:
Your Location: Home / Club History
Club History
Wesley Football Club's distinguished history dates back to 1955 and were one of the oldest clubs in the Lisburn League before they moved to the Amateur League. Formerly known as Lisburn Boys' Club, and although successful, found it difficult to raise funds under that name. On August 29th, 1955, the club rented rooms in Wilson Street which they shared with E. Post Darts Club. Having acquired new premises, the next step was a new name. The new committee proposed the names Wesley and Roseville. Don Savage, who was elected chairman at the meeting, opted for Wesley as his grandfather had been an officer of the old Wesley Club which won the Steel and Sons Cup away back in the 1896-97 season. Hence the recognised name of Wesley Football Club was born.
A New Beginning
The new club was quick to prosper and with hard working officers such as Jim Pelan and Alfie McCabe, the number of members began to pick up. However, the team had a poor beginning finishing in the lower section of the league. Undaunted by this, Wesley carried on and in the following year under the guidance of new chairman Alfie McCabe and new secretary Don Savage, the team fared much better. Around this time a new name appeared on the Wesley scene that of Martin Griffin. Another great clubman to join the ranks at this period was Tommy Lockhart and when he was promoted to club chairman the club rose to great heights.
Trophies
In 1959 and 1960 the team finished in the top three in the League Championship. They also reached the finals of both the Blundell Cup and McCarter Cup in the 59-60 season but on both occasions they went down to Lisburn United, who at the time were the strongest team in Lisburn. Wesley got ample revenge on United the following season when they hammered them 5-2 in the semi-final of the St. Georges Charity Cup. The final took place on July 1st when Wesley faced favourites Hilden Amateurs. This team was comprised of senior and Irish League B division players and Wesley were considered very much the underdogs but to the delight of their fans they won their first trophy beating Hilden 2-0 with goals from W. T. Moore and W. J. Crookshanks.
Other players who made a name for themselves at Wesley in this time were Frank McCaugherty with 219 appearances. Eddie Uprichard 100 appearances in which he scored 111 goals. Tommy Moore 80 matches scored 90 goals and not forgetting Leo O'Neill the former Celtic Star.
In a period from the 1959-60 season until 1971-72, the club won at least one trophy every year bar one, although since then things have become a little barren. It wasn't until 1968-69 that Wesley won their first Lisburn League championship, having been runners-up on several occasions. Having taken so long to capture the league trophy the club weren't going to surrender it lightly, going on to win it in three successive seasons. The club's most successful season was certainly 1967-68, in which they helped themselves to the McCarter Cup, Napier Cup and Supplementary league, as well as finishing runners-up in the league. Former club boss Ray Lockhard was a member of that successful squad.
Club Records
Wesley's club records make interesting reading. Most appearances have been made by a W. Curry, who pulled on the Wesley shirt no less than 534 times, and Stephen Orr who surpassed 450 appearances. Currently still playing at the club (check yourself by accessing the player statistics on the site) two players have surpassed 400 appearances - Alan McCully and Kenneth Watson.
Throughout the years the club has generally done well in the goal scoring stakes, such as W. J. Spence with 173 goals from 229 appearances. The record for most goals in a season is held by Tommy Moore. He bagged 43 in the 1958-59 season and went on to be groundman of the Barbour playing fields, which was Wesley's home for 28 years until the club switched to Wallace Park. Another great goal scorer was Ivan Davis.
Modern Day
There are other interesting facts and figures available from the old Wesley records, although admittedly much harder to come by compared with the current Sporty Stats software available to you today on the site dating back to 1998. Most goals in one game is said have occurred in the 1958 season when R. A. Fisher hit eight. Wesley's longest unbeaten run is 41 matches which they managed twice between 1968 and 1970.
A young talent who enjoyed time with teams in the Premiership is Chris Kingsberry, recently joining Linfield.
The club now has two teams running both competing in the Amateur League after the second team moved from the Lisburn League. Wesley First Team compete in division 2B and Wesley Second Team in 3C. The club now resides in Lisburn Cricket Club with two home pitches available in Wallace Park. The club invites you to view the club's photo gallery for a comprehensive range of photographs and newspaper records dating back to the very first Wesley team.
