The Irish League. So often full of surprises. 2022-23 was no exception to the rule on that front, with what was shaping up to be a congested and closely-fought title race baying out for a challenger to put forth their calm and composure and nerves of steel ahead of the rest.
Bit by bit, game by game, one steered into the ascendancy and pulled away from their rivals. coThey pulled into an ever-expanding advantage and, in the end, had the trophy in the bag with a few matches to spare. Cue wild celebrations in Belfast, where the league trophy had not left for over 20 years… but it was not the Belfast club that were toasting their crowning glory.
Rather, it was the visiting outfit from outside the capital. When finishes either side of half-time were put home, two starring strikers contributing one each, it meant the away end at Seaview stadium in the north of the city was propelled into delirium. Larne, a town club from Co Antrim, who less than six years ago were languishing in the lower reaches of the second-tier, were the new champions of Northern Ireland. They had done it for the first time ever, rising in double-quick time to become the Premiership’s crème de la crème.
It had been 33 years since a new king of association football was last proclaimed here. But the Inver tale has been one of particular intrigue, and the dedication behind the outfit’s growth had culminated in a sweet coronation. Buckle up – this one’s a roller-coaster ride.
When Larne laid claim to their first-ever top-flight title in 2023, it marked a significant step in the long and distinguished history of the Irish League for a number of reasons.
For one, the Gibson Cup had not been prised out of Belfast for 21 years. For two, the Gibson Cup had not been housed in Co Antrim ever.
And for three… well, there just seemed to be something different about this title than the others that had gone before.
For a little over two decades, each of the Northern Irish capital’s four primary footballing powerhouses – Crusaders and Cliftonville of the north, Glentoran from the east and Linfield to the south of the city – had each traded the trophy among themselves. It was not a grip that had gone uncontested, not by any stretch given that Coleraine (twice) and Ballymena United each came close in the five years beforehand, but one had yet to complete the job since Portadown had the honour all the way back in 2002.
Yet it would be another red-shirted institution that broke through the ‘nearly men’ barrier and topped the table come the season’s conclusion.
It was an expected contender but an unexpected champion.
A year earlier, Larne supporters probably didn’t expect their team to be in this position. A decade earlier, they certainly didn’t.
But in this funny old game, they saw through the noise and defied expectations to set up their Irish League coronation.
The meteoric transformation of the Inver Reds from a bottom-half outfit in the Championship to the very cream of the crop goes down as a triumph that will stand the test of time. Not that it has taken much time, mind, given merely five-and-a-half years had elapsed from Kenny Bruce’s takeover to the point at which they held ‘Gibson’ aloft.
Having transitioned to a revered full-time model on the pitch, much change has been afoot off it to match up to the standards of professionalism that come with such a structure. A wholesale redevelopment of the stadium, investment in a state-of-the-art training complex, one of the league’s finest social venues and a socials brand advertising their merits and values for full display have equally inspired the growth of a club now enjoying the highest highs in their history.
A well-oiled machine, their spot on the top step of the domestic game’s podium – and, of course, participation in the Champions League which comes with that distinction – is the result of countless hours of hard work and dedication to the cause over a span of more than half a decade.
And while they have also benefited from financial backing hitherto unseen in east Antrim football, you only need to look at the Chelsea disasterclass of the past 12 months since their high-profile ownership change to know that money means little unless it goes in the right places.
At Larne, it is going in the right places.
There are many facets behind why the speaker’s rostrum has been moved from outside the big smoke to just off the Harbour Highway.
Some will point firstly to the millions – approximately £5million’s worth of investment is Bruce’s own estimation, as he stated live on air while his team were four goals up at half-time against Crusaders – but that always feels like a rather shallow assertion.
And perhaps that is inevitable; they see ‘millionaire businessman’ and believe that tells the story in full.
The truth is there are a million reasons why Larne sit on their present pedestal.
Why they are riding the crest of a golden wave.
And it really does make for a fascinating tale.
So, to address that elephant in the room. What was the deal with Kenny Bruce?
In the summer of 2017, reports broke that a Los Angeles-based individual was interested in investing in a second-tier football club in Northern Ireland. Folk naturally took notice, and further afield than the harbour town in which said club is based.
A colloquialism as seemingly popular as it is cynical, “the best thing about Larne is the road out of it”.
Why, then, would someone be willing to invest in a team which, while it enjoyed modest highs in its history, had fallen on more recent hard times?
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph for the first time since the sensational story emerged, Bruce shed some personal insight into exactly who the supporters were getting and why he was so apparently eager to put his own money in.
“I am very much in love with Larne, it’s the place where I grew up,” he explained. “I played schoolboys football at Inver Park and grew up watching Larne as a fan.
“My grandparents and mother were born and bred there and I have strong connections with lots of family and friends in the town. I feel working with the football club would be a great opportunity to give something back.
