan Youth Cup: 3

1979–80, 1991–92, 2013–14

Mid-Ulster Youth Cup: 3

2015–16, 2019–20, 2021–22

NIFL Championship Development League South: 2

2017–18, 2018–19

Irish Junior Cup: 1

1898–99

Friendly honours

Royal Mail Community Action Cup: 2

2003–04, 2004–05

George Richardson Memorial Cup: 2

2018–2019, 2019–2020

Ivan Marshall Cup: 1

2004–05