When the fixture schedule is released before the start of each season there are usually two fixtures most fans look to; who do we play on opening day and where is the Boxing Day derby. The traditional festive derby games are eagerly anticipated by Irish League fans each year, and on Boxing Day all roads will once more lead to Shamrock Park for the sellout Mid-Ulster derby between the Reds and the Blues. For many fans that work or play sports each Saturday the Boxing Day games are an opportunity to see their teams in action and catch up with old friends.
Supporters young and old pile through the turnstiles resplendent in their new clothing received on Christmas Day. Nowadays, Boxing Day is the date to look out for, but it wasn’t always that way.
Prior to World War II a Portadown v Glenavon Christmas holiday encounter was not a regular feature of the Fixture schedule. When the Ports returned to Irish League action again in 1947 a Christmas Day derby was on the cards, with Mourneview Park the venue. Unfortunately for the men in red, Glenavon were not full of the Christmas spirit as they ran up a 5-1 scoreline.
Everybody loves a Yuletide derby game and what could be better. Well, how about two Christmas derby games. That is what transpired in 1948 when Shamrock Park was the venue for the Christmas Day game and on Monday 27th December, Ports fans made the journey to Lurgan for the return fixture. A huge crowd turned out at Shamrock Park with the queue said to be over half a mile long down the Brownstown Road. Portadown Pipe Band provided the festive musical renditions as the Ports fans celebrated a 3-1 victory. The return game at Mourneview ended all square at 2-2.
During the 1950’s Christmas Day was the traditional date for the festive derby, kicking off in 1950 with a 7-2 success for the Ports at Mourneview Park. Walter Allen bagged five goals to leave Glenavon feeling the blues. In their three Christmas fixtures that season Portadown scored seventeen goals
As all Ports fans are quick to remind their friends of the blue persuasion, the Mourneview Park men have not won the league since the black and white days of the 1950’s. That successful period for Glenavon saw them win seven of the next eight festive meetings following that 1950 Ports win. Neither side took the share of the spoils on Christmas Day 1956 at Mourneview Park. Despite strong protests from both sides, the referee insisted in playing the game in the face of a winter blizzard. After just 13 minutes the game was abandoned, much to the great annoyance of the spectators that paid to watch less than a quarter of an hour action. The Ports solitary Christmas victory during the 1950’s came in 1958, when a 3-2 win in Lurgan saw Portadown overtake Glenavon in top spot in the league table.
Glenavon rounded of the decade with a 4-0 win at Shamrock Park and it would be four years until the fixture was next on the Christmas schedule. Once more the Ports celebrated victory in Lurgan with a 3-1 win in 1963. The rest of the 60’s saw just four more Christmas derbies with two wins apiece.
The 1970’s saw Portadown maintain their dominance in the holiday derby meetings. Between 1970 and 1976 The Ports secured three wins and three draws from the seven Christmas Day games. A 0-0 draw in 1973 saw the headline, “Proud Ports Strive Ahead” as they set atop of the table, a position they repeated in 1974 following a 4-2 derby win. The only reverse during this period came in 1975 when the Lurgan blues grabbed their first win since October. The last ever Christmas Day fixture list in the Irish League took place in 1976 and the Mid-Ulster derby ended in a 0-0 stalemate. A 5-1 win in 1978 was to be the last festive derby against Glenavon until 27th December 1993 which the Ports won 3-1. During the intervening period the Christmas schedule saw Portadown turn out against a host of different clubs, including Cliftonville, Ards, Glentoran, Bangor and Newry Town
One of those fixtures against Newry Town came about in 1986, with the County Down men the visitors to Shamrock Park on Boxing Day. It was a game which saw Ronnie McFall take charge of his first home game as manager of Portadown. Victory was snatched away from the Ports when Newry grabbed an 87th minute equaliser.
Following a 1-0 win for the Lurgan Blues in 1996, it would be seventeen years before the Lurgan men could again celebrate success in the Boxing Day derby. The 1998 game at Mourneview Park was abandoned on the hour mark when a raging storm saw debris blowing parts of the stands around the ground. Between 1997 and 2012 Portadown won nine and drew two of the eleven Boxing Day Derbies. Glenavon failed to score in nine of those games. The 2016 Boxing Day encounter ended with Glenavon securing a dramatic 2-2 draw in injury time having been 2-0 down after 49 mins. Glenavon however played David Elbert in this game when he was not eligible to play, resulting in Portadown being awarded a 3-0 win.
Seventy-eight years after that first post-war Mid-Ulster festive derby with Glenavon, the sides are ready for action again, as the next chapter in the holiday spectacle will unfold at Shamrock Park. We look forward to seeing you all there and hope you all have your singing voices ready to make some noise.
Written by Trevor Clydesdale