The Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Athletic Club was formed in June 1928, by Captain T. D. Morrison, M.C.D.I, to foster approved sporting activities for members of the force. It was affiliated to and operated with the Police Athletic Association (PAA) of Great Britain. The Club competed in the various PAA Championships staged at various centres annually throughout GB & Northern Ireland. In the 1920s and 30s the funds of the Association were used “to provide or assist in the provision of facilities & services for, or in connection with, any form of recreation or amateur sport for persons participating in or enjoying or viewing the same and encouraging social intercourse and wellbeing generally”.
The first major RUC Sports took place at Balmoral in July 1930 and over the next sixty years the sports attracted athletes such as American sprinter, Harrison Dillard, flying Dutch woman, Fanny Blankers-Koen and Jamaican Herb McKinney (all post-war Olympic Champions).
Paralleling the development of the sports was the development of a highly talented Athletics Team, which in 1950, held or shared nine Northern Ireland records. At the same time great Athletes emerged led by Shot-putter Davy Davidson, 440 runner Billy Dundas and future Olympic Champion Mary Peters.
The 1970's saw the beginning of the end for the sports as an international attraction however some years in the Pearl International Games, Mark Forsythe again wore the RUC colours and competed in two Olympics – Barcelona and Seoul.
Captain T. D. Morrison was Commissioned in the army in 1915. He served with the Ulster Division in the First World War, and the 9th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers from 1917 to demobilisation and joined the RIC in 1920 becoming District Inspector in 1920 before going to the Constabulary Depot and transferred to Belfast in 1922. Promoted County Inspector in 1939, he took over the Maintenance Branch of the R.U.C. and during the War, the Special Constabulary and Ulster Home Guard.
Today, Captain Morrison’s portrait may be viewed in the Morrison Suite above reception in the Newforge complex.
The Association has made efforts to display its Memorabilia within the Newforge complex. Many silver sports trophies, medals and historic programmes are on view within our corridors. The Association has a memorabilia display plan with numerous information boards displayed throughout the building to help explain the history of the Association and of sport in Northern Ireland since the 1930s. This memorabilia display is a work in progress with current displays charting sports activities from 1928 until the end of the 1960s. Plans are in place to continue these displays from the 1970s until the present day.
In 2011 the Association undertook a major refurbishment of the interior of the Clubhouse, which had not changed much since it first opened in 1986. The Charleston Suite had its raised areas removed and was redecorated. The “snug bar” was removed and replaced with a new Gift Shop and seating area dedicated to the famous RUC boxer Jimmy Magill. The two terraces upstairs were joined with a new walkway and additional small meeting rooms were created. These and many more changes to the internal decor, set up the Clubhouse to receive business and social bookings into the modern era.
In 2013 the Association was at the heart of the bid to host the World Police & Fire Games in Belfast. The Association developed the vision and put together the bid to win the privilege to host. A number of our staff were seconded to manage the Games and Newforge itself was host venue for indoor sports such as pool and darts.
In 2016 the Association completed its formal Charitable Status application to be recognised as an official charity in Northern Ireland. We have six different charitable objectives, chiefly amongst them the “advancement of amateur sport” and improving “understanding of the police family”. The Association’s charity number is 106083.
In 2018 the Association celebrated the 90th anniversary of police sport, since our formation in 1928. We planted 9 trees alongside the rugby pitch and developed a walkway to a new spectator stand. Each tree was to celebrate a decade of the Association’s existence and now we do not have long until we have reached our centenary!
Today the Association has 30+ affiliated sporting sections in numerous different team and individual sporting pursuits. From Athletics to Cricket to Gaelic Sports or American Football, we are sure to be able to offer something of interest to sporting enthusiasts within the police family.
In 2020 the Association undertook a transformation of our outdoor sports pitches. All but one of our grass pitches were developed into modern artificial surfaces so we now host a synthetic hockey pitch, artificial bowls green, 5-a-side football/tennis multi-use-games-areas, a 3G synthetic grass pitch plus our original grass rugby pitch remains. In 2021 we successfully acquired funding for additional floodlighting for the MUGAs plus the refurbishment of our grounds shed into a shared storage facility for our teams. In 2022 we applied for funding to install a children’s playpark which now sits proudly in the centre of the grounds.
From 2019 until 2024 the Association played a key role in the development of a new indoor sports facility at Newforge. A portion of land was leased to Newforge Community Development Trust to host a new gym and indoor sports hall on site. NCDT works in partnership with the Association and brings a whole new selection of indoor sports to call Newforge home, including basketball, netball, futsal, boccia, powerchair football and pickleball!