Larne Technical Old Boys F.C.
Full name | Larne Technical Old Boys Football Club | |
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Founded | 30 May 1950 | |
Ground |
Antiville Playing Fields, Larne, Co. Antrim | |
Chairman | K. Beggs | |
Manager | Johnny Hastings | |
League | NAFL | |
2009–10 | Division 1A, 10th | |
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Larne Technical Old Boys Football Club (also known as Larne Tech OB) is a Northern Irish football club based in Larne, playing in the Premier Division of the Northern Amateur Football League. The club formed on 30 May 1950 by former pupils of the Larne Technical College. Since 1971, they have played their home matches at the Antiville Playing Fields on the Upper Cairncastle Road, Larne. Ciaran Kelly is the current first team manager. There is also a second team currently playing in the NAFL Division 3B.
Club History
The club was founded by James Henry Cathcart. Appointed to the position of Principal of Larne Technical School in 1947, he hoped to create an organization for former pupils of the college. At the same time, with his former experience in charge of the schools football team, he realised that there was no local teams outside of the Northern Ireland Chuches League onto which his students could progress. The marriage of these two ideas was warmly welcomed at a meeting of ex-students of the college. Mr. Cathcart described it as a "natural progression" of the school football team and several of the lads who had been former club officers were elected to start the new team.
On 30 May 1950, Larne Technical Old Boys came into being and was accepted into the Northern Amateur Football League Division 2. Within a few years, the club had set up their own facilities and was fielding two teams a week. However, by the late 1960s membership of the club had dropped and the club was close to bankruptcy. In 1970 they had to give up their clubrooms in order to stay afloat. Soon interest in the club renewed and in 1971 they moved to their current home at Antville Playing Fields (later renamed Dennis Harvey Park in 2009). The team grew in stature and in 1976 they claimed their first Amateur League titles winning both the Border Regiment Cup and Templeton Cup. The pitch was upgraded in 1991 to allow them to compete in the Intermediate section of the NAFL. This was followed by two more Border Cup victories in 1998 and 2002.
Currently Larne compete in Division 1A, finishing the 2008/9 season in 12th place and clear of relegation whilst the 2nd team secured a second Templeton Cup victory with a 3–1 win over Bangor Rangers II in the final.
Current squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Honours
Intermediate honours
- Border Cup: 3
- 1975–76, 1997–98, 2001–02
External links
- Larne Tech OB Official Club website
- nifootball.co.uk - (For fixtures, results and tables of all Northern Ireland amateur football leagues)