Author: Paul Jenkins

We are pleased to announce that Ballyclare native Callum Cowan has joined the Comrades. Callum joins us from Harland & Wolff Welders, after coming through the Development Programme at Larne. Callum is a talented defender, and we look forward to seeing him develop with us.

First Team Manager Nathan McConnell had this to say about Callum signing, “We are absolutely delighted that Callum has decided to further his football career here with us at Ballyclare Comrades. Callum is a local lad and fits the profile to the type of player we want to attract to Ballyclare Comrades going forward.

He is a player that I have known and admired since his time at Linfield and Larne and when I knew of his availability and interest in coming to the Club we were determined to bring him to Dixon Park .

He already has shown his excellent technical ability and quality on the ball in the training sessions he has had with us and he will no doubt increase the competition within the squad and we are very much looking forward to working with him in pre season.”

Welcome home Callum!

We are pleased to confirm the new coaching team alongside Men’s First Team Manager Nathan McConnell.

• Gary Scott joins as Assistant Manager, after a spell as Head of Youth Academy at Carrick Rangers;
• Graeme Arthur joins as 1st Team Coach after a playing career that included Crusaders, Bangor, Newry and Carrick Rangers, along with coaching at PSNI, Carrick Rangers and Larne;
• Allen Huxley, no stranger to us at Ballyclare Comrades having played for us, and coached in the Boys Academy, joins as Goalkeeper Coach;
• Jim Nesbitt continues as Physio;
• Andy Arthurs remains as kitman.

Welcome to Ballyclare Comrades!

We caught up with new First Team Manager Nathan McConnell tonight, ahead of tomorrow night’s game against Oxford Sunnyside. Hear his thoughts on why he felt this was the right job for him, how he see’s the club currently and his aims for the future.

Recently, Robert Hamilton stepped down from his role as Interim Chairman/Vice Chairman of the Board for personal reasons, and we’d like to place on record our appreciation for Robert’s efforts in his time on the Board. 

This brings the number of departures from the Board to three this season, and with that in mind, we can announce the co-opting of three new members: Ian McKinney, Steven Lowry, and Ryan McMullan. Additionally, we have restructured the roles within the Board.

This evening, we are pleased to confirm that Robert Fleck has become our Chairman, with Steven Lowry assuming the Vice Chair role. Steven has been the driving force behind our Ladies teams. Paul Jenkins will take on the role of Treasurer, while all other posts remain the same, with Tim Duff as Secretary, and Robert Bell as President. 

We are still on the lookout to add further members to our Board, and if this is something you would like to know more about, please get in contact with any of the Board members. 

With our recruitment process now completed, we can confirm that outgoing Manager Barry Baggley has now left the Club.

We wish to place on record our thanks to Barry and his team for all their efforts during their time at Dixon Park. We wish Barry and his coaching staff all the best in their future footballing endeavours.

Paul Finnegan and Stewart McIlroy will be taking interim control of the upcoming matches against Rathfriland & Strabane, with Nathan McConnell taking charge for the first time when we face Oxford Sunnyside on 10 April.

#nihilnisioptimi

After a thorough recruitment process the Club has reached an agreement with Nathan McConnell to become First Team Manager.

We will announce details of the transition between Barry Baggley and Nathan over the coming days.

Nathan played at the top level of Irish league football in the Premiership for a number of clubs including Ballymena United, Cliftonville, and Carrick Rangers. After his playing days, Nathan went in to coaching, learning under David Jeffrey and Brian McLoughlin at Ballymena United, and currently Michael Gault alongside David Healy at Linfield. Nathan is a PE teacher in Ashfield Boys High School, and is Lead Academy Coach for their football Academy in partnership Glentoran FC.

We will confirm the backroom staff in due course.

Welcome to Dixon Park Nathan.

First Team Manager Barry Baggley has indicated to the board that he will be stepping down from his role at the end of the season. His focus remains firmly on a promotion push, and has assured us that the levels will not drop by him, his coaching staff, or the players over the course of the remaining eight games.

Throughout the duration of his tenure, Barry has always operated with a high level of professionalism, and we have no reason to doubt that this will continue to be the case over the next couple of months.

We will begin our search for a new manager now, and will aim to have someone in place at the earliest opportunity.

We started our 12th Man initiative back in July, with a target of £5000 for the season, and we want to thank everyone who has contributed to it!

The season has been a bit up and down in terms of cup runs, but we currently sit top of the league, and our main objective of promotion is achievable. We’re into the business end of the season, and our competitors have been thrown the kitchen sink at trying to maximise their chances of going up to the Championship. We know this run in is going to be tough, but we’re the Comrades, and we’ve never shied away from the fight!

Our target for July – December 2025 was £3000, and for January – April 2026, £2000. We raised £2830 in the first half of the season which was a great feat, but means our total for the second half of the season is now £2170.

We now have a new incentive to get us over the line for the rest of the season:

One free entry into our £15,000 lotto for every £20 donation!

All you need to do is use the below payment method to donate, and enter your 4 numbers in the additional info box, and we’ll do the rest!

Or if you want to automatically donate £20/month for the next 4 months use the subscription form below

We are pleased to confirm the addition of two new players to our squad. Firstly we’ve added Oisin McAllister, a young goalkeeper from Larne Tech Old Boys. First team manager Barry Baggley had this to say about Oisin, “Oisin McAllister is a young Goalkeeper we have signed from Larne Tech who comes highly recommended by our GK coach Gérard McVeigh. We expect him to come in and push Lewis Deane despite his age and we feel he is an excellent prospect who we can help fulfil his potential.”

Secondly, winger Padraig McVicker has joined us from Lisburn Distillery. Barry was excited with the signing, “Padraig McVicker is someone we have had our eye for a while. We know Padraig well from his junior days at Cliftonville. He is technically excellent, wears his heart on his sleeve and tenacious. We feel he will be a good fit to the group and someone the fans will enjoy watching. He is young and hungry, fits the profile of players we are trying to bring to the club.”

Welcome to The Comrades Oisin and Padraig!

There have been a few departures as well this month, with Matty Sinclair returning to Greenisland, Corey McLaughlin heading to Dergview, Nathan Best going to Lisburn Distillery and Luis Finlay to Greenisland. We thank them all for their time and efforts with the club, and wish them well in their future footballing careers.