Crusaders F.C.

Junior years (1898–1921)

Crusaders Football Club was formed in the year 1898, although the exact date is unknown. The first meeting of the club is believed to have been held at 182 North Queen Street, Belfast, the home of Thomas Palmer who, along with James McEldowney, John Hume and Thomas Wade, was a member of the original club committee. Various names were suggested for the club, including 'Rowan Star', 'Cultra United', 'Mervue Wanderers', 'Moyola' (all names of local streets), and others such as 'Queen's Rovers', and the 'Lilliputians'. Thomas Palmer felt a name of more international significance should be adopted and he suggested "Crusaders", after the medieval Christian knights. The team is informally known as the Crues. Initially, the club was only able to undertake friendly fixtures until it was formally admitted to one of the local junior leagues. Players were compelled to pay a match fee of two pence before they could take the field; a strict "no pay, no play" club policy was enforced. The very first competitive game of which there is any existing written record was on 10 December 1898. It came in the North Belfast Alliance against opponents named Bedford at Alexandra Park and the report states that, "after a splendid game Crusaders won by 5 to 2." Crusaders went on to compete in the Dunville Alliance, Ormeau Junior Alliance, Alexandra Alliance, Woodvale Alliance and Irish Football Alliance (the latter of which they won three years in a row from 1916 to…

Recent seasons

Senior honours

Irish League/NIFL Premiership: 7 1972–73, 1975–76, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18 Irish Cup: 6 1966–67, 1967–68, 2008–09, 2018–19, 2021–22, 2022–23 Irish League Cup: 2 1996–97, 2011–12 County Antrim Shield: 8 1959–60, 1964–65, 1968–69, 1973–74, 1991–92, 2009–10, 2017–18, 2018–19 NIFL Charity Shield: 2 2022, 2023 Gold Cup: 2 1985–86, 1995–96 Ulster Cup: 3 1953–54, 1963–64, 1993–94 Carlsberg Cup: 1 1973–74

All-Ireland honours

Setanta Sports Cup: 1 2012

Intermediate honours

Irish First Division: 1 2005–06 Steel & Sons Cup: 8 1922–23, 1926–27, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1933–34, 1936–37, 1947–48, 1953–54, 2005–06 IFA Intermediate League Cup: 1 2005–06 Irish Intermediate League: 9 1922–23, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1928–29, 1930–31, 1932–33, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1948–49 Irish Intermediate Cup: 3 1926–27, 1937–38, 1938–39 McElroy Cup: 3 1929–30, 1931–32, 1947–48 Clements Lyttle Cup: 1 1924–25 Irish League B Division Section 2/NIFL Premiership Development League: 3 1996–97, 2021–22, 2022–23 George Wilson Cup: 3 1952–53, 2006–07, 2014–15 Louis Moore Cup: 1 1972–73

Junior honours

Irish Junior Alliance First Division: 3 1915–16, 1916–17, 1917–18 Lyttle Trophy: 3 1915–16, 1917–18, 1920–21 (shared) Empire Cup: 1 1905–06 Polland Cup: 1 1903–04 Alexandra Alliance: 1 1901–02

Friendly honours

Stena Line Trophy: 1 1996–97