“I believe that with investment from myself and working alongside the current board, Tiernan (Lynch, the manager) and Gareth (Clements, the Chairman), the football club could thrive, which could have a positive knock-on effect on the economic climate within the town.”
That was September 2017.
In April 2023, as Bruce, by now equipped in a smart maroon suit, addressed the crowd across all corners of the ground and hailed their support throughout a Premiership title-winning crusade, one could perhaps forgive the onlooking faithful contemplating whether this man speaking to them would ever need to pay for a drink in the town of Larne again.
They all knew who Kenny Bruce was. As did the whole of the Irish League. And they knew of the sincerity with which he spoke, too.
Such is the fact that, on this day, he is Kenny Bruce MBE, his accolade by royal appointment awarded in 2020 for services to charity and to Larne Football Club. He had delivered on his promise in full and fulfilled his dream of seeing his home town club bring joy to the community, such that attendances soar past the 2,000 mark on a routine basis.
The truth’s that, in the first place, this was not really a financial investment for Bruce, who alongside his elder sibling Michael founded revolutionary digital estate agency Purplebricks. This was much more an emotional one, and that emotional connection is something you feel every time you walk through the turnstiles of Inver Park – a venue which has grown to become a sleek, modern, welcoming place to stage top-level football in Northern Ireland, arguably the best purpose-built Irish League ground about.
With that sense of belonging and unity that the stadium accommodates in a major way, it has brought life and belief in the way a community club should. It fits in precisely with the blueprint put down from the start, that to be a successful football club calls on achieving more than just sporting success.
But, naturally, results and success on the pitch breed positivity. And that is where the two men Bruce names in that interview have really made their respective impressions felt.
“I wanted Gareth Clements alongside me from the start, he is someone I have known for a long time and have a great deal of respect for, as do the existing board members. He is a football man who is very successful within the business community of Northern Ireland and is someone that I admire greatly,” he said.
“If Gareth is to get involved, he will work tirelessly to lead the delivery of the vision and plan, but I am clear in the knowledge that we do not intend or expect it to disrupt his career.
Clements did get involved. And so, too, did boss Tiernan Lynch – or, more accurately, his services were retained.
As an owner, Bruce is one who prides himself on openness and transparency. He has taken an upfront approach when it comes to questions or concerns that the supporters may have, listening with a keen ear.
And on the sporting side, with Lynch – who was hired in the summer of 2017 as David McAlinden’s successor from the technical area – and Clements, that all-important custodian and overseer of Larne’s vision on and off the pitch, as the face of the club on that end, there appeared to be a very distinct and considered formula from the beginning of this new era.
In 2020, Clements shed insight on his role and how he has played his part in the expansion of the Inver Reds as a team and brand.
The quotes section:
“Whether it be helping change mindsets around the club, raising levels of professionalism in the boardroom, raising our profile in both Irish football circles and beyond, improving our engagement with the townsfolk and supporters or building relations in the business community, I am heavily involved” – Larne Chairman Gareth Clements’ responsibilities at Inver Park are all-encompassing. Image from Larne FC official website.
“My main role really is as the figurehead of the club, helping lead and deliver upon the vision we have, to build a successful, sustainable football club, whilst putting it at the hub of the Larne community,” he told the Larne FC website.
“Whether it be helping change mindsets around the club, raising levels of professionalism in the boardroom, raising our profile in both Irish football circles and beyond, improving our engagement with the townsfolk and supporters or building relations in the business community, I am heavily involved.”
All of this was to prove pivotal from the get-go.
Brothers Tiernan and Seamus Lynch, a double-act there from the start. There were some rumours that the association with the Belfast-based duo would in fact be terminated once the takeover was complete, but these were well wide of the mark. Having prior pedigree at Glentoran, where both Lynches worked among the youth ranks, Larne felt like a place where they could make their names. How true that has proved to be.
In 2022, there was pressure on the former, the man in the hotseat. Following a fifth-place finish, some 21 points off eventual champions Linfield, supporters wondered whether they had reached their zenith with Tiernan at the wheel.
But when he was chosen as the man to lead the Inver vessel and break into the Premiership, he did not let the hierarchy down. It was small wonder that he retained their support in full after what had already been achieved.
Three years prior, and backed with some high-profile additions – the recruits of former Cliftonville trio Tomás Cosgrove, Marty Donnelly and Davy McDaid particularly caught the eye, as did the recruit of the tough-tackling metronome that was Dublin-raised Fuad Sule at the base of midfield – Larne dominated the Championship. Dominated to the extent that they collected 81 points out of a possible 96, with 26 wins from 32 matches that helped them win the second-tier by a huge 17 points.
Leaving local rivals Carrick Rangers firmly in the rear-view mirror in itself, they were 30 clear of third-placed Portadown. There was not a hint of doubt regarding their readiness to take the leap. Nor was there doubt that Lynch had earned the right to test himself at the top level.
