after a moderate first season he finished his second campaign as Irish Cup finalists and County Antrim Shield winners in 1950–51 – beating Cliftonville in the final. For the second successive season Ballymena lifted a piece of silverware – one of only two occasions this has occurred – as Ballymena United lifted the Festival of Britain Cup after beating Crusaders 3–0 in the final in May 1952. The competition took the place of the Ulster Cup for one year as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations to mark the end of the war and the revival of Britain. The Sky Blues finished sixth in the race for the Gibson Cup and defender Eric Trevorrow was given the prestigious honour of being named Ulster Footballer of the Year by the Castlereagh Glentoran Supporters Club. A third-place finish that season had many believing that United would pick up where they left off, becoming the biggest provincial side in the country; Having been the first team outside Belfast to win the County Antrim Shield. However, a series of poor seasons was stopped in 1951 with the club's second County Antrim Shield – beating Cliftonville 2–0. Despite the fact that the Irish League had not left Celtic Park between 1936 and 1948; Belfast Celtic were forced to leave the Irish League and Ballymena benefited by grabbing some of their talented players, including a new player-manager Billy McMillan. McMillan was replaced by the experienced Walter Rickett after two seasons. United reached the Irish Cup Final in 1951, only to be beaten by Glentoran 3–1 at Windsor Park, with their only goal coming from Currie. The following season, Ballymena United won the Festival of Britain Cup, beating Crusaders 3–0 at Solitude. The one-off competition was played in 1952 to coincide with the Festival celebrations throughout Great Britain, and the trophy still resides at the Showgrounds. However, after this victory United went through another bleak period in the mid-1950s as United finished bottom of the league twice. In 1955 the club was forced to launch an appeal to clear its mounting debts – the Ballymena people responded – debts were paid and a small amount was left over to go into the club's coffers. New beginning (1957–1969) In 1957, Scottish born Alex McCrae took over as player-manager of Ballymena United – he had been a successful inside-forward for Charlton Athletic and Middlesbrough in his playing days.