Larne: The journey from second-tier strugglers to Premiership champions
- Published
Crusaders 0-2 Larne: Watch highlights as Larne seal their first Irish Premiership title
The Champions League anthem is not normally played before qualifiers, but you can be almost certain it will be on the playlist at Inver Park this summer.
Larne were still in the second tier of Irish League football in October 2018 when owner Kenny Bruce made his somewhat bold claim that he wanted to have "the Champions League music" played at their East Antrim ground "one day".
That day will now soon be here with the Inver Reds set to take their place in the qualifying round of Europe's elite club competition, having won the Irish Premiership title for the first time in the club's 134-year history.
Victory over Crusaders on Friday night saw the side managed by Tiernan Lynch crowned champions, thus writing the biggest chapter yet in one of the most ground-breaking Irish League stories ever told.
BBC Sport NI takes a look at some of the key milestones of a six-year journey that has seen a club that spent significant periods of their history in junior football, and who until recently were playing in front of crowds of no more than 50 people, rapidly rise up the football pyramid to become Northern Ireland champions.
Bruce takeover funds full-time regime and eye-catching signings

Club captain Jeff Hughes was forced to retire through injury earlier this season after guiding the club from the Championship to the top of the Premiership.
It is no secret that Bruce's investment into his hometown club is at the heart of Larne's recent success. The co-founder of online estate agency Purplebricks had entered the Sunday Times Irish Rich List five years before he took over the Invermen in September 2017, and he said in November that the investment sum was £5 million.
Back then, with Lynch not long in charge, Larne were languishing near the bottom of the Championship, and a few weeks before the takeover, the local council temporarily closed Inver Park because the ground was deemed 'unsafe'.
However, they managed to finish seventh at the end of that season and any early cynicism amongst Irish League fans about Bruce's long-term intentions began to be tested when his initial £2m funding saw him purchase Inver Park from the council, relay a new artificial pitch and begin work on a new stand.
As important as the stadium development was, it was the calibre of stellar signings that began to arrive in East Antrim that really caught the eye. Players such as Jeff Hughes, who had won two Northern Ireland caps and enjoyed a long professional career in England, Davy McDaid, Tomas Cosgrove and Martin Donnelly - both of whom were previous Premiership winners - bought into the project and were happy to drop into the second tier.
Bruce's financial backing soon began to bear fruit as his expensively assembled squad of players, who by 2018-19 had moved to a full-time training programme, ran away with the Championship title race and secured promotion to the Premiership with plenty of games to spare.

Larne won the Championship title in 2019, finishing 17 points ahead of second place Carrick Rangers.
Premiership promise, Shield successes and Euro debut
There was significant interest in Larne on their return to Northern Ireland's top flight and, with signings such as former Arsenal midfielder Mark Randall now added to their squad, Lynch's side made an impressive start while playing a patient, passing style that saw a lot of moves originate from goalkeeper Conor Devlin and his back four.
Their first season back up was curtailed in mid-March by the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic but, in their second, they looked like serious title contenders when they went top of table at the end of November and stayed there until just before Christmas.
They were unable to sustain a genuine title challenge into the New Year, eventually finishing 14 points behind leaders Linfield in fourth, but did end a 33-year wait for a senior trophy when they beat Glentoran on penalties at The Oval to win the County Antrim Shield - a feat they would go on to repeat for the next two seasons by beating the Blues in successive finals.
There would be a mixed end to the 2020-21 season for Larne. Lynch's men delivered a flat performance when beaten by Linfield in the Irish Cup final at Mourneview Park, but recovered superbly to win the European play-off and secure a place in European competition for the first time in the club's history.

Larne were beaten 2-1 by Linfield in the Irish Cup final in 2021
Pressure builds amid lack of title bid and Euro exit
The message from inside Inver Park has always been that Bruce's faith in Lynch was unwavering, and that he was convinced the 43-year-old is the man to deliver major success for Larne.
Supporters and the media will always scrutinise, however, particularly given the level of financial backing the squad was getting, and it is fair to say there were more than a few grumbles from the stands as last season progressed and it became increasingly evident that Larne were not going to be in the mix for the Gibson Cup.
An Irish Cup exit to Ballymena United did not help lift the mood amongst supporters as their side finished in a disappointing fifth place in the table, 21 points off top, only to salvage something from a disappointing campaign by producing a dramatic comeback to beat Glentoran in the European play-off final.
However, this season's Europa Conference League performance fell well short of the previous year's exploits when an opening qualifier defeat by lowly St Joseph's of Gibraltar led to significant discontent among the home support at a second leg that the hosts lost 1-0 after drawing 0-0 away from home.
Astute transfer business helps deliver historic title

Striker Lee Bonis has scored 14 goals in the league this season.
That European disappointment came after a summer during which a major name left the club, in striker Davy McDaid, and another one arrived from Ballymena United, Leroy Millar, who has proved to be an outstanding signing for Lynch.
A box-to-box, all-action, strong-running central midfielder, the capture of the ex-Sky Blues captain was seen as an example of a more pragmatic tactical approach being taken by Lynch - who now had Gary Haveron by his side in the dug-out - who had at times been criticised for an over-reliance on a purely possession-based system.
Allied with the arrival for a six-figure sum halfway through last season of much-sought-after young striker Lee Bonis, the pair played a major role in Larne surging to the top of the table for a two-week spell in October and returning to the summit for six weeks midway through November.
With Cian Bolger's huge presence at the back ensuring Larne have by far the best defensive record in the league, more clever business in January - with the acquisitions of Joe Thomson, Michal Glynn and Andy Ryan - injected further energy to the Invermen, who went top again on 10 February and have remained there since.
A shock Irish Cup semi-final defeat by Ballymena United could have had a damaging impact on their title tilt just before the Irish Premiership split, but hugely impressive wins over Glentoran and Cliftonville sent a clear message that Larne would not be deterred.
And they weren't. And so, now, almost five years after Bruce's song request was made, the Inver Park DJ can get that Champions League music ready.