Glenavon supporters group calls club’s good luck message to Armagh “a matter of grave concern”

A football supporters group has expressed opposition to Glenavon Football Club’s good luck message to Armagh GAA as its footballers prepare for their All-Ireland final battle against Galway.

In a social media post on Saturday afternoon, Glenavon FC, Armagh’s neighbours from a different code, said: “Good luck from all at Glenavon FC to the Armagh GAA footballers for tomorrow’s All-Ireland football final against Galway!”

The supportive message was largely well received by those reading it. It garnered 131,000 views, 1.71 likes, 141 reposts, and an overwhelmingly positive 132 quote posts.

Follow live updates of the All-Ireland final here.

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However, in a Facebook post, a group calling itself Spirit of 2014 Glenavon Supporters Club described the club’s message as “a matter of grave concern”.

Formed in 2014, following Glenavon FC winning its sixth successful Irish Cup title, Spirit of 2014 said: “We have always taken immense pride in supporting Glenavon and their cross-community outreach programmes and projects over our 10 years as a club, cherishing the values of unity, sportsmanship, and integrity that we believed our club stood for.”

It added: “We urged the Executive Board of Glenavon, along with additional Club Officials to immediately retract this message of support.

“Furthermore, we called for a thorough review of the processes and decision-making that led to this troubling endorsement, ensuring that such a grievous error never occurs again.”

Spirit of 2014 said its “love for Glenavon” was “unquestionable” but its principles and values were “non-negotiable”.

It has now withdrawn its support from Glenavon and is scheduling a full club meeting later this week to discuss the issue.