Ballymena United

Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The club is managed by David Jeffrey. The club was formed as Ballymena on 7 April 1928, when four local businessmen and football enthusiasts decided that the town of Ballymena needed a senior football team in the Irish League. Nicknamed the 'Braidmen' or 'Sky Blues', latterly because of the colour of the home shirts, Ballymena have a rich history in Irish Cup, having won the competition six times – the most for a provincial club outside of Belfast except for Glenavon and Coleraine. The club has never won the league title in its history, but has finished runners-up on three occasions. The club has also won the County Antrim Shield on six occasions and the Northern Ireland Football League Cup. The main club rivals of Ballymena United are local club Coleraine. The extremely-hostile annual Boxing Day fixture between the two teams attracts large crowds and is one of the high-profile fixtures in the Northern Irish football league calendar.