Football Club to celebrate 50 years

Now known as Lower Maze, it all began under the name of Lisburn Mills when a group of workers at Jordans Mill in Lisburn decided to form a team.

One of those first members was Jim Beckett and he fondly recalls those early days when they first got up and running.

"It all was discussed in Jordan's yard," says Jim who was a driver with the company. "Tommy Whiteside and Bertie Faulkner were the ones who started talking about it and they gathered enough names to get the team going. We had not even thought of a name at that stage. It was only after they went to the Lisburn League meeting they both went out and came up with Lisburn Mills."

The first game was one to forget, they crashed 8-0 to Wesley on Saturday, August 20, 1960. "It was an awful start really, but it did not put us off," added Jim. "We really enjoyed the games and the banter. Tommy Whiteside was goalkeeper at the time. We used to hold the meetings in the Corner House Bar and the dues were 2 shillings. We all got on well. I wish I was playing those games again.

"We had a good run. We never managed to win the First Division but we won all the cups in the Lisburn League and won two Division 2 titles. We also won cups in the Mid Ulster League. We first played in a field on the Lurganure Road belonging to Bill Jordan, but eventually ended up playing at the Barbour."

A few years ago Lisburn Mills moved to Bog Road which was to become their new home and it was to bring about the name change which saddened Jim. "I wasn't too happy about that. It's a shame really they are still not the Mills. However, I suppose they had to do it to move on and get better facilities."

An ardent Manchester United fan, Jim has never lost his love of football and while he may not have gone to a higher level he recalls a few Mills players who did.

"Dennis Freeburn went to play for Portadown and George Crothers ended up winning an Irish Cup with Ards," added Jim. "The first team captain of Lisburn Mills was Bob Beck and his son Robert played for the club before having a long career with Glenavon."