Everything about East Stirlingshire F C totally explained
Alan Mackin |
manager =
Jim McInally|
league =
Scottish Third Division | season =
2007-08 |
position = Scottish Third Division, 9th |
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East Stirlingshire Football Club are a
Scottish football club based in
Falkirk,
Scotland. They are members of the
Scottish Football League and play in the
Third Division. The club's name is often abbreviated by outsiders to
East Stirling, leading to the
erroneous impression that they're based in or near the city of
Stirling, 14 miles away; fans and other locals refer to the club by their nickname,
The Shire.
Club history
Early history
In 1880, cricket club
Bainsford Bluebonnets founded a football club called Bainsford Britannia
.
In November the following year the football club changed its name, and East Stirlingshire Football Club was born. The first match was against
Falkirk Seconds, with
the Bairns triumphing 7-0.
The club was a force to be reckoned with towards the end of the 19th century. In reaching the quarter-finals of the 1888-89
Scottish Cup, The Shire crushed rivals
Stenhousemuir 10-1 and
Vale of Bannock 11-2
. That 11-2 win is a club record, but the cup dream was ended by a closely fought 2-1 defeat at the hands of
Celtic in the quarter finals.
Two years later the goals were flying in again and the Shire were back in the last eight of the Scottish Cup. They trounced
Grangemouth 8-2 and knocked out
Camelon 10-6 in a replay after an initial 3-3 draw.
Hearts, the eventual winners, ended the run with a 3-1 victory and it was to be 90 years before The Shire progressed as far again.
Welsh international
Humphrey Jones was one of the club’s first heroes. He won 14 caps between 1885 and 1891 - five of them against England and Northern Ireland in 1889 and
England,
Scotland and
Northern Ireland in 1890 – while he was still player with the Shire, and he's one of many internationals to have played for the shire.
Early twentieth century
The club’s pulling power peaked on
19 February 1921, when a record home gate of 12,000 watched a third round Scottish Cup tie against
Partick Thistle. Sadly for the Shire, Partick Thistle won 2-1 on the day before going on to lift the cup with a 1-0 win over
Rangers.
In 1931-32 East Stirlingshire won what many consider its only senior honour, the
Division Two Championship. St Johnstone matched The Shire’s points total of 55 from 38 games, but 111 goals scored meant that East Stirling had the better goal difference by six. The joy was short-lived however as the following season saw the club relegated after finishing bottom in
Division One with just 17 points.
An unwanted record fell on
13 April 1936 when the club suffered its heaviest defeat, losing 12-1 to
Dundee United in a Division Two match at
Tannadice Park. However, a more positive record was set by
Malcolm Morrison in the 1938-39 season when he became the club’s highest league scorer in one season with 36 goals.
1940 to 1970
In 1947-48, East Stirlingshire won the
Scottish League Division ‘C’ at a canter, with 18 victories from 22 league games. But the 12-team division consisted mainly of reserve sides and as a result the title doesn't rank with the 1931-32 success. The Shire next won promotion as Division Two runners-up to St Johnstone in 1962-63, but as in the 1930s the club’s flirtation with the top flight was brief and relegation followed in 1963-64.
East Stirlingshire then disappeared for a season in 1964-65. Against the fans’ wishes, the club merged with
Clydebank Juniors to create
ES Clydebank. The new club played at
Kilbowie Park that season before East Stirlingshire regained its identity and independence after a court case brought by the club’s shareholders. Both clubs reverted to their original names the following season and East Stirling returned to
Falkirk. Clydebank returned to junior football before later securing a place in Division Two in 1966-67.
It was 1966 before the Shire appointed its first
manager. The board of directors had selected the team until handing the reins to
Lawrence Binnie.
