2015–16 Division 1C, 1st | Date founded 1961 | |
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Full name Downshire Young Men Football Club League Northern Amateur Football League Grounds Hillsborough, Down District Council | ||
Downshire Young Men Football Club (or Downshire YM) is a Northern Irish football club playing in Division 1B of the Northern Amateur Football League. The club was formed c.1961 as Downshire F.C. and played in the Lisburn League until joining the Amateur League in 1974 under its present name. Intermediate status was achieved in 1985. Home matches are played at the Old Coach Road, Hillsborough. Downshire also fields a second team which plays in NAFL Division 3C.
Club history
Football has been played in Hillsborough for over 100 years by clubs using the name Downshire after the Marquess of Downshire, the chief landowner in the village. In 1912, one of the earliest Downshire squads was noted as having to travel to away fixtures by pony and trap. An earlier Downshire Young Men club was a member of the Amateur League from 1955–1961, with the current club formed as Downshire F.C. after its demise.
The club's most successful spell came in the 1960s. The club won the Lisburn League championship seven times and secured the title three years in a row between 1962 and 1965. The team also won 25 trophies in this period.
Downshire originally played at Dunbeg Park in Hillsborough. The pitch was notorious for its sloping playing surface. In the 1970s, the club moved to the council playing fields at Ballynahinch Street. More recently, the club secured new grounds at the Old Coach Road which includes a clubhouse and covered standing area.