Larne FC Larne FC is a football club from County Antrim, Northern Ireland, founded on 14 October 1889 after a group of townspeople from the port town, inspired by a match involving local side Distillery, decided to form their own team. For most of its history the club operated in the shadow of bigger rivals, never finishing in the top three of the league or reaching European competition โ until the turning point arrived in September 2017, when businessman Kenny Bruce, co-founder of the property platform Purplebricks, acquired a majority stake in the then-Championship club.
Bruce's investment in infrastructure and in Inver Park, thoroughly modernised between 2018 and 2020, produced immediate results: Larne were promoted to the top-flight NIFL Premiership as early as the 2018โ19 season. The following years brought historic success โ the club's first-ever Northern Irish league title in 2022โ23, a successful title defence the following season, and, in May 2026, a third championship in four seasons under manager Gary Haveron, built on a remarkably tight defence that conceded just 26 goals in 38 matches. In July 2025, Kenny Bruce sold his stake to the North American investment group Redball Global FC, which pledged to continue the club's long-term growth strategy.
The foundation of Larne's sporting success was the long-term stability provided by manager Tiernan Lynch, who led the side for seven seasons before departing for Derry City in November 2024. Key figures on the pitch include captain Tomas Cosgrove and forward Matty Lusty, while Scottish goalkeeper Rohan Ferguson has repeatedly proven decisive in penalty shootouts, most notably saving three spot-kicks to help secure the NIFL Charity Shield against Coleraine in July 2026.
The most significant moment in the club's European history remains the 2024โ25 season, when Larne became the first-ever Northern Irish club to reach the league phase of the UEFA Conference League, advancing through tense penalty shootouts against opponents including Latvia's FK Auda and Kosovo's FC Prishtina. On the final league-phase matchday, played at Windsor Park in Belfast because Inver Park did not meet UEFA's stadium requirements, Larne beat Belgium's KAA Gent 1โ0 thanks to a goal from Tomas Cosgrove โ the club's first-ever win at this stage of European competition. Larne's honours also include four consecutive County Antrim Shield titles, won between 2021 and 2024.
