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| Full name | Dungannon Swifts Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Swifts | ||
| Founded | 1949 | ||
| Ground | Stangmore Park (Capacity: 3,000) |
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| Chairman |  Jarlath Faloon |
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| Manager | Dixie Robinson |
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| League | IFA Premiership | ||
| 2008/09 | 12th | ||
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Dungannon Swifts F.C. is a Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the Irish League First Division in 1997. Dungannon earned promotion from Irish League First Division to the Premier Division in the 2002/03 season.
The Swifts hail from Dungannon, County Tyrone and plays their home matches at Stangmore Park. Club colours are royal blue with white trim (home strip) and yellow with a red trim (away strip).
Dungannon have a mentality of developing future players from their youth system and deploying them into the first team at a relatively young age. The most recent young talent to be developed by Dungannon Swifts was local Niall McGinn who signed for full time Derry City, in the eircom league, on 29th January 2008. Niall later joined Celtic as a result of his progress
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Club history
Club formation
The history of Dungannon Swifts Football Club began in 1949 with the formation of the club. The names of the founder committee members include Thomas Neill, Jimmy Sands, Maurice Graham, Alfred Burnett, Albert Kelly, George Richards, Albert Watt, Joe Meldrum, Jack Fowler and Ben Clarke.
The early years
In the 1949-50 season, the Swifts managed a notable feat when they entered and won the Mid Ulster Shield on their first attempt. The following season, the Swifts made their entry into the Mid Ulster League and haven't looked back since. In the same season they made it through to the Alexander Cup, Foster Cup and Mid Ulster Shield where they landed runners up in each.
Promotion to B Division
After twenty years in the Mid Ulster League, in 1972 the Swifts were promoted to the Irish League B Division where they managed a comfortable 4th spot in their first season.
Stangmore Park
1975 saw Stangmore Park become the official home of the Dungannon Swifts Football Club when they bought the land from Courtaulds Ltd and erected a temporary wooden Social Club.
Continued success
In the 1980-81 season the team had one of their most successful years ever and were crowned runners up in the B Division championship. The Swifts continued to show their dominance in the Bob Radcliffe Cup over the years but the 1987-88 season showed their skills in the senior Mid-Ulster Cup when they defeated Glenavon 2-1 to bring the trophy to Stangmore Park.
In August 1982, Dungannon Swifts officially unveiled their brand new club house. The purpose built construction replaced the old wooden club house and would provide an ideal environment for club and social affairs such as bingo, dances and dinners.
Senior status
In 1997, Dungannon Swifts achieved senior status on its election to the Irish League First Division.
Intertoto Cup
The club quailfied for its first European games by finishing 4th in the Irish Premier League, they plaeyd Icelandic opposition Keflavík in the Intertoto Cup. Unfortunately, the team lost 4-1 to Keflavík and could not make up in the home game, leading to elimination in the very first stage of the Intertoto tournament.
Setanta Cup
Dungannon Swifts qualified for the Setanta Cup by finishing 4th in the Irish Premier League during the 2004/05 season. In the Setanta Cup following, Dungannon was playing in a group with Cork City, Drogheda United and Portadown and failed to qualify for the semi-finals as Cork and Drogheda grabbed the top two places. Drogheda United would later win the tournament, beating Cork City in the final.
Honours
Senior honours
- Ulster Cup: 1
- 2002/03
- Irish League First Division: 1
- 2002/03
- Mid-Ulster Cup: 4
- 1987/88, 1996/97, 2005/06, 2008/09
Intermediate honours
- IFA Reserve League: 1
- 2005/06†
- Irish Intermediate Cup: 2
- 1977/78, 1991/92
- B Division Knock-out Cup: 1
- 1993/94
- George Wilson Cup: 3
- 1973/74, 2003/04†, 2005/06†
- Louis Moore Cup: 1
- 1975/76
- Mid-Ulster Cup: 2
- 1970/71, 1975/76
- Bob Radcliffe Cup: 9
- 1981/82, 1985/86, 1986/87, 1989/90, 1992/93, 1993/94, 1994/95, 1995/96, 2005/06†
† Won by reserve team
Junior honours
- Mid-Ulster Shield: 1
- 1970/71
- Mid-Ulster League: 2
- 1970/71, 1971/72
- Alexander Cup: 4
- 1967/68, 1969/70, 1970/71, 1971/72
Club staff
| Current Role | Name |
|---|---|
| President | |
| Chairman | Jarlath Faloon |
| Treasurer | Carol McAree |
| Secretary | Simon Graham |
| Bar Manager | Michelle Hegarty |
| Youth Development Officer | Rodney McAree |
| General Manager | Joe McAree |
- Manager: Dixie Robinson
- Assistant Manager: Darren Murphy
- First Team Coach: Rodney McAree
- Sports Therapist: Jennifer Rouse
- Reserve Team Manager: Colin Jeffers
- Reserve Team Assistant: Joe Black
- Team Attendants: Adrian Whittle/John Smyton
Notable former players
- Sean Webb
- Niall McGinn
- Mark Hughes
- Mark McAllister
- Mark Savage
Current squad
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External links
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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