Alex Ferguson's shortlived era
The club is perhaps best known for an appointment made in 1974 when a 32-year-old
Alex Ferguson began his managerial career at East Stirlingshire on a part-time wage of £40 a week. When he joined there were only eight registered players, and there was no registered
goalkeeper. His 117-day stint at Firs Park typified a management style that he's developed to earn legendary status at
Aberdeen and
Manchester United, as well as a
knighthood along the way. East Stirling had just finished the season 16th in Division Two when
Ferguson arrived. He was given a transfer budget of £2,000 which he spent on
Billy Hulston, snatching the former Shire favourite from under the nose of Stenhousemuir manager
Alex Smith.
Late twentieth century
In 1980, a
league cup match against
Albion Rovers was goalless after ninety minutes, and East Stirling won the penalty shootout to progress to the second round; however, the
referee had forgotten to play
extra time. A replay was held, despite East Stirling's objections, and Albion Rovers won 4-0.
Recent years
East Stirling's form in recent years hasn't been good. In the
2003-04 season they got only eight points during the entire season, reaching that total on the last day of the season and narrowly avoiding setting a new record lowest points total. In the
2004-05 season they still finished bottom of the division but gained 22 points.
In 2005, football journalist
Jeff Connor published the book
Pointless which chronicled the 2004-2005 season which he spent following the club, largely because East Stirling had finished rock bottom at the end of the previous season, attaining only 8 points. The subtitle of the book is "A Season with Britain's Worst Football Team".
After a feature on the
Norwegian channel
TV2 program
Golden Goal, an East Stirlingshire fan club was established in Norway, currently numbering more than 6,000 members.
Unlike in the
English football league system, there's no opportunity for non-league clubs to be promoted at the expense of league clubs, unless they've gone out of existence like
Airdrieonians F.C. However, in 2005 the Scottish League ruled that from the start of the
2005-06 season, any club finishing bottom of Division 3 twice in succession would be reduced to the status of 'Associate Member', losing the right to vote at league meetings, and would be allowed to play in the League for two further seasons, after which the league clubs would vote on whether to allow the club to remain in the League.
East Stirlingshire finished bottom again in 2005-06, but in 2006-2007 they won their opening game of the season for the first time in 13 years. In the fourth game of the season, East Stirlingshire thrashed local rivals
Stenhousemuir 5-0. This was the first time that the Shire had won by five goals for over a decade. The result was particularly special as the previous fixture on the same ground between the pair ended in a 7-0 victory for
The Warriors, just five months before. This result was followed by a 5-0 defeat at
East Fife.
Despite their opening day victory over
Elgin City in season 2006-2007, a 2-1 defeat at Elgin's Borough Briggs in April 2007 confirmed that for a fifth season they'd occupy bottom spot in the Third Division. The Scottish League voted against reducing the club to Associate Member status immediately, instead suspending the punishment for a year. This meant that so long as East Stirlingshire didn't finish bottom in the 2007-2008 season, they'd carry on as full members. If they did finish bottom however, they'd have been automatically be reduced to Associate Members, without the league taking a vote on the matter.
Before the 2007/2008 season began, the club announced that
reserve football would return to
Firs Park for the first time in 14 years. The last time the reserves played was a memorable 2-1 win over
Celtic Reserves at
Parkhead in
1993.
Just after the start of the 2007/2008 season, East Stirling won six games in a row for the first time since the 1968/69 season. One was a
league game against
Dumbarton (3-2), one a
Challenge Cup match also against
Dumbarton (4-2), the third a
league game against
Forfar (2-1), the fourth a 3-0 away league victory versus
Stenhousemuir and the fifth a last gasp 3-2 win away at
Albion Rovers, despite being 2-0 down with 20 minutes to go. The club sat third in the table after 6 matches. It was their highest league position for over a decade. The sixth win came against
Queen's Park (1-0) in the
Challenge Cup. This run came to an end on
September 15 when East Stirling lost 3-2 against
Stranraer, despite going 2-0 up.
Shire's winning run saw them reach the quarter finals of the
Challenge Cup for the first time since 2000. They were knocked out 4-0 at the hands of
First Division side
Morton.
