Coate tales

Regular readers of our Matchday Magazine will know all the facts and figures behind each new week at Cliftonville Football Club, while our Twitter followers are regaled with daily delves into the archives and, as Heritage Development Officer Paul Treanor notes, yesterday’s 3-3 draw with Crusaders delivered another set of milestones.

Colin Coates’ goal at Seaview saw him become the first player in 11 years to score for both sides of the rivalry on North Belfast Derby Day.

The last man to do so was Vincent Sweeney (below), who netted for the Crues in Cliftonville’s 6-4 Setanta Sports Cup win in March 2011, four years after helping the Reds to a 2-1 victory on League duty.

Curiously, the Reds’ other scorer that day was none other than David McAlinden, who had been the previous player to complete the feat.

Having claimed the only goal of Crusaders’ 1-0 triumph at Solitude on St Stephen’s Day in 2003, McAlinden was twice on target for the Reds in a 4-2 win on the same date three years later.

McAlinden (above) also scored in Cliftonville’s 2-1 win at Seaview in April 2007 and registered the decisive effort when the Shore Road side were eliminated from the Irish Cup at Solitude the following February.

Coates has been no stranger to the North Belfast Derby scoresheet, with his most recent contribution prior to this weekend coming in Crusaders’ 2-1 victory at Solitude in August 2017 (below) – a game that later saw the then Crues captain join yesterday’s Cliftonville skipper Levi Ives in being sent off.

In total, the 36-year-old has seven derby goals to his name.

The first came on St Stephen’s Day in 2011 when he settled the issue in favour of a 3-2 success for Crusaders while, on the same festive occasion two years later, he missed a penalty before hitting an injury-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw.

Coates also scored twice in an end-of-season defeat of Tommy Breslin’s Champions in 2013, with a finish during the Crues’ 4-1 win in November 2014 proving his last derby goal at Seaview – until yesterday.

This weekend’s encounter also produced the North Belfast rivalry’s first ever 3-3 draw, while the late double from Ryan Curran (above) was his 10th brace for the Club, with his 50th and 51st League goals in Cliftonville colours taking him to 60 strikes under Paddy McLaughlin’s management as well as lifting him to fifth place in the Reds’ all-time Premiership scorers chart.

Colin Coates’ North Belfast Derby Goals
December 26, 2011: Crusaders 3-2 Cliftonville
December 26, 2013: Crusaders 1-1 Cliftonville
April 22, 2013: Crusaders 3-0 Cliftonville (two goals)
November 15, 2014: Crusaders 4-1 Cliftonville
August 26, 2017: Cliftonville 1-2 Crusaders
April 23, 2022: Crusaders 3-3 Cliftonville

Seaview Stats
60: Ryan Curran has scored 60 goals for Cliftonville since Paddy McLaughlin’s appointment as Manager
11: Number of years since a player scored for both sides in a North Belfast Derby
10: Amount of braces Ryan Curran has registered for the Reds
7: Total goals Colin Coates has scored in the derby, six of which have been at Seaview
5: Ryan Curran’s 51 strikes make him the Club’s fifth-leading Premiership scorer of all time
1: Yesterday was the first time Cliftonville and Crusaders have drawn 3-3