A squad that also featured a returnee home town hero in Jeff Hughes, who had spent 13 years across the water having initially departed Larne in 2005, they were not going up just to add to the roll call. Premiership talents like one-time Reds shot-stopper Conor Devlin, centre-back Paddy McNally, versatile defender Graham Kelly, flying full-back Ben Tilney and hard-working midfielder Lee Lynch only served as a further testament to that fact.
For a division so full of thrills and spills on a seasonal basis, to let slip just 15 points and finish with a win rate above 80% is a feat worthy of all recognition. To contextualise, Loughgall achieved promotion as second-tier champions with 77 points in 2023, and that is from a 38-game calendar – half a dozen more than what Larne’s was, and yet four fewer points.
The quotes section:
“The really exciting thing now will be challenging ourselves week in, week out against the top teams in Northern Ireland next season. Great credit goes to everyone involved in the club. We have a fantastic bunch of players, fans, owner, backroom staff and people running the club” – Larne boss Tiernan Lynch was looking forward to seeing his Larne team test themselves at the top level after securing the Championship title in 2019. Image from INPHO/PressEye.com/Jonathan Porter, via Belfast Live.
Such was their level of excellence, speculation as to how this up-and-coming force could fare at the top table started well before their step-up was confirmed.
After all, one glance at their squad suggested that the core of a team that could thrive and prosper was there and that other components were in construction – a double-entendre, bearing in mind the building work going on at Inver Park, too, which had been reclaimed from the council early on under the Bruce administration.
We all know they have lived up to the hype. We all know the transcendent way with which they have caused established elites to check over their shoulders.
At this point in the piece, though, it feels appropriate to travel back in time.
It was discussed earlier how Larne had averted a fate that had befallen others when they were presented with the Gibson Cup this year.
The dreaded ‘nearly men’ tag. A tag saying so much, of so near, yet so far.
A tag that they were relieved to rid themselves of when it counted. For it was once a tag that epitomised them.
Six times Larne have reached the Irish Cup Final. Six times they have lost it.
Twice they featured in the League Cup Final. Twice they were defeated.
Founded in 1889, they have been a long-standing stalwart of Antrim football, although one which had found their most major honours largely consigned to the intermediate rungs. It was equally true that they had struggled to keep the good times rolling, spending recent swathes of their decorated history between the first and second-flights without totally consolidating their place in either.
The settlement’s harbour heritage is well-known and distinctive. It has long been one of the most noted shipping connections between Northern Ireland and Scotland, with trade routes from the docks to Cairnryan and back ferrying people across the water and onto new lands.
But its football heritage has gathered speed, and caught the hearts and minds of the town with the progress that has been made.
When Bruce first took the reins and Clements’ installation as club Chairman was confirmed, Larne had a plethora of intermediate trophies in the cabinet. 11 Steel and Sons Cups between 1909 and 1971, a trio of Intermediate Cups and no fewer than 10 Irish League B Division titles – equivalent nowadays to the Premier Intermediate League, the third-tier.
There was no question of their pedigree at that level. Stretching back through the decades, they had cups galore and, in the years following their demotion from the top billing after the Second World War, they truly set their stall as one of the best intermediate clubs in Ireland.
At senior level, though, they had just a couple of Ulster Cups clinched in 1950 and 1988 to show for their efforts. And it wasn’t for the want of trying.
Irrespective of the decade, Irish Cup Final woes have followed them – they lost deciders in 1928, 1935, 1987, 1989 and 2005, while the pain was further piled on by reversals in the 1992 and 2004 League Cup showpieces.
And having spent eight years outside senior football following their most recent drop-out in 2008 – the Championship 1 was designated senior status in 2016 – plus three more on top of that as a second-tier club, when Larne punched their ticket back into the Premiership in 2019, it really did have the feel of a key phase completed.
Their title in 2019 was that third senior accolade the supporters had craved for three decades and more. And it had been secured in especially satisfying fashion, confirmed as early as March 9 following a 3-0 victory over Ballinamallard United at Inver Park – top scorers McDaid and Donnelly each soaring beyond 20 goals in the process.
Larne in the 2018-19 Bluefin Sport Championship:
- Position – first-place (champions)
- Points – 81 (38 matches played)
- Goals scored – 87
- Goals conceded – 19
- Top scorer – Marty Donnelly (22 goals)
- Top assister – Marty Donnelly (nine assists)
“It’s a little bit surreal if I’m honest. I’m absolutely delighted and couldn’t be more proud to be manager of Larne Football Club,” admitted an elated Lynch following that triumph over the Fermanagh club.
“The really exciting thing now will be challenging ourselves week in, week out against the top teams in Northern Ireland next season.
