Institute

Early years (1905–1912)

The Presbyterian Working Men's Institute founded in 1882 was associated with football as early as 1893, when the North-End Football Club was founded.

That club ceased to exist in 1904 and in October 1905, a number of players and supporters of North End Olympic F.C., the junior team of the late club which had folded, conceived the idea of creating a new football team. A meeting was accordingly held in the rooms of the Diamond Hotel, with the late Mr. William Buchanan, acting as chairman. It was thereupon decided to form a Junior football club known as Institute F.C. affiliated with the North West Football Association and to play only friendly matches during the 1905–06 season.

The club played their first ever match (a friendly) against St Columbs Court at Magee College grounds (which the club used as their home pitch for that season), winning the match 2–1. Those who played in this match were: J. Parkhill, D. Patton, Wm. Neely, R.A. Bogle, W. M. Wilton, D. Gillespie, J. Holland, D. McCleery, D. Gilfillan, G. Young, and A. Doherty. Institute arranged many other friendlies during that season and continued to grow in strength.

In the 1906–07 season the club entered the North-West Junior League. Their first ever junior match was a league match away to Farm Wanderers which ended in a 4–4 draw. In the season of 1907–08, Billy Gillespie began playing for the club, and went on to become one of the club's greatest ever players. The club won the North-West Charity Cup that season, beating Derry Celtic Wanderers 4–1 in the final, making them the first Junior team ever to win the trophy. Mr William Logue became chairman of the club and remained chairman until the year 1914.

In the 1910–11 season, although the team lost Billy Gillespie to Leeds City, they managed to reach the semi-final of the Irish Junior Cup, in which they were defeated 2–1 by Broadway United at the Brandywell. The 1911–12 season saw the club reach the final of the Irish Junior Cup, narrowly losing out on winning the trophy after a 2–1 defeat by Brantwood at Grosvenor Park, Belfast.

Intermediate years (1981–1999)

In 1981 Institute joined the Intermediate League. Their first season in the Intermediate league (the 1981–82 season) turned out to be the club's most successful ever in the league. Their first ever intermediate match was a league match against Roe Valley, which they won 8–1. That season they also reached the semi-finals of the Intermediate Cup, where they beat RUC on penalties at the Coleraine Showgrounds, meaning they had earned themselves a place in the first round of the Irish Cup.

They met Chimney Corner in the final, but were beaten 2–0 in an unconvincing performance. Their Irish Cup first round match against Coleraine also ended in defeat, Coleraine winning 2–1.

In 1996, Institute entered the Irish League B Division for the 1996–97 season. They also won the Smirnoff Cup that season, beating Chimney Corner 4–2 in the final. They finished 7th in the league. In the 1998–99 season the club gained promotion to the Irish First Division.

Senior football, promotions and relegations (1999–2010)

On 14 August 1999, the club played their first ever match as a senior football team. The match was at home to Bangor in the Irish League First Division and the result was a 3–3 draw which saw Institute come from behind. The first victory of that season was a 1–0 win away to local North-West rivals Limavady United. A visit from Armagh City at the end of the season saw a massive 7–0 victory for Institute, with top scorer Roddy McDowell going down in the record books for scoring the club's first ever senior hat-trick (he actually scored four on the day). Institute ended the season in 6th place.

In the 2000–01 season the club finished in the top half of the league, securing 5th place. The following season, the club finished in 2nd place in the First Division, securing promotion to the Irish Premier League. That season saw four players reach 100 appearances for the club, these were Graeme Philson, Adrian Creane, Ryan Coyle and John McGarvey.

The first match of the 2002–03 season was away to Glentoran, which was lost 4–1. That season also spelt the end of Paul Kee's 3-year reign as manager, as he left to manage Carlisle United. Despite this, the club won the North-West cup, and finished in 6th place in the league (top half), which is still the club's highest ever league placing. In the 2003–04 season, the club finished in 11th place in the league, but the 2004–05 season was a slightly more successful one for the club, with a 9th-place finish in the table.

Institute were relegated from the Premier division at the end of the 2005–06 season, after losing out in the promotion/relegation play-off against Donegal Celtic, played due to the club finishing 15th out of 16 in the Premier Division, and Donegal Celtic finishing 2nd in the First Division. The club lost the first leg 3–1 away from home and played out a 0–0 draw in the second leg at home.

In 2006–07, they were winners of the First Division, gaining promotion back to the top flight after only one season. In the 2007–08 season the club managed to avoid relegation, finishing 14th. The following season they finished in 7th place out of 12 clubs (after the league had been reduced from 16 clubs to 12 from the 2008–09 season onwards) and reached the semi-final of the Irish Cup for the first time.

The following season, after finishing last (12th) place in the Premiership, a promotion/relegation play-off – again against Donegal Celtic – would decide whether or not the club would be relegated. They narrowly lost out in this play-off, drawing 0–0 in the first leg away from home, and then losing 1–0 at home to an 85th-minute winner from Donegal Celtic's Stephen McAlorum. This meant relegation to IFA Championship 1.

Return of Paul Kee, promotions and relegations (2010–present)

2010–11 season was the club's first season return in the second tier in 4 years, and saw Paul Kee return to the club, after being appointed as Head of Development near to the end of the season. The club brought home the North West Senior Cup after beating Coleraine 3–1 in the final, and finished in 8th place in the league, having won 6 out of their last 8 league games to ease any relegation fears that there had been before this run of form.

In the 2011–12 season, the club completed a cup double having won the North West Senior Cup for the second successive season, once again beating Coleraine in the final. The result was 4–2 and the match was played at the Riverside Stadium. This was accompanied by success in the Craig Memorial Cup, lifting the trophy after beating Tobermore United in a penalty shoot-out, when the match ended in a stalemate 1–1 result at Fortwilliam Park. The club finished in 3rd place in Championship 1.