'It will be hard to describe the sense of pride': Larne on cusp of historic league triumph after rags-to-riches reversal of fortune

​Rev Ian Cahoon, a Presbyterian minister who also handles publicity and media for the club, was speaking just ahead of the clash with Crusaders at Seaview at 7.45 on Friday evening.

The game could give Larne the single point they need to secure victory, becoming top-flight winners for the first time since the club was founded in 1889.

It will be the culmination of a virtually unheard-of rags-to-riches transformation for Larne, which has seen them go from languishing in the doldrums of the championship (Northern Ireland’s secondary division) to clambering over established champs like Linfield and Cliftonville to reach the summit of the premiership in just a few years.

The secret to this success has been the arrival at the club of Kenny Bruce in 2017, the estate agency tycoon behind the Purple Bricks website, who has pumped money into the squad and set out ambitious year-on-year plans to revamp what Larne does on and off the pitch, rebuilding parts of the grounds (including the club bar, The 1889) and investing in community projects.

Right now, Larne are a remarkable nine points clear of nearest rivals Linfield, with three games to go.

If they so much as draw any of those games, it will be impossible for Linfield to catch up – and Friday is the first test of that.

Rev Cahoon grew up in Larne and lived just around the corner from Inver Park stadium. He has attended matches since boyhood.

He said that before Mr Bruce took over, the stadium was partially condemned by the council, and the club was drawing perhaps 100 or so spectators per match.

The club then won the 2018/19 championship, and then soon after turned 100% professional, with all players getting full-time salaries - a first for the Irish League (though Rev Cahoon says Linfield and Glentoran have since done so too).

Today, average matchday attendance is about 2,000.

Rev Cahoon, 38, said: "Nobody could've foreseen what's happened. But we did believe there were more people we could get coming for matches, and get a little bit of a test of success."

As to what a league win will mean for the town, he said: "It'll be hard to describe the sense of pride in terms of seeing Larne as a town and football club fulfill its potential.

"To ultimately be the best football team in the country would be a little bit surreal.

"I think it'd be just reward for someone like Kenny, who saw that potential of his home town, football club, stuck with his manager [who has been Tiernan Lynch ever since 2017], and went full-time when no-one else was."

Although his home church is Craigyhill in Larne, Rev Cahoon actually ministers now at Alexandra Presbyterian Church, a few minutes' walk from Seaview.

Friday’s game is set to be streamed live on BBC iPlayer.

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