“Great credit goes to everyone involved in the club. We have a fantastic bunch of players, fans, owner, backroom staff and people running the club.“
The winners’ high is hard to beat. If this was the beginning of a golden age, an injection of life into a town so used to being the butt of jokes and end point of insults, pieces of silverware would greatly assist them to have the last laugh.
“I would like Larne to have the Champions League music played at Inver Park one day.”
A quote synonymous with Larne’s rise and a bold declaration from Bruce during what was still a burgeoning stage of the project.
“We will do whatever it takes financially to make sure this club has the best facilities possible, gets promoted and is challenging for honours in the Premier League.”
The owner of a Championship club insisting with supreme confidence that his team would fight for the Premiership title, reach the Champions League qualification stages, challenge established elites and clinch the top honours that the domestic game has to offer? He must be having a laugh, surely!
But once again, he who laughs last…
When the Invermen embarked on their first term back in the big time, it was a season that ended a little more prematurely than they would have envisioned.
As Covid-19 curtailed the campaign with only 31 out of a possible 38 matchdays played, the mathematical seal was placed on a creditable sixth-place return.
Perhaps without the pandemic, they could have pushed for a yet higher plinth given that they sat just three points from Crusaders in third. But one suspects the hierarchy would have had few complaints in any case.
Larne in the 2019-20 Danske Bank Premiership:
- Position – sixth-place
- Points – 56 (31 matches played)
- Goals scored – 59
- Goals conceded – 29
- Top scorer – David McDaid (12 goals)
- Top assister – Marty Donnelly (seven assists)
With the Crues, Cliftonville and Glentoran all within a win of potentially being usurped by this fighting band from east Antrim, they laid out at no short notice that they were not just satisfied with being one of 12 teams.
Further new faces arrived both in advance of and during 2019/20. Englishman Mark Randall, who once sat on an Arsenal substitutes’ bench in the Champions League, was snapped up to bolster the midfield, while centre-back Albert Watson and line-leader Johnny McMurray each swapped the county’s established Premiership outfit, Ballymena United, for the new kids on the block.
Andy Mitchell and John Herron respectively swapped Linfield and Glentoran for red shirts, while shot-stopper Conor Mitchell provided competition in goal for his namesake Devlin and flying forward Conor McKendry also linked up on the Inver Road.
Make no mistake about it. This was a really good Premiership team.
With Lynch continuing to wave his magic wand, Larne had the means to go for top honours. Confidence was high that the means to challenge was there.
And in 2021, the dream-chasers lived their dream.
Not only did they improve a couple of positions to finish fourth-place. Not only did they claim the Co Antrim Shield for the first time in their history. Not only did they reach another Irish Cup Final – albeit again in defeat; not even this nouveau Larne were immune from that proverbial skeleton on one’s back.
But, for the first time in 132 years of existence, in 2021, they would play in Europe.
Worth in the reaches of £200,000 and more if European progression is secured, Larne’s success in the 2021 European Play-Off was a lucrative endeavour for the club. But often that pales compared to the emotions of actually sealing it. Image from Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker, via Belfast Telegraph.
They were denied a spot in the first-ever iteration of the Europa Conference League when Linfield handed them their latest heartbreak in the Final of Ireland’s oldest football cup competition.
But they would make up for it a couple of weeks later. Despite Dáire O’Connor levelling up with a piledriver for Cliftonville during the European Play-Off Final, Larne reacted to book their spot thanks to a double by McDaid and a neat finish from Lynch.
Larne in the 2020-21 Danske Bank Premiership:
- Position – fourth-place
- Points – 64 (38 matches played)
- Goals scored – 64
- Goals conceded – 41
- Top scorer – David McDaid, Ronan Hale (12 goals)
- Top assister – Mark Randall (10 assists)
It was rumoured that McDaid, when he was placed on the market by League of Ireland outfit Waterford, was closing in on a deal to join Linfield before Larne swooped and pipped them at the post.
And having also struck an all-important equaliser in the Play-Off Semi-Finals, where an added-time Donnelly dagger into Glenavon hearts had earned them the right to jostle against the Reds for a European spot, that brace probably cemented the Derryman’s spot amongst the club’s greatest-ever recruits. It’s no wonder that, even having turned out for Ballymena last term, the fruits of his impact are firmly woven into the Inver fabric.
Lynch, now of Coleraine, was probably a trailblazer in his own right, too. He followed McDaid in swapping the southern league – Sligo Rovers in his case – for the northern one, paving the way for a highly efficient League of Ireland recruitment route that had also brought them full-back Dean Jarvis, midfielder Luke Wade Slater and the rapid Ronan Hale.
So, with a foray into the continent to look forward to, just how would they fare?
Quite well, as it transpired.
Most distinguished of all in that European run was, of course, their encounter with Danish powerhouses AGF.
