Dungannon Swifts Football Club is a Northern Irish, semi-professional football club playing in the NIFL Premiership. The club, founded in 1949, has risen from the Mid-Ulster league to the top tier in Northern Ireland since its election to the Irish League First Division in 1997. Dungannon earned promotion from Irish League First Division to the Premier Division in the 2002–03 season. The Swifts hail from Dungannon, County Tyrone and plays their home matches at Stangmore Park. Club colours are royal blue with white trim (home strip) and yellow with a red trim (away strip). Dungannon have a mentality of developing future players from their youth system and deploying them into the first team at a relatively young age. The clubs' current manager is Dean Shiels. Club history Club formation The history of Dungannon Swifts Football Club began in 1949 with the formation of the club. The names of the founder committee members include Thomas Neill, Jimmy Sands, Maurice Graham, Alfred Burnett, Albert Kelly, George Richards, Albert Watt, Joe Meldrum Snr., Jack Fowler, John Martin and Ben Clarke. The early years In the 1949–50 season, the Swifts won the Mid Ulster Shield on their first attempt. The Swifts defeated Portadown Juniors 3–0 at Shamrock Park. The goalscorers were Johnson (1) and Neill (2). The remainder of the side included Blair, Carson, Pierson, Lynn, Gallery, Rice, Farrell and Henry. Seven of which were local players. The club also entered the Irish Junior Cup, at the 2nd Round stage. However, a disjointed display; a man short for part of the game, from the newly formed side resulted in a 3–1 loss to Armagh Whites, in a match held at Beechvalley Park, Dungannon. With a first half equalizer scored by S. Stewart. The following season, the Swifts made their entry into the Mid Ulster League. In the same season they made it through to the Alexander Cup, Foster Cup and Mid Ulster Shield where they landed runners up in each. A league title followed in the 1951–52 season; a season in which they also finished runners-up in the Irish Junior cup – after a replay. And a league and shield double in 1955–56. The Club also spent a number of Seasons in the Irish Junior Alliance League from the late Fifties until the league folded in the early sixties, which resulted in a return to the Mid Ulster League. Admission into the Alliance was