HOWZAT! Back in time with Antrim Historical Society event at Muckamore Cricket Club

IT’S 150 not out for Muckamore Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club as it celebrates its anniversary year.

And the clubhouse at Moylena was the venue for the next meeting of Antrim and District Historical Society, with a number of speakers bringing the club’s long past to life.

The club was formed in 1874 by a staff member at York Street Flax Spinning Company, providing a sporting outlet for the linen workers in the small village.

The club was originally based at Boghead before it moved a short distance along the Sixmilewater River to Moylena.

Many trophies have been won and many players have gone on to represent Ulster and Ireland, including the legendary Archie McQuilken.

It’s been a story of ups and downs for the oldest sporting club still in existence in the district.

And in this anniversary year, the impressive cricket team returned to the top flight of the NCU.

Josephine and Matt Herbison of the Historical Society opened proceedings.

In her own words, Mrs Herbison said that she had grown up on the cricket field, following her brothers to practice and enjoying tennis.

She and her pals were also given the job of collecting cricket balls sent cannoning off into the woods, bluebells and riverbanks by the aforementioned Mr McQuilken - ‘and he could hit the ball, here there and everywhere’.

She said the bungalow once located beside the club, was, in her opinion ‘the greatest house in Antrim’, as one could open the gate right onto the field.

She recalled the scorer’s hut, the domain of characters like George Symington and Peter Campbell and the white wooden pavilion, the floor of which was left pock-marked by the players’ studs.

Josephine also remembered a constantly flowing water pipe which came straight out of the ground - which was used to fill the kettles to make the tea for players!

Womens’ cricket came later, but Josephine’s daughter Judith, both at Antrim Grammar and Muckamore, mucked in with the boys and later played internationally for Ireland when she was spotted by the Ulster ladies team when they came to practice at Moylena.

The evening was officially opened with the reading of a poem, written in 1947 by Charles Witherspoon, entitled ‘Moylena’s Banks’.

As a testament to the club’s links to the community, Mr Witherspoon’s children, grandchildren and great grandchildren have all played for Muckamore.

The rest of the night featured a double-hander between club president Ivor McMeekin and Michael Nutt, who has been helping write a book to mark the 150th anniversary of the club, assisted by members including the Guardian’s own cricket correspondent, Drew Francey.

The club was formed by John Robinson, Robinson, who worked at the York Street Flax Spinning Company.

He had worked for the mill under the ownership of the Chaine family, before it changed hands.

The club later amalgamated with a team which had split off and gone to play at Greenmount.

Notable past members were recalled, including JG Entwistle, who was captain for 27 years, Richard HS Reade and George Reade, who was president for 40 years.

Mr McMeekin pointed to a picture from 1913, noting how it was ‘Monty Python’-esque in terms of the different classes represented.

He said that cricket had once been a sport of the gentry and that Lord Massereene had a team at Antrim Castle - but of course, workers had to be allowed to play, and they needed people to play against, to keep the numbers up, and therefore men with handlebar moustaches and suits sat alongside men in overcoats and flat caps.

But the idyll was to be shattered - as a newspaper from the time euphemistically put it, players were forced to miss the Junior Cup in 1914, as they were involved ‘in a much bigger battle’.

Also remembered were the Kernaghan brothers, who lost their lives within seven months of each other in 1918.

Another notable player from the period was William ‘Pusher’ Yiend, who played alongside WG Grace and also played rugby with the first ever Barbarians team.

There were also warm words for the aforementioned Mr Entwistle, who was also an international hockey player and captain of Massereene Golf Club.

His son Norman was both treasurer and secretary for over 50 years.

During World War 2, there were strong connections to the North Irish Horse regiment and some of the 450 wounded soldiers recuperating in Randalstown came to Moylena for some R&R to aid their recovery with cricket, tennis and entertainment from a pipe band.

There were friendly matches between teams from the armed forces.

In 1941 one such match featured big names like Hopper Read, Hedley Verity, who later died in action, and Norman Yardley.

Another interesting fact, hard to believe today, was that in 1950 the Junior Cup was shared between Muckamore and Drumaness as the scorching weather stretching into August meant that no matches were able to be completed.

