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Staying in play

This weekend, and for the second time in three seasons, a 3-2 victory over Glentoran in the Europa League Play-Off Final booked Cliftonville’s passport to Europe – but did you know that the Reds had also edged the same opponents out by the same scoreline in another Play-Off more than a century ago?

A game arranged to confirm which of the sides would take second spot in the 1908/09 League table was one of 19 Play-Off – or ‘Test’ – matches that the Reds have found themselves involved in over the years; the first of which came in January 1896 when a one-off game to determine the destination of the Irish League title saw Distillery emerge 2-1 victors.

In December of the same year, and during an era when it was evidently difficult to separate the top teams, Cliftonville overcame Linfield 3-2 to secure the runners-up position in the table.

Play-Offs came along with particular prolificacy during 1906, with no fewer than four such engagements for the Reds, who lost a City Cup clash 2-0 to Belfast Celtic but also recorded a 2-1 win over Linfield in the same competition in a fixture which was contested for reasons beyond the knowledge of Club historians.

At the end of the season, and with the sides level on points at the top of the Irish League, Cliftonville and Distillery contested two games to determine the outright Champions but, following a scoreless stalemate and 2-2 draw, it was decided that the honour should be shared jointly between the Clubs.

In 1909, the Reds achieved second place in the table by defeating Glentoran by that familiar 3-2 scoreline but, the following year (108 years ago to this very day, in fact), the east Belfast side would earn a 3-1 win to rubberstamp second spot in the City Cup standings.

A further 40 years would pass before Cliftonville’s next Play-Off involvement, with The Oval staging a 2-1 victory over Larne which ensured progress to the Semi Finals of the Ulster Cup in September 1950.

More recently, the Reds secured their Premier League status with Play-Off success against Ards in both 1999 and 2000 (5-2 and 3-0 on aggregate, respectively) before getting the better of Armagh City 4-1 over two games four seasons later.

Glentoran were defeated in a shoot-out for the Premiership’s final Europa League berth in 2016 and, though Cliftonville were eliminated by Glenavon at the Semi Final stage 12 months ago, this week’s back-to-back victories over Ballymena United and the Glens guaranteed the Club’s return to continental action.

Cliftonville’s Play-Off History
1896
Irish League title
Cliftonville 1-2 Distillery

1896
League runners-up
Cliftonville 3-2 Linfield

1906
City Cup
Cliftonville 0-2 Belfast Celtic
Cliftonville 2-1 Linfield

1906
Irish League title
Cliftonville 0-0 Distillery
Cliftonville 2-2 Distillery

1909
League runners-up
Cliftonville 3-2 Glentoran

1910
City Cup runners-up
Cliftonville 1-3 Glentoran

1950
Ulster Cup Semi-Final place
Cliftonville 2-1 Larne

1999
Promotion/Relegation
Ards 0-1 Cliftonville
Cliftonville 4-2 Ards

2000
Promotion/Relegation
Ards 0-2 Cliftonville
Cliftonville 1-0 Ards

2004
Promotion/Relegation
Armagh City 0-3 Cliftonville
Cliftonville 1-1 Armagh City

2016
Europa League Play-Off Final
Cliftonville 3-2 Glentoran

2017
Europa League Play-Off Semi Final
Cliftonville 3-5 Glenavon

2018
Europa League Play-Off Semi Final
Cliftonville 4-0 Ballymena United
Europa League Play-Off Final
Cliftonville 3-2 Glentoran