Stangmore Park
Crusaders
Cliftonville
0
© PressEye
Celebrating scoring during the 2022/23 season
Formed in 1889, Glenavon have clocked up a number of notable landmarks and achievements in their long history.
Admitted to the Irish League in 1911, the club picked up their first trophy a decade later in the shape of the City Cup but it wasn't until the post-WW2 era that the Lurgan Blues really made their presence felt.
In 1952 they claimed their first league title and duly became the first provincial club to do so. In the same season they also won the Irish Cup and, again, were first club from outside Belfast to complete the double.
A year later they they competed in the fledgling European Cup, becoming the first club from Northern Ireland take qualify for Europe ... and the 'firsts' continued four years after that when an Irish Cup victory resulted in qualification for the old European Cup-Winners' Cup, again another first for the Irish League.
Unfortunately the next three decades were somewhat less successful before an upturn in fortunes in their centenary season saw silverware return in abundance to the Mourneview Park boardroom when the Mid Ulster and Floodlit Cups were claimed.
The 90s, in particular, threatened to rival those glory days of the 1950s. During the decade, under the leadership of Terry Nicholson, Alan Fraser and then Nigel Best, Glenavon lifted two Irish Cups, one League Cup and two Gold Cups in addition to success in the County Antrim Shield on two occasions.
Remarkably, despite all that success, Glenavon suffered relegation at the end of the 2003/04 campaign. They did bounce back immediately but it wasn't until the appointment of Gary Hamilton as boss in 2011 that fortunes began to take a turn for the better again - steering the club to another Irish Cup victory in 2013/14, and again in 2015/16, in addition to four top three finishes in five seasons.
