Est. 1897 · Re-formed 1964
From the workers of the Star Bakery to intermediate football — more than a century of the game in Castlewellan, told year by year.
1897 The origins
The history of association football in Castlewellan dates back to 1897, when a football team was formed by workers in the town’s Star Bakery — leading to the formation of Castlewellan Star. Apart from a short hiatus in the 1920s, and again from the 1950s until 1964, there has always been a football team in Castlewellan.
1919 The Star years
The war years were lean times but the Castlewellan team remained strong; the team was looked after around this time by Barney Tumelty, who had been the assistant manager of Portadown.
Possibly Castlewellan’s greatest ever player, Joseph Toner was plying his trade for the Stars. Along with the McCrackern Bros (Linfield) and Barney, Hugh and Dan Jennings (Amateur International), they formed a formidable backbone to a team which began to dominate the local scene. Joseph, who had already lifted a Junior Shield with Annsborough in 1913, was a footballer destined for the big stage.
The Stars played Linfield and Belfast Celtic on separate occasions in front of a packed Meadow, defeating Linfield and losing to Belfast Celtic — and raised funds for both St Paul’s and St Malachy’s along the way. After the Belfast Celtic game Joey Toner was signed by Belfast United, and in 1919 he was transferred to Arsenal. He went on to make 100 appearances for Arsenal and gained 8 international caps for his country, later joining St Johnstone before injury brought him home where it all began.
1948 Summer league days
Local soccer moved to Summer Leagues as the Winter League folded because of the travelling involved and the early evenings. Some great exchanges took place against local teams like Warrenpoint, Ballygowan, Newry, Annalong and the Army. The Army often had professional footballers in their ranks — one such player was a centre forward by the name of Norman Deeley, who went on to score two goals in the 1960 FA Cup Final for Wolverhampton Wanderers against Blackburn Rovers. He arrived with the Army team one night expecting to score a bag full, but left the Meadow scoreless after being marked out of the game by Tibbey Toner.
Other players of note who lined out against the Stars included Blow McEvoy (Glasgow Celtic), Ted Hinton (Irish International) and Billy Teggart (Belfast Celtic), to name but a few. The Stars unfortunately folded as a club in the 1950s.
1964 A re-formation
Castlewellan Town Football Club as it is known today was formed in 1964 by two local men, Jimmy Kelly and Paddy Corrigan. The club celebrated 60 years of football in Castlewellan in 2024.
1970 First silverware of the era
The Town started the 70s with a flourish by annexing the Cosmopolitan Cup during the Mourne and District Summer League of 1970, with an 8–2 victory over a star-studded Ballyvea side. On that Town team was a young Terry Cochrane, who would gain several international caps for Northern Ireland and make a living as a professional footballer with Burnley, Middlesbrough and Gillingham — but is best remembered for scoring against England at Wembley in a 1–1 draw.
1979 League and cup
Success in the Harry Clarke Cup was elusive, and the club’s only appearance in the final during these early years was in 1979. Fortunately it was a winning one — an epic 3–2 victory over Downshire, sparking never-to-be-forgotten celebrations lasting for some days. To cap it all, the team also won the league that year, needing just a point from their final game away to Portaferry. The team duly obliged with a tense 2–2 draw to secure the club’s first ever league and cup double.
During this period the Town were indebted to several managers — Jimmy Kelly, Paddy Corrigan, Noel ‘Darkie’ Burns and Danny Keown — setting the club up for success into the 80s and 90s.
1988 Five finals of heartbreak
Jimmy Kelly and Paddy Corrigan were instrumental in keeping the club afloat through the 70s, and eventually, as membership and interest grew, they saw their efforts rewarded when an unexpected run in the 1977 Bobby Dalzell Cup saw the Town reach the final. However the Town would falter at the final hurdle — a weakness that was to haunt them for several years. They suffered defeat in the ’77, ’79, ’80, ’81 and ’87 finals before eventually winning the trophy in 1988, much to the relief and joy of all involved.
1993 Fourteen years on
Before the onset of the 1990s, Castlewellan Town had only 3 Newcastle League honours to their name — one each of the Bobby Dalzell, Harry Clarke and league championship. By the mid 2000s the club had secured another 3 leagues (1993, 1998, 2003), 1 Bobby Dalzell (2003) and 4 Harry Clarkes (1993, 1997, 2003 & 2004).
The squad of 1993/94 followed up the heroics of the 1979 team in securing a league and cup double, but the club had to wait some 14 years until 2002 to get their hands on the Bobby Dalzell Cup again, after several semi-final and final defeats.
2002 An unbeaten treble
The 2002 Bobby Dalzell win would kickstart a historic treble in the 2002/03 campaign, which saw the team go through the whole season unbeaten — creating Newcastle League history in the process. The season started under the saddest of circumstances for the club, with newly appointed first team manager Kieran ‘Bert’ Toner sadly passing away. The previous management team of Jim Burns, Micky Ward and Charlie Trainer came in and took over the reins during this sad time for all connected with the club, but it would prove to be the catalyst for an invincible season which has still to be repeated in the Newcastle League.
2011 The glory years
Indeed, the only team to do the treble since then is Castlewellan Town again — winning all 3 competitions again in the 2011/12 season. The 2000s were the glory years for the club, with huge success in the Newcastle League. From the 2002/03 treble-winning campaign until our last season in 2014/15, the club won an unprecedented 17 trophies, including 5 league titles, 4 Harry Clarkes and 8 Bobby Dalzells — a cup which, after so many years of disappointment, had started to take up permanent residency in the town as we left the NADAFL having won 5 Bobby Dalzell finals on the bounce.
2015 Pastures new
The club moved on to pastures new in the 2015/16 season, entering the Northern Amateur Football League in Division 2C. Despite a good start to the first season, the team ultimately finished in 5th place.
The following season (2016/17) proved much better, with the team dropping only 7 points on their way to the 2C league title, while also reaching the Cochrane Corry final, where they suffered defeat to Suffolk. In the same season our seconds team — now under the new name of Castlewellan Forest — made a bit of history themselves, securing the Harry Clarke Cup for the first time, conceding zero goals along the way and defeating Premier League champions Annalong in the final. Forest secured promotion to the Premier Division with a great late run.
Several mediocre years followed until Forest secured their return to the Premier Division in 2021/22 by winning the NADAFL Division One title, while the following year the Firsts gained promotion from NAFL 2B with an unbeaten league campaign.
2024 Our 60th season
Which brings us nicely to 2023/24 — our 60th season as a club, and a historic one at that. Castlewellan Forest secured their second Harry Clarke Cup win, making it 9 Harry Clarke successes for the club as a whole. After four previous semi-final defeats in the Junior Shield, it was fifth time lucky as our Firsts reached the showpiece final, but unfortunately lost to St Mary’s. The lads got their revenge though, winning the NAFL 2A title in style — and with it securing intermediate football for the club. The perfect way to conclude our 60th season as a football club.
Sixty years of Castlewellan Town, in numbers
