New Boys on the Block: A Look at Larne
Matchday two of the UEFA Conference League brings us the most unlikely of fixtures this Thursday: an Irish derby in Europe. Larne vs. Shamrock Rovers.
League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers are seasoned European competitors by Irish standards, but what about their opponents from the north? An unknown who’ve taken part in less than 20 European clashes in their 135-year history.
The Inver Reds have proved their worth with back-to-back domestic league titles, but what’s gone on behind the scenes to catapult a side playing second-division football as recently as 2018 into Europe?
Intermediate Success
Founded in 1889 by Rev. Turner, Mr. WN Brown, and L. Jackson Holmes, who took inspiration from a match featuring army regiments. As more clubs in the area formed, Larne would win an IFA Junior Cup in 1901, but both world wars hampered the club’s ability to progress. Despite this, they contested two Irish Cup finals as a senior outfit.
After dropping out of senior football as a result of WW2, the Invermen enjoyed plenty of success at intermediate level throughout the 1960s in particular. Eight B Division titles and five Steel & Sons cups are a testament to the quality of the squad and their passionate support at the time.
Near Misses and Financial Woes
In 1972, Derry City left the Northern Irish league system, and Larne were rewarded for their success. Re-admitted to the league, the Antrim side went close to cup glory on a number of occasions in the 1980s but could never get over the line on a national level. A lone Ulster Cup victory in 1987 was the highlight.
Unfortunately, this period of success came to a slow end after the departure of Paul Malone as coach in 1991. After a steady decline, the trap door opened in 1995, and the Inver Reds found themselves in the newly created First Division.
A long period of firefighting on and off the pitch followed, floundering in the First Division for eight years without really troubling the promotion places. Despite a brief revival at the turn of the millennium, the club cycled through managers at a ferocious pace as they swam against the tide that was carrying them back towards Intermediate football. They eventually gave up the ghost and lost their senior license in 2008.
Kenny Bruce Turns the Tide
It wasn’t until Tiernan Lynch took over as coach in 2017 that something started to brew at Inver Park. Local businessman Kenny Bruce came in to save the day that same year when the club were in dire straits. Relegation to the third tier loomed while the gates to Inver Park had been locked on health & safety grounds.
Despite their well documented financial difficulties that had put them on the verge of administration the club came out all guns blazing and secured the 2018-19 First Division title, their first senior title.
The impact of Kenny Bruce cannot be understated. Co-founder of estate agent Purplebricks, Bruce took a holistic approach to the club’s development. This included a new artificial surface at Inver Park, floodlights, and academy investment, along with the re-integration of a women’s team and numerous community initiatives. All of this meant that by the time Larne were promoted for the first time in a decade, they did it as a full-time outfit.
In 2020, overcoming Cliftonville in a European playoff opened the gates to the lucrative world of European football for Larne. completely uncharted territory for Lynch and his squad. The adventure saw wins over Bala Town and a famous victory over Danish side Aarhus in the second round of Conference League qualifying.
European Exploits
As the effects of investment became more and more apparent on the pitch, Larne would go all the way to the top in 2022–23 by lifting their first ever Premiership title, pipping Linfield in a tight title race.
In July 2023, Larne’s attempt at Europe was cut short by Kosovan side Ballkani, losing 7-1 on aggregate. They only had to wait a year to get their revenge, though.
A second successive title resulted in a comfortable defeat by RFS of Latvia 7-0 over two legs in the Champions League. The Antrim side received a bye to the third round of Conference League qualifying, where they met old enemies Ballkani.
An 89th-minute winner away from home proved vital as the second leg went all the way to penalties after a 1-1 draw on aggregate. In front of a raucous Inver Park, goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson played the hero to book his side a play-off date with the Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar.
Defeat in the first leg and the concession of an early goal in the second were made worse when the champions went down to ten men. Andy Ryan was having none of it though and scored a hat-trick to secure a historic first qualification for Larne.
They became the first Northern Irish side to ever qualify for a European group/league stage. Their reward was six games that saw them take on sides from Belarus to Belgium. Arguably the pick of the ties though is this Thursday’s clash with Shamrock Rovers in Belfast.
On The Pitch
How will the Northern champions take on their Dublin counterparts at Windsor Park, though?
Usually playing in a 3-5-2 formation, Larne switched to a more defensive set-up in their European debut, as did Rovers, but Lynch will most likely see this clash as an opportunity to get points on the board.
If they are to win, they’ll have to score, and that has proved a problem so far this season, scoring just nine times in eight games. They tend to go long and use their strikes to come deep and join in with the buildup play as well as holding up possession as the rest of the team filters forward. They may feel they can catch Rovers out by breaking forward in numbers.
Defensive Frailties
However, Rovers will hope to exploit the defensive frailties of a side that has had a lot of changes personnel-wise.
Set-pieces and crosses into the box have been two of the areas Larne has been weakest in, and Rovers will look to take advantage of strong runs from Johnny Kenny and Graham Burke to cause chaos in the opposition’s half.
Whatever way this Irish derby goes, the winner will bag themselves a considerable financial boost and the momentum that could see them sneak into the play-off round.
This is set to be an intriguing and rare game. How often do you see two champions from one island face each other in Europe?
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