Ivor McMeekin - who grew up in Abbeyview - then paid tribute to Sir Harry Mulholland, of Ballywalter, the Eton and Cambridge-educated Irish Conservative MP, who had quite the CV.

His interest was in the family firm - the flax mill - but he later became Northern Cricket Union and Muckamore Club President.

He was an Irish international batsman but also talented in rowing, shooting, fishing and golf.

He married the sister of Northern Ireland Prime Minister Basil Brooke and was himself speaker in Stormont.

He was awarded a DSO for his service during World War One - with stints in the cavalry, Marines and RAF - and was Lord Lieutenant for Londonderry.

For over 60 years, having started playing village cricket, Muckamore played a significant role in the history of the Northern Cricket Union through Junior cricket.

When still a Junior Club they reached the final of the NCU Senior Challenge Cup in 1941 before finally becoming a Senior League side in 1955.

However, it was the golden decade from 1962 to 1972 when the club reached four Senior Cup finals, winners in 1963, and shared the Senior League in 1970, that established them amongst the best of the best in Ulster cricket.

However there was shock with the closure of the flax company, not only for the club but for the workforce and wider community and local economy.

Faced with losing their home which they had rented from the firm, the club aimed to raise £1000 in four years to buy the land - but thanks to the generosity of local people and sponsors, the money was raised in less than three years.

Turning to Archie McQuilken, Mr McMeekin described a man ‘small in stature but a giant to the club’.

Flame haired and with a cigarette hanging out of one corner of his mouth, he spoke out of the other corner, presenting a James Cagney-like figure.

An all round athlete, he was also a huge figure in the history of Chimney Corner FC and played snooker and darts too.

Sadly he was tragically killed in a car accident in 1985.

Mr Nutt also mentioned figures like Archie Campbell, Jim Reid and captain Benny Craig, as well as James and Billy Ross, president and chairman respectively.

Ivan then went back to Peter Campbell, Muckamore’s own ‘Statto’.

Whilst he had physical problems, his mind was sharp and ‘he didn’t just keep the scores, he was the 12th man’, his record-keeping, data and analytics from every match providing vital information on how to win the next one.

His meticulous record keeping helped him produce the 100th anniversary book, on which so much of the soon to be published tome are based.

Mr Nutt said that from 1976 to the mid 1990s, the full title of the club was Muckamore Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club and Company of Archers - something of a mouthful!

As the cricket operation expanded, the archers moved on, but the Muckamore company still exists in Ballyclare.

The clubs investment in youth was then touched about, and there was praise for coach Andy Gleghorne of that famous sporting family and the local schools who helped nurture young talent.

His sons Mark and Paul both play hockey at international level, including facing off against each other at the Olympics, Paul for the Irish squad while Mark for Great Britain.

Another character in the history of the club was the permanently well turned-out and flamboyant Ferguson ‘Fergie’ Grainger, joint managing director of the York Street mill.

As well as helping introduce archery and being named President of the NI Archers Association, he was also a big supporter of the tennis offering at the club, helping develop the hard courts and new pavilion.

Whilst he did not play for the cricket team, his legendary Volvo estate car helped ferry numerous boys teams to fixtures all over Northern Ireland.

His parties were legendary, he organised tours to England, set up prestige matches and with his cravat and blazer and would introduce himself as ‘President of MCC, Northern Ireland’ to get him and his entourage into swanky venues.

He was elected president of the Northern Cricket Union, the first member of Muckamore to do so, but his sudden death prevented him from taking part in NCU centenary celebrations two years later.

The 90s saw the arrival of often-protested professional players, including Geoff Spotswood of Australia and Keith Enoka from New Zealand.

During the presentation, pictures were also shown of Benny Craig in 1950 with the Mulholland Cup, named after Sir Harry, and in 1992, holding a set of stumps awarded to mark Muckamore’s 1000th wicket.

Paddy O’Hara was also hailed, a club player who rose to be an international umpire, presiding over matches like Eton v Harrow at Lords.

