Ballymena United Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Northern Ireland. Based in Ballymena, County Antrim, the team competes in the NIFL Premiership and plays home matches at the Ballymena Showgrounds. The club is managed by David Jeffrey. The club was formed as Ballymena on 7 April 1928, when four local businessmen and football enthusiasts decided that the town of Ballymena needed a senior football team in the Irish League. Nicknamed the 'Braidmen' or 'Sky Blues', latterly because of the colour of the home shirts, Ballymena have a rich history in Irish Cup, having won the competition six times. The main club rivals of Ballymena United are Coleraine. The annual Boxing Day derby fixture between the two teams attracts large crowds and is one of the high-profile fixtures in the Northern Irish football league calendar. Club history Foundation and the War (1934–1946) Following the demise of Ballymena Football Club at the end of the 1933–34 season, three men, Simon McCrory, William McNeice and T. Moore, set about forming a new club in Ballymena with a view to seeking admission to the Irish League as Ballymena's replacement. Crusaders were also applicants for the vacancy, but at the League's annual general meeting on 20 June 1934, the new club known as Ballymena United was chosen unanimously. Ballymena United approached the new season with some confidence. The new club took an unprecedented step by appointing a manager which was a departure from the previous practice of team selection by committee. The man in charge was Joe Millar who arrived from Bournemouth & Boscombe and had previously been capped for Ireland, Millar used many of his contacts in Scotland to bring an influx of Scottish players to the Showgrounds. However, despite these new players and an Irish Cup semi-final appearance United suffered in their first season finishing a disappointing tenth in the League, their lowest finish to date. The 1934–35 also seen the introduction of the Reserve side at the Showgrounds. The 1935–36 season was to be just as disheartening for United supporters as the club finished tenth again in the League table, and failed to progress in the majority of the cup competitions. If the previous season was one to forget, any hope that 1936–37 would bring any cheer where dashed during the close season with the departure of Jock McNinch to Sligo Rovers. McNinch was leaving the club after 315 games