East Stirlingshire F.C.
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| Full name | East Stirlingshire Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Shire | ||
| Founded | 1881 | ||
| Ground | Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir, Scotland (Capacity: 3,776 (626 seated)) |
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| Chairman |  Spencer Fearn |
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| Manager | Jim McInally |
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| League | Scottish Third Division | ||
| 2008–09 | Scottish Third Division, 3rd | ||
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East Stirlingshire Football Club are a Scottish football club originating in Falkirk, although home matches are currently played in the nearby town of Stenhousemuir. 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 are based in or near the city of Stirling, 14 miles from Falkirk; fans and other locals refer to the club by their nickname, The Shire.
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[edit] Club history
[edit] Early history
Although East Stirlingshire's official date of formation is 1881, their origins can be traced to the previous year, when Bainsford Bluebonnets Cricket Club formed a football section under the name Bainsford Britannia.[1] In November the following year the footballers broke away to form a separate club under the name of East Stirlingshire. The first match was against Falkirk's second eleven, with the latter winning 7–0.[1]
The Shire reached the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup in season 1888–89, a run that included victories of 10–1 against local rivals Stenhousemuir [2] and 11–2 against Vale of Bannock.[2] The cup run was finally ended by a closely fought 2–1 defeat at the hands of Celtic.[2]
Two years later the Shire once more reached the last eight of the Scottish Cup and again recorded some high-scoring wins, beating Grangemouth 8–2[2] and Camelon 10–6 in a replay, after an initial 3–3 draw.[2] Eventual cup winners Heart of Midlothian ended the run with a 3–1 victory in what was to be the club's last appearance at that stage of the competition for ninety years.
Welsh international Humphrey Jones was a notable Shire player of the era. He won fourteen caps between 1885 and 1891, five of which were while he was an East Stirlingshire player;[2] as of 2009, this remains a club record.
[edit] Early twentieth century
A record home crowd of 12,000 attended a third round Scottish Cup tie against Partick Thistle on 19 February 1921, which the visitors won 2–1 before going on to lift the trophy.[3]
In 1931–32 East Stirlingshire won their biggest senior honour, the Division Two Championship. Although St. Johnstone matched their total of 55 points from 38 games, Shire's superior goal average secured them the title. However, the club were relegated the following year after finishing bottom of Division One with just seventeen points.
East Stirlingshire's heaviest defeat was recorded on 13 April 1936 , 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.[3].
[edit] 1940–1970
In 1947–48, East Stirlingshire won the Scottish League Division ‘C’ (a division mainly composed of the reserve sides of top division teams), recording 18 victories in only 22 league games. Later, the Shire won promotion as Division Two runners-up to St. Johnstone in 1962–63, but as in the 1930s the club’s tenure in the top flight was brief and relegation followed in 1963–64.
This disappointment caused the club's owners, the Steedman brothers, to formulate a radical plan for the club's future that ultimately saw the Shire temporarily disappear for season 1964–65. Against the fans’ wishes, the Steedmans merged the club with Clydebank Juniors to create East Stirlingshire Clydebank (or E.S. Clydebank for short), a new club playing at Kilbowie Park in Clydebank. A year later East Stirlingshire regained its identity and independence after a successful court case brought by shareholders. The clubs were de–merged the following season and the Shire returned to their Firs Park home. Clydebank were reconstituted as a senior club and later secured a place in Division Two in 1966–67.
1966 saw the appointment of the Shire's first manager, Lawrence Binnie. Prior to this, the board of directors had been responsible for team selection.
[edit] Alex Ferguson's shortlived era
The club is perhaps best known in the wider football world for the appointment of 32 year old Alex Ferguson to his first managerial post in 1974, on a part-time wage of £40 a week. Ferguson lasted only 117 days at Firs Park before accepting an offer to manage St. Mirren. Later he would go on to achieve huge success at Aberdeen and Manchester United.
[edit] Late 20th century
In 1980, a Scottish League Cup match against Albion Rovers was goalless after ninety minutes. East Stirlingshire won the penalty shoot-out to progress to the second round; however, the referee had forgotten to play extra time. A replay was held, despite East Stirling's objections, which Albion Rovers won 4–0.
