Gormley’s a tricky customer

Joe Gormley is no stranger to the record books and, as well as being the leading goalscorer in Cliftonville’s history with 264 strikes to his name in 448 appearances, the 33-year-old also celebrated a landmark 15th hat-trick for the Club in last night’s 5-0 victory over Coleraine.

Breaking the record of 14 that he had himself set against Portadown last December, Gormley is now two trebles ahead of previous milestone man Sid Over, the last of whose hat-tricks came back in the 1930s.

The former Crumlin Star man claimed his first Reds matchball against Ballinamallard United back in 2012 and has since registered three-goal hauls against 11 different opponents, with all but one of his trebles coming at Solitude – the only outlier being a Stangmore Park defeat of Warrenpoint Town in August 2013.

Joe Gormley’s hat-tricks
October 9, 2012: Cliftonville 5-0 Ballinamallard United
February 2, 2013: Cliftonville 4-0 Lisburn Distillery
August 24, 2013: Warrenpoint Town 2-4 Cliftonville
October 8, 2013: Cliftonville 5-0 Dundela
November 7, 2014: Cliftonville 3-1 Warrenpoint Town
November 29, 2014: Cliftonville 7-0 Ballymena United
December 13, 2014: Cliftonville 4-0 Institute
March 28, 2015: Cliftonville 5-1 Institute
April 4, 2015: Cliftonville 4-0 Portadown
February 3, 2018: Cliftonville 4-1 Crusaders
October 26, 2019: Cliftonville 5-0 Dungannon Swifts
October 13, 2020: Cliftonville 7-2 Dundela*
January 8, 2022: Cliftonville 5-0 Islandmagee
December 17, 2022: Cliftonville 4-1 Portadown
September 26, 2023: Cliftonville 5-0 Coleraine

*Four goals