In the
Scottish Cup East Stirling reached the fourth round after beating
Albion Rovers by 5 goals to 1 in the third round. It is the furthest the club have been in the cup in over 30 years. The reward for the achievement was a dream trip to
Ibrox to play
Rangers. Unfortunately for the Shire faithful, East Stirlingshire were defeated 6-0.
On
28 February, Manager
Gordon Wylde resigned as manager on East Stirling. Ex manager and Coach
John Brownlie Took charge of the derby day 4-3 defeat to
Stenhousemuir.
In March, East Stirling had offered the managers job to Ex
Celtic and
West Brom Striker
John Hartson who turned it down.
The job eventually went to former
Greenock Morton manager
Jim McInally. While results initially remained poor,
Forfar Athletic weren't doing much better, however a victory over Montrose on the final day of the season was enough to finally lift East Stirling off the bottom and into 9th place, preventing their suspended punishment from coming into effect and securing their status as full League members. It was the first time they hadn't finished bottom in six years, so a major relief for their fans.
The final day was a day to celebrate not just because they didn't finish bottom but because it would be their last game at
Firs Park because the club can't afford ground improvements, mainly the size of the pitch which is too small to meet
Scottish Football Association criteria.
Spencer Fearn announced that East Stirling will be sharing the artifical surface at nearby
Stenhousemuir F.C.'s
Ochilview Park while the team look into building a new stadium in
Falkirk. They will be sharing
Ochilview Park for a period of five years. East Stirling will however continue to train at
Firs Park until the developers move in to build the new housing estate.
Current Squad
As of 8 May 2008. Includes pre-contract signings for season 2008-09Staff 2007-2008
Boardroom
Management and coaching
Manager: Jim McInally
Assistant Manager: Martin Clark
Coach: John Brownlie
Coach: Paul McIlwraith
Reserve Coach: Alan Upton
Reserve Coach: Tom Loan
Goalkeeping Coach: Barry Daniel
Head of Youth Development: Jimmy Gordon
Physio Iain MacIver
Maintenance
Groundsman/Kitman: Robert Jack
Groundsman/Kitman: James Wilson
Managers
Lawrence Binnie (1966)
Ian Crawford (1966-1970)
Jim Rowan (1970-1971)
Bob Shaw (1971-1974) (deceased)
Sir Alex Ferguson (1974)
Ian Ure (1974-1975)
Dan McLindon (1975-1977)
Billy Lamont (1977-1983)
John Brownlie (1983-1998)
Hugh McCann (1998-1999)
Brian Ross (2001-2002)
Gordon Russell (2002)
Danny Divers (2002-2003)
Steve Morrison (2003-2004)
Dennis Newell (2004-2006)
Gordon Wylde (2006-2008)
Jim McInally (2008-Present)
East Stirlingshire league history
Honours
Division II: 1931/32
Division II (second place): 1962/63
Division III (second place): 1923/24 and 1979/80
'C' Division: 1947/48
Stirlingshire Cup: 2002
Club records
Greatest competitive win: 11-2 vs. Vale of Bannock in 1888/10-1 vs. Stenhousemuir on 31st August 1888
Greatest competitive loss: 1-12 vs. Dundee United on 13th April 1936
Highest home attendance: 12,000 vs. Partick, Scottish Cup 3rd Round, 19 February 1921
Most league goals in one season: 36 - Malcolm Morrison, 1938/39 & Henry Morris, 1947/48
First match: 0-7 vs. Falkirk Seconds (friendly match), November 1881
Record appearances: Gordon Russell - 415, 1983-2001
Record transfer fee received: £35,000 for Jim Docherty to Chelsea, 1978
Record transfer fee paid: £6,000 for Colin McKinnon from Falkirk, 1991
Average home attendance
2006-2007: 270 (Division Three)
2005-2006: 302 (Division Three)
2004-2005: 293 (Division Three)
2003-2004: 278 (Division Three)
2002-2003: 239 (Division Three)
2001-2002: 247 (Division Three)
Further Information
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