City of Armagh NI Supporters' Club celebrates 30th anniversary

THE City of Armagh Northern Ireland Supporters Club is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year.

Members and guests gathered at the Armagh City Hotel on Saturday evening for a special anniversary dinner as part of the celebrations.

The club also used the opportunity to raise much needed funds for the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust - which has helped the families of Northern Ireland fans in the past in unfortunate circumstances.

As part of their fundraiser the local supporters’ club has issued a fundraising booklet, staged an auction and had a competition last year plus a quiz at Christmas in aid of the charity.

Charity has long been at the core of the club’s efforts and they have raised more than £30k for a number of local good causes before this latest effort.

Parkinsons NI, Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI, Northern Ireland Air Ambulance, Chest Heart and Stroke, the NI Cancer Fund for Children and others have been supported over the club’s 30 year history.

A club spokesman said, “Just last year we purchased a Defibrillator through the Cormac Trust that is permanently located in Armagh City Centre in the Hole in the Wall Bar and within weeks of installation it helped save someone’s life after taking unwell in a nearby restaurant.

“We are very proud to add the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust to that list of outstanding causes.”

The latest fundraiser was all part of the lead up to Saturday’s event which saw more than 200 guests attend.

Guests came from Cookstown and Portadown but the bulk of the numbers came from local club members.

Special guests on the evening were former Northern Ireland players Aaron Hughes and Gareth McAuley.

Hughes, from Cookstown, made his full international debut aged 18 in 1998 and has earned 112 caps for Northern Ireland, the third most in the nation’s history, behind Steven Davis and goalkeeper Pat Jennings. He has one international goal to his tally.

He captained the national team from 2003 up to his retirement from international football in 2011, but returned to the squad the following year and was included in their squad for UEFA Euro 2016.

McAuley, from Larne, made 80 appearance for the Northern Ireland senior team, scoring nine goals.

Both players were a key part of the squad’s impressive showing at the
2016 Euros.

The club has been planning this dinner for just around a year and falls five years to the day from their 25th anniversary celebrations on 8th February, 2020.

It’s been a good committee effort led by chairman Michael Calvert.

The club has 94 members who follow the national team both at home and away.

The club is one of the larger NI Supporters’ clubs in the province.

There’s always fair representation of travelling support from Armagh, with local fans seeing plenty of ‘the continent’.

The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust, based in Newry, aims to alleviate the financial hardship of bereaved families repatriating the bodies of loved ones who have died abroad in sudden or tragic circumstances back to Ireland.