While 1-0 triumphs home and away to Cymru Premier counterparts Bala Town was history in its own right – McDaid scored less than 120 seconds into their first-leg fixture in Oswestry before Hale made an absolute cert of their progress six minutes from the finish back at Inver Park – their 3-2 aggregate win over Aarhus is one that will stand the test of time.
There is a reason for singling out that League of Ireland recruitment policy. Because it was inextricably linked to their success in the summer of 2021.
McDaid and Hale struck like lightning once again across the two legs, as did Jarvis with what would turn out to be an integral goal on the stroke of the half-hour during the 2-1 home win.
It was the then-22-year-old Hale – a Belfast native signed from St Patrick’s Athletic and who is just on the back of 29 strikes in a stellar first season with Cliftonville – who opened the goal account in Denmark and, while a penalty was slotted beyond Scottish stopper Rohan Ferguson to set up a grandstand finish, the Invermen held their nerve in Ceres Park to advance to the next phase.
The consensus opinion then was that, as far as two-legged ties go, it was one of the most memorable to involve an Irish League club.
A view you would find hard to argue against, and to defeat a top-tier team from Portugal in one leg – a Paços de Ferreira panel that featured would-be Canada World Cup hero Stephen Eustáquio – was also quite the feat; Randall netted the only goal of the game when the fifth-placed Primeira Liga side came to visit.
They fell to a 4-0 reversal when the action turned to the Iberian Peninsula, with Paços going on to face José Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur in the play-off for a group stage place, but you were not wiping the smiles off the Larne faithful following the high standards they had set.
And they continued to add to their talent array. Ferguson’s arrival from Queen of the South reinforced the sticks, while their temptation of young Kofi Balmer from Ballymena added to their ambitious recruit of Republic of Ireland centre-back Cian Bolger from Northampton Town. For the first time, the Invermen paid a transfer fee for a player, too – that enticed Coleraine to part with forward-thinking midfielder Ben Doherty for an amount of money speculated to be in the region of £50,000.
So, perhaps it was at this moment that, even though they still had a 14-point gap to close on repeat champions Linfield, they would make their title charge?
Well, not quite. In fact – and this in turn clarifies some of the question marks that followed – the gap widened.
Larne in the 2021-22 Danske Bank Premiership:
- Position – fifth-place
- Points – 62 (38 matches played)
- Goals scored – 61
- Goals conceded – 39
- Top scorer – David McDaid (11 goals)
- Top assister – Ben Doherty (10 assists)
Don’t think that it was a lost cause. But despite Cosgrove’s second-half winner against Linfield that saw them successfully retain the Co Antrim Shield, they found themselves still with ground to make up.
That was where Lynch’s suitability for the next phase of the project came under the spotlight from some observers.
In mid-season, meanwhile, rumours broke that Larne were willing to break the bank on a striker. A six-figure sum, even.
The player in question they were targeting was a front-man who had bagged 14 top-flight strikes for a bottom-half club the previous season, a feat achieved at just 21 years of age having beforehand helped spearhead his team to promotion.
Having also torn up the Mid-Ulster Football League as a teenager to work his way back into the fold of his boyhood club, he had navigated his way from the Northern Ireland pyramid’s fourth rung to the top-tier at double-quick notice.
But having started 2021-22 slowly – by the mid-point, he had just three goals in 20 Premiership appearances to his name – there were definitely a couple of confused looks when the transfer links surfaced.
But Lee Bonis… well, if he had a chip on his shoulder, he has worked it off emphatically.
For a fee reported by some at as high as £100,000, a boyhood Portadown fan working as a roofer while featuring for his home town team took the leap into full-time football.
The quotes section:
“Look, I’m here to play football and that’s what I’m focused on and enjoy doing. Other people can say stuff if they want. Let them. It’s water off a duck’s back to me. I know I’m there to score goals but I’m confident I’ll do that if I put in the work. In this team, you also know you’ll get chances week in, week out” – there was never any shortage of confidence from striker Lee Bonis that he could produce the goods for Larne. Image from INPHO/Stephen Hamilton, via Belfast Live.
Again, there was a great air of confidence that Larne had their man, in spite of perceived ridicule from rival supporters that the club would pay such an amount of money on a man who did not look anywhere close to worth it. But with a full-time environment to hone his attributes in, he grew to become one of the most complete forwards in the division.
He stands now having been called up to Michael O’Neill’s senior Northern Ireland squad, and his name is linked with moves to England and Scotland for treble the initial investment and more that would imply Larne got a bargain.
In his first full season at Inver Park, he did not disappoint. Neither, for that matter, did any of his team-mates.
There was a changing of the guard in 2022. McDaid, Jarvis, Lynch and Hale moved on to pastures new, while others arrived to take the full-time leap.