[edit] 21st century
East Stirlingshire's form in the early part of the 21st century was not good. In the 2003–04 season they gained a mere eight points, only reaching that total on the last day of the season and narrowly avoiding setting a new record lowest points total.
Prompted by this particularly bad performance, football journalist Jeff Connor spent the 2004–05 season following the Shire, an experience chronicled in his book Pointless (subtitled "A Season with Britain's Worst Football Team"). They again finished bottom of the division but gained 22 points. After a feature on the Norwegian channel TV2 programme Golden Goal, an East Stirlingshire fan club was established in Norway, growing to more than 6,000 members.
As a result of East Stirlingshire's continued failures, in 2005 the Scottish League ruled that from the start of the 2005–06 season any club finishing bottom of the Third Division twice in succession would be reduced to the status of 'Associate Member', losing their voting rights. They would be allowed to play in the League for two further seasons, after which the members would vote on whether to allow the club to remain in the League.
East Stirlingshire duly finished bottom again in 2005–06 and 2006–07, for a run of five consecutive last place finishes. The League voted against reducing the club to Associate Member status immediately, instead suspending the punishment for a year. This meant that so long as the club did not finish bottom in the 2007–08 season, they would carry on as full members. Otherwise, they would automatically be reduced to Associate Members without a vote.
Just after the start of the 2007–08 season, the Shire won six games in a row for the first time since 1968–69. The club sat third in the table after six matches, their highest league position for over a decade. Shire's winning run saw them reach the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup for the first time since 2000, and in the Scottish Cup the club reached the fourth round for the first time in over thirty years, being drawn away to Rangers and losing 6–0.
Former Morton manager Jim McInally took charge in March 2008. Victory over Montrose on the final day of the season was enough to lift the team into ninth place, and secure their status as full League members, the first time they hadn't finished bottom in six years.
With Firs Park unable to meet new ground criteria (the pitch being deemed to small) and the club unable to afford the necessary ground improvements, it was announced that from season 2008-09 East Stirlingshire would be sharing nearby Stenhousemuir's Ochilview Park while looking into building a new stadium in Falkirk. They will be sharing Ochilview for a period of five years, but will continue to train at Firs Park until developers move in to build a new housing estate.
[edit] Current squad
As of 9 April 2009.
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[edit] Players out on loan
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[edit] Non-playing Staff
[edit] Boardroom
- Chairman/Chief Executive/Secretary: Les Thomson
- Vice Chairman: Spencer Fearn
- Director: Alec McCabe
- Director: Tam Homewood
- Director: Tony Ford
- Director/Commercial Manager: Paul Marnie
- Director/Fan Representative: Hugh Henderson
[edit] Management and coaching
- Manager: Jim McInally
- Assistant Manager: Martin Clark
- Head of Youth Development: Paul Durning
- Physio Iain MacIver
[edit] Maintenance
- Groundsman/Kitman: Robert Jack
- Groundsman/Kitman: James Wilson
[edit] 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 (1997–1998)
- 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)
[edit] East Stirlingshire league history
[edit] Honours
- Division II: 1931–32
- Division II (second place): 1962–63
- Second Division (second place): 1979–80
- Division III (second place): 1923–24
- 'C' Division: 1947–48
- Scottish Cup (Quarter Final): 1888–89, 1890–91, 1980–81
[edit] Club records
- Greatest competitive win: 11–2 vs. Vale of Bannock in 1888/10–1 vs. Stenhousemuir on 31 August 1888
- Greatest competitive loss: 1–12 vs. Dundee United on 13 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
[edit] Average home attendance
2007–08: 377 (Third Division)
2006–07: 270 (Third Division)
2005–06: 302 (Third Division)
2004–05: 293 (Third Division)
2003–04: 278 (Third Division)
2002–03: 239 (Third Division)
2001–02: 247 (Third Division)
Source: The League Insider
[edit] References
- ^ a b "East Stirlingshire Club History on East Stirlingshire Mad". http://www.eaststirlingshire-mad.co.uk/news/loadsngl.asp?cid=ED21. Retrieved on 21 August 2007.
- ^ a b c d e f "Club History on the Official Website". http://eaststirlingfc.co.uk/history/history1.html. Retrieved on 21 August 2007.
- ^ a b "Club History on the Official Website". http://eaststirlingfc.co.uk/history/history2.html. Retrieved on 21 August 2007.
[edit] External links
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