Ground Capacity 4,390 2015 8th (relegated) Date founded 1994 | League Women's Championship Ground Ballymena Showgrounds | |
Full name Ballymena United Allstars Football Club | ||
Ballymena United Allstars Football Club is a women's association football club based in Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. They were founded in 1994 as Allstars F.C. before amalgamating with Ballymena United F.C. to become their women's team in 2003. The club currently plays in the Women's Championship following relegation from the Women's Premier League in 2015 and play their home matches at Ballymena Showgrounds
History
Allstars F.C. were founded in 1994 by Kelly Barr. When they were founded, they had no permanent home ground and lived a nomadic existence. They started a rivalry in Belfast with fellow women's team Probation F.C.. In 2003, Allstars joined up with Ballymena United men's team to become their official women's team. This coincided with an unbeaten start to their Women's Premier League campaign. Ballymena United Allstars in the end failed to win the league, finishing fourth behind Glentoran Belfast United L.F.C.. Owing to renovations, they were unable to use Ballymena Showgrounds for a number of home matches and were only being offered a "disgraceful and embarrassing" pitch in a local park as a replacement.
In the following years, Ballymena United Allstars often finished in mid-table in the Women's Premier League. In 2005, they reached the semi-finals of the Irish Women's Cup but lost 2–0 to Northland Raiders F.C.. In 2012, they made the final of the Premier League Cup however they lost 2–0 to Glentoran Belfast United. In 2014, they finished 3rd last above Shankill United Predators F.C., just avoiding the promotion/relegation playoff. In 2015, the club finished last in the Women's Premier League with only 2 draws and were relegated to the Women's Championship.