Park life

Though this month’s SPFL Trust Trophy third round tie will be Cliftonville’s first competitive encounter with Queen’s Park, the Clubs have previously met in seven friendlies dating back more than 140 years.

All of the games were staged in Belfast, with the first such occasion being a 3-3 draw on January 1, 1881 when none other than John McCredy McAlery – who founded the Reds thanks to some inspiration from Queen’s Park a few years earlier – among the scorers.

Having started the year by hosting the Glasgow side, Cliftonville duly ended it in the same fashion but this time found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-0 result on December 31 while, almost exactly 12 months later, the Spiders claimed a 5-1 success on a day when the home side’s goalscorer was listed simply as ‘scrimmage’.

Cliftonville’s first victory over Queen’s Park came courtesy of a 6-2 triumph on New Year’s Day in 1884 but, having been unable to travel for a proposed friendly in 1887 (outlined below), the Scottish outfit had to wait until April 1890 before exacting revenge with a 7-0 win.

The sides’ first showdown at Solitude, meanwhile, was a 1-1 draw in September 1897 – almost 125 years to the day ahead of our forthcoming Cup clash – with the Reds emerging on top by a 3-2 scoreline during their last encounter in April 1946.

Queen’s are now managed by former Republic of Ireland striker Owen Coyle, who was on the scoresheet when he brought his Bolton Wanderers side to Belfast for an exhibition match to mark the official opening of Solitude’s 3G facilities 12 years ago.

Owen Coyle is stopped in his tracks by Ronan Scannell

His exquisite chip that evening was not, however, the first time he had found the net against Cliftonville – as his recollections of a 1991 friendly defeat during his Airdrie days testify.

“I remember the game well – it was played at Airdie’s training ground in Bishopbriggs and Cliftonville, whose game with Kilmarnock had been cancelled at short notice, weren’t really very organised and were sort of rushing around trying to get themselves ready,” he told cliftonvillefc.net back in 2010.

“My goal was a bit of a cheeky one because I don’t think Cliftonville were fully up to speed with the new backpass ruling which had just been brought in and, when the keeper picked one up, I told him to give me the ball and, when he did, I knocked it past him!”

A tactic worth being wary of as we count down to this month’s game.

Meetings through history
January 1, 1881: Cliftonville 3-3 Queen’s Park
December 31, 1881: Cliftonville 0-3 Queen’s Park
December 30, 1882: Cliftonville 1-5 Queen’s Park
January 1, 1884: Cliftonville 6-2 Queen’s Park
April 7, 1890: Cliftonville 0-7 Queen’s Park
September 27, 1897: Cliftonville 1-1 Queen’s Park
April 29, 1946: Cliftonville 2-1 Queen’s Park