Highly-regarded Ballymena skipper Leroy Millar was joined by defender Aaron Donnelly, line-leader Paul O’Neill and the industrious Daniel Kearns, all three moving up the A8 to sign from Cliftonville.
And following in the footsteps of Ferguson the previous summer in swapping Scotland for the Irish League was Shaun Want. The centre-back joined from Hamilton Academical and appeared to point in the direction of a new vogue recruitment-wise, with midfielder Shea Gordon’s switch from Partick Thistle only appearing to reassert the Scottish attraction.
Lynch had come under criticism the previous season as, although Larne played an attractive and progressive style of play, it was adjudged that they lacked a bit of the toughness needed to endure in a title hunt.
So they played tougher. A sturdy spine was cultivated, comprising Cosgrove at right-back, while Want and Donnelly slotted in alongside Kildare native Bolger to form a resilient backline.
Northern Ireland Under-21 international defender Donnelly, a centre-back by trade who was involved in a straight swap that saw Hale head over to Solitude, arrived right as Balmer – his partner in green and white – earned a big switch across the water to Crystal Palace. With the 22-year-old from Newtownabbey recording a transfer fee Transfermarkt list at as high as £300,000, his potential was realised and then some in 2021/22.
Tiernan Lynch had nothing but praise for the way Balmer, who has also earned the acclaim of former Palace supremo Patrick Vieira and a senior call-up for Northern Ireland, acquitted himself.
He said: “He is a quality young player and someone who has demonstrated that throughout his time at the club. He has been an important part of our defence during his Larne career, and has also popped up with some important goals.
“Kofi came into work every day with a determination to improve his game and has got his reward with this next step on his journey. He has a great attitude and that will serve him well for the rest of his career.
“Already having a couple of hundred games in senior football is important and will also serve him in good stead.
“It is also a reminder of how much full-time football can benefit a player and help them progress, preparing Kofi for a move to a Premier League club in England.“
The last line was a salient point Lynch was eager to stress. With four teams in the Irish League – Linfield, Glentoran, Crusaders (on a three-quarter basis) alongside Larne, with Cliftonville declaring their intention to shift into a hybrid model – adopting full-time structures, what was once an exclusively part-time league is moving into a new age.
And, knitting this together with Bruce’s vow that he would invest in facilities to make this major transition as smooth as possible, part of the plan involved the opening of a new training complex.
Located to the north of Larne, the grand opening of the brand-new ‘Academy of Sport’ saw the conditions the Inver Reds train in become even more bespoke. With the laying of a 4G pitch – an artificial surface like at Inver Park – and a complete rebrand of the interior, the site formerly known as ‘The Cliff’ was much in tune with that professional ethos.
A site that would also be availed of by the local community, it fits precisely with the For The Town brand the club has put to the fore and the intention of putting people in a centre-stage role. It wasn’t just for the playing personnel where top-level infrastructure would come as a tour de force; for supporters, the 1889 Sports and Social Club is so inextricably linked to the gameday experience, and, adding to the club shop, the grounds of Inver Park possess something that will appeal to every type of match-going fan.
Bearing in mind the factor social clubs can have in generating revenue for clubs, it further assisted Larne in their quest for self-sustainability.
“We are in a really good, sound financial position. We have got no debt, we own all of our facilities and we don’t have to pay rent to anyone else, so we are in a good solid position to move forward,” Bruce told BBC Northern Ireland at half-time in a 4-1 victory over Stephen Baxter’s Crusaders at Inver Park, coming on the back of the ribbon cut on the Academy of Sport.
It was also in that pitchside interview that he revealed the £5million amount of investment that has gone in. But Larne are safely at the stage where they are not dependent on any single source of income.
“Every single month, we are getting closer and closer to sustainability,” the owner elaborated. “Of course, developing players and securing transfer fees for those players is going to be very, very important, as is getting into European football. But from our perspective, we are seeing really good signs that it is becoming sustainable.“
Adding on the Academy of Sport, Bruce stated: “It really shows what you can do when you get public money with private money and the community support. It is going to be a facility that all around Larne are going to benefit from.
“We tried to make sure that we laid really solid foundations and have invested very heavily in making sure that all the facilities are top-class.
“We also want to make sure that the Academy, Scholarship and Educational programme is progressing as well.
“I think fundamentally, we have got lots of things in the right place, and we are going to continue to try and grow and develop.”
With the likes of Millar, Donnelly, O’Neill and Kearns all blooding into a full-time set-up having linked up directly from part-time teams, the infrastructure helped accommodate themselves and others into a model which already had a track record but was also shifting gears.
Things were clicking off the pitch. They were hitting stride on it as well.
Conceding 39 goals across their 38 league encounters in 2021/22, Larne started the new term unbeaten, letting in just three in their first 11 top-tier matches.
And upon suffering a 4-0 defeat away to Glentoran in late October that could have burst their bubble, they were not to be deflated.