Mr Nutt spoke about Billy Bond, who started working for York Street but then formed an electrical company which carried out work in such places as the Tate Gallery.

He became Chair and President of the NCU.

Also on the board at Down Royal racecourse, Ivor recalled him turning up to the NCU annual dinner after a day at the races, his speech going on so long that attendees ‘were waving the white table cloths in the air!’.

Moving into the 2000s, names like Simon Thompson and Brian Bagueley were mentioned, as was an international qualifying match hosted by Moylena, where a Danish player revealed that his grandad played for Muckamore!

More trophies and titles came calling, but the discussion moved back to tennis and ladies like Miss Paula Reade.

2008 marked the 100th anniversary of the tennis club, which started informally, as people with private courts began to loan their nets out to the public at Moylena.

Many Belfast civil servants were displaced during the Second World War for security reasons to places like Greenmount and they needed other ladies to play and so the sport grew.

According to Historical Society member Alvin McCaig, there were even baseball games with American soldiers.

Later, David and Margaret Clement would become the driving force behind the tennis club, making an enormous contribution which has not been replicated in the intervening years.

But their son Andrew became a huge figure in the cricket club, becoming an extremely accomplished player.

In 2014, the Bluebelles ladies team was set up and now fields a second team, with the women picking up armfuls of awards, both for the team and as individuals, including Nikki Niblock, Amy Caulfield and Suzi Keates.

Ivor then turned to club stalwarts Paddy and John McCormick.

Paddy, quiet and softly spoken, worked the grounds and fundraised, while John, much more abrasive, played, captaining the first XI from the age of 15 to 45 and being told to retire in his mid 60s after a hip operation.

John, known as ‘Mr Muckamore’ was phenomenal at attracting sponsorship and, said Ivor ‘would talk about cricket and coaching to anyone who would listen...and anyone who didn’t’.

“He was born and raised in Muckamore village, this is his turf - these are examples of two really great club men.”

As such, the John McCormick end was dedicated to him, and as Debbie Wilson explained, there was a very special recent addition.

The Vice Chair and Safeguarding Officer, who’s son Joshua was the youngest ever member of the first team at 13 years old, said she was pleased to see more women on the board, she having been the first, and said that Muckamore was ‘so much more than a club’.

“We want to be at the heart of the community,” she said, adding that dog agility, a football supporters club, netball and soccer clubs all used the facilities too.

A Department for Communities scheme will see two out of work young people secure employment at the club over the next few months.

And she revealed that after under-11 player Laura McGrath was rushed to hospital in London for treatment for leukemia, she continued to watch matches livestreamed, using cutting edge technology purchased by the club.

Sponsor boards at the John McCormick end were then transformed into inspiring messages for Lauren as she watched from her hospital bed.

Debbie said that not only did treatment go well. but Lauren has her helmet back on, her bat in her hand and is back playing on Sundays.

The club has also fundraised for specialised equipment for Violet Breet, daughter of player and Bluebelles chair Helen, who lives with complications following a traumatic birth.

“This is not just about cricket, it’s about community,” said Debbie.

Mr Nutt and Mr McMeekin returned to the floor, paying tribute to the 2023 ‘Invincibles’ side on their unbeaten run and imminent return to the top flight, captained by charismatic Neil Gill.

There was a comparison of their triumphant team shot, full of people from diverse backgrounds, in blue shirts with sponsors logo and a professional player, to a more sober, black and white shot of the Junior Cup-winning side of 1923.

Both John Entwistle and Neil Gill were described as ‘captains and ambassadors’, with Mr Gill now something of a social media star, taking part in a popular podcast with PR man and photographer Dave Pettard.

Both, it was said, served their teams and their club with honour and pride.

Now, having survived the turmoil of two World Wars, the Troubles, economic uncertainty, and the Covid-19 pandemic, the club continues to thrive.

Nowadays the men field six teams, the ladies two teams and over 100 young players, boys and girls, in the various youth teams - and as the Premier League beckons, it’s time for the next chapter in Muckamore’s glorious history.

* More Muckamore memories on pages 32 and 33.