When Comber Rec was first formed in 1950, they were then named Comber Youth Club. For the first two seasons they only played friendly matches; following this they applied for and gained admission to The Churches League. They needed a church title to play in this league and approached the minister from 1st Comber Presbyterian Church. They then became known as 1st Comber Presbyterian.

Club nights, meetings, etc were held in the Army Cadet premises by kind permission of the late Mr Norman Nevin, the Cadet Forces CO. They shared the pitch at Parkway with Comber Young Men. A few years later Comber Rec gained permission from the Trustees for the permanent use of the ground. The changing facilities were rather antiquated. The only lighting in the building was two 60 watt light bulbs; there was no water, never mind showers and the only heating was a small pot-bellied coal fired stove. Through time, improvements were made to the Clubhouse and two dressing rooms for home and visiting teams were provided together with showering facilities.
During the early years the club almost ceased to exist but a few members called a meeting, held in the Remembrance Garden in Comber Square. Several members decided there and then to keep the club in existence and each handed over half a crown (12½p) to the new elected Treasurer. From then on things improved and Comber Recreation has never looked back.

The club decided to leave the Churches League and join the Northern Amateur League in the mid 50s. They were soon successful and won the Border Cup in the 1956/57 season and followed this up with a cup double the following season winning both the Clarence and Border Cups. The next success was in 1961/62 when they beat the RUC in the Clarence Cup Final. The Clarence Cup was again won in 1998/99 season.

The club’s greatest success came on Christmas morning, 1991, when they defeated Brantwood in the final of The Steel & Sons Cup. Five years later they reached the final again, this time against Chimney Corner, but unfortunately came away empty handed being defeated by Chimney Corner 2-1.  Comber returned to the final for the third time in nine years at Christmas 1999.  Despite a great performance against the much fancied Dundela, Comber lost this match 3-2.

The club has come a long way since the early days of the “Tin Hut” at Parkway. It has its own social club and bar, new changing facilities, equipment store and a supporters club who give valued support both at home and away.  Within the club there is a golf society which competes generally once a month in a good hearted environment.

In 1993, the club established a Youth Section which up until 2005, had teams participating in the Downpatrick Youth Football League achieving success at different age levels. Teams travelled to France to participate in The Paris Cup. In 1999, the Under 16s were defeated at the semi final stage, on penalties, against opposition from Poland. They went on however, to win the 3rd and 4th play off and the u14 team, in 1998, came home with the ‘Fair Play’ trophy.

Comber Rec has a thriving youth section which now sees a total of five teams in action every weekend.  This is a gradual development from the youth section was reformed in 1993 when we had two teams participating in the Downpatrick Youth League.  The youngest of these teams now is the development squad, which competes in the Castlereagh, North Down and Ards Soccer 7s and is for boys and girls of Primary School age.   The Under 11s (2001’s) play their football in the South Belfast league while the Under 13’s (1999’s), 14’s (1998’s) and 16’s (1996’s) play their football in the Belfast and East Antrim Invitational Youth League.  Unlike many other clubs the youth section of Comber Rec. feeds directly into the senior end of the club with players able to progress from the junior teams through an under 18 team before competing for a place in the first, second or third teams.
 
Each Wednesday the club hosts a ‘community football night’ for children up to 10 years old.  This is at Comber Leisure Centre from 6pm to 7pm (October-March) and at Park Way April-June, August-September.

In recent year’s Comber Rec. Youth has achieved notable success, particularly through the current Under 13 team who have been league winners for the past two seasons and were named Ards Borough Council Team of the Year in 2011.  Comber Rec. Youth are also the current holders of the highly competitive end of season event known as the “Daily Mirror Trophy” and of the Under 12’s Trophy at the Ayr Football Festival which is held in Ayr, Scotland and which sees teams from throughout the UK compete.   Robbie Johnston playing for the u12s was awarded the Golden Ball for goal of the tournament.  In addition to the outstanding success of the Under 12’s in Ayr, the Under 13’s finished the tournament as third in their competition.  This year a group of some 88 players, parents and friends will again travel to the Ayr where the hope is for similar success.

 
On the social side, Comber Rec clubrooms play host to the very popular Enler Delta Blues Club which has packed houses every 3rd Saturday in the month and Rock Night on the 1st Saturday of each month.  The Blues Club has been attracting big names in the music scene as can be seen in the numbers flocking down to Park Way on a regular basis.  The club web site shows the upcoming attractions.