Larne’s Scottish contingent, goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson, midfielder Joe Thomson, striker Andy Ryan and centre-back Shaun Want (left to right). Image from INPHO/Stephen Hamilton, via Belfast Live.
You could sense early on that this Larne was a different breed. As much as you could sense that Lynch, who always kept the full backing of Bruce, Clements and the board, was still the right man.
With the Invermen clearly in title contention, they acted in January. The tricky winger Thomas Maguire was signed having enjoyed a spell stateside following stints at Warrenpoint Town and Cliftonville. Derry City snapped up Doherty mid-season as he returned to the north-west, but Larne negotiated the arrivals from Foyleside of Joe Thomson and Micheál Glynn – the latter on the back of a radiant half-season loan at Glenavon.
Perhaps most significant of all, though, was the flying Scotsman they banked when they went back to Hamilton.
With Bonis and Millar fully-fledged in full-time football and impressing, a fearsome final piece in the jigsaw was to be inserted.
Drumchapel striker Andy Ryan joined in the winter. He was immortal within months.
So often the January window can provide the impetus that drives a team across the finish line. And Larne played a blinder with theirs.
Such foresight ultimately preceded the inevitable. What seemed a title race with the potential to twist one way or the other, with as many as five teams in the hunt at one point, naturally called for cool heads and poker faces.
Both of their trophies last term were clinched on trips to Seaview.
They secured their sixth senior honour in the form of yet another Co Antrim Shield – the first time a team from outside the capital had completed a ‘Binlid’ three-peat, defeating Linfield on penalties following a goalless draw – and it served as the appetizer to the main course.
When they descended upon north Belfast to tackle Crusaders having not lost in their last 14 Premiership matches, they went in knowing that one point more was all that was required.
But they took all three. Ryan and Bonis hit the jackpot either side of half-time and confirmed a 2-0 away success over the 10-man Crues.
April 14, 2023. The day Larne won the Irish League. A night supporters would never forget.
A lengthy unbeaten run that stretched all the way from January 2 (a 2-1 defeat to Cliftonville at Solitude) to April 29 (a 3-0 loss to Coleraine on the season’s final day) proved inspirational in helping the Inver Reds secure the last-ever Danske Bank Premiership. Mercurial Cosgrove, often a light-hearted joker off the pitch but utterly dedicated to his craft on it, lifted ‘Gibson’ as the only man to win both the first and final titles during the Danish corporation’s sponsorship of Northern Ireland’s premier division.
Others who had gone the distance from those days in the Championship were in receipt of their fair dues, too. Sule, who admitted on BBC Northern Ireland’s Irish League Show that he had “never even heard of Larne” when the possibility of a shock transfer emerged, never felt the warmth and affection towards him wane. Hughes, retiring, was the homecoming toast of the town. Kelly, having made the bold switch from Port Vale five years prior, was revered in front of the stands of the ever-more embellished Inver Park.
With a deeper squad, a greater flexibility in shape and approach, a phenomenal January window and the nous of Lynch to detect where the problem positions existed during pre-season had driven a success that the town could get behind.
Larne in the 2022-23 Danske Bank Premiership:
- Position – first-place (champions)
- Points – 83 (38 matches played)
- Goals scored – 64
- Goals conceded – 22
- Top scorer – Lee Bonis (15 goals)
- Top assister – Lee Bonis, Leroy Millar (nine assists)
That was just it. Lynch, there from the very first day, who appeared to have hit a trough after years of peaks 12 months earlier, brought indescribable happiness to a town that needed it.
Like Bruce had promised it.
Maybe their spirit was best encapsulated in Cosgrove’s defiant words following the 2-0 Irish Cup semi-final exit to Ballymena.
“We did not show our ability and a lot of the boys had an off-night,” the full-back reflected forthrightly on an odd night at Seaview that did not bring joy.
“It’s a shame it happened in such a big game but perhaps it can be the kick up the backside that can help us push on.
The quotes section:
“It’s a shame it happened in such a big game but perhaps it can be the kick up the backside that can help us push on. Fans are raging when the team loses but no one is more disheartened than the players. We are in control of what happens, we are all fans and have played the game long enough” – Larne captain Tomás Cosgrove felt the 2-0 Irish Cup semi-final reversal at the hands of Ballymena United was the fuel his side needed to go and win the league. Image from INPHO/Stephen Hamilton, via Belfast Live.
“Fans are raging when the team loses but no one is more disheartened than the players. We are in control of what happens, we are all fans and have played the game long enough.
“We reflected on the game and a few harsh words were said between the boys but we are sticking together and everyone knows it wasn’t good enough.
“Everyone is upset but I know it hurt the boys more than anyone.”
You can choose to wallow in your setbacks or will yourself on for tests to come. That Sky Blues loss, in which centre-back Craig Farquhar – the latest Larne new boy snapped up from their noisy neighbours – was their goalscoring foe, lit up their charge again for the run-in.
And now, firing on all cylinders, they had that ultimate reward for their consistency and determination.
3,500 people were inside Inver Park on the day Larne lifted the top-flight title.
A sell-out from Church End to Terrace, the supporters watched with delight as the red carpet was laid out for their charges to receive their winners’ medals.
Upon Cosgrove’s receipt of the Gibson Cup from NI Football League CEO Gerard Lawlor, the volume around the place could scarcely have been higher. A brave band of heroes enshrined in history walked out one by one, a grand cheer greeting each and, as Larne’s No.23, their captain fantastic, rallied his troops to scream and shout for the greatest celebration of all, the crowd joined in unison.
When Bruce spoke on the pitch, microphone in hand, you could picture a figure who could not contain his pride.
He contained his emotions for just a moment to say a few exultant words in tribute to the achievement and the people behind it.
“I’m so proud of the players and everyone at the club. They’ve worked so hard. When you take over a club, you have to make them part of your family,” he enthused.
“Larne is part of the Bruce family. You can see tonight how much it means to this club.”
The quotes section:
“I’m so proud of the players and everyone at the club. They’ve worked so hard. When you take over a club, you have to make them part of your family. Larne is part of the Bruce family. You can see tonight how much it means to this club” – Larne owner Kenny Bruce‘s comments after seeing his home town club lift the title could be resonated among every one of those who feel like custodians to their football club. Image from INPHO/Stephen Hamilton, via Sunday Life.
Clements equally saluted the crowd, whose backing had undeniably proved an integral cog of the whole operation to turn Larne’s fortunes around.
One must have felt satisfied for the Chairman. In the span of less than six years, Larne had developed a Scholarship programme capable of attracting top-calibre overseas talent into a full-time Academy, a cohesive loan network that has helped local prodigies gain senior experience in their development as totally professional footballers, as well as rekindling the flame of Larne Women who, under the guidance of Donald Malomo-Paris, are presently enjoying their first-ever campaign in the Women’s Premiership.
And with the support of the board as a collective, from all departments of the club and whose extensive contributions in such areas as media, hospitality, administration and welfare are as plentiful as the next one, the Inver Reds have become a glowing flower in bloom.
“A massive thank you for the support you have given us over the last six years, and it would be remiss not to mention stalwarts of this club who aren’t here tonight,” he pointed out.
“The players and coaching staff have been phenomenal.”
Of course, that dream of Bruce’s that he has heralded from the start, that desire to see Larne in the Champions League, will soon be fulfilled too.
Though admittedly with a rather gut-wrenching catch.
Instead of Inver Park, their home fixtures in Europe’s premier club competition shall be contested at Cliftonville’s Solitude stadium in north Belfast.
Their usual home venue fell short – by slim margins – of being able to have that famous anthem ringing out for matches. Dare you even use the word ‘technicality’ to describe it, given it was due to only one aspect of the pitch that caused them not to be awarded certification.
“The experts advising us through this process have described us as being ‘victims of our own success’,” explained General Manager Niall Curneen on the reasoning behind this shuddering blow that has prevented Co Antrim from dining at the continent’s top table.
“In that while Inver Park has become such a fantastic community hub which is used seven days per week, this has unfortunately accelerated the wear and tear which has led to the situation we find ourselves in today.”
Nevertheless, there are no doubts about Larne’s participation. That was never in jeopardy.
They have been drawn to face HJK Helsinki of Finland, firstly travelling to the Bolt Arena in the Finnish capital to face Klubi on July 12 before tackling the Veikkausliiga champions back in Northern Ireland seven days later.
Should they prevail in a tie where they will be forecast as the heavy underdogs, encountering a team that reached the Europa League group stage last campaign, Norwegian giants Molde – last-16 representatives in the same tournament two years ago, and a team who were famously beaten by Glenavon on their last visit to these shores five years ago – are next to lie in wait.
The going was never expected to be easy, and it is a baptism of fire in one of the coldest places on the planet where their initiation takes place.
But you can bank on it that Larne will enter with hope.
Following their pursuit for European glory will be another tough battle. The battle to retain their status as Irish League kings.
They are there to be shot at and, in this ever-evolving environment that is the Irish League, big-hitters will be chasing top-spot once more.
It was Linfield whose position they wrestled for themselves, and the 56-time champions will be energised in their bid to snatch back the main billing under a winner extraordinaire in David Healy.
All the same, Bruce recently Tweeted something revealing.
“We will continue our drive to have Champions League games at Inver.”
If you want Champions League football, the only way you can get it is by winning the league.
Larne haven’t done the hard work just to be a one-hit wonder.
Featured image from Pacemaker, via UTV.
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