Falkirk F.C.

Association football club in Scotland
“ The Bairns ” redirects here. For the music album by Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, see The Bairns ( album )
Football club

Reading: Falkirk F.C.

Falkirk Football Club is a scots professional association football club based in the township of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1876 [ 2 ] and competes in the Scottish League One, the third base tier of scots football, as a member of the scots Professional Football League. The club was elected to the Second Division of the Scottish Football League in 1902–03, was promoted to the First Division after two seasons and achieved its highest league situation in the early 1900s when it was runner-up to Celtic in 1907–08 and 1909–10. The football cabaret was registered as a restrict Liability Company in April 1905 – Falkirk Football & Athletic Club Ltd. Falkirk won the scots Cup for the first base time in 1913. After 1945, Falkirk were promoted and demoted between the Premier and First Divisions seven times until 1995–96, and during the 1970s spent three seasons in the Second Division. In 2005, Falkirk were promoted to the scottish Premier League ( SPL ). Falkirk won the scots Cup again in 1957 and were runners-up in the contest in 1997, 2009 and 2015. As a resultant role of its performance in the 2009 scots Cup, the baseball club qualified for the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa League in 2009–10. Falkirk have won the second tier of Scottish football a commemorate seven times, an honor shared with St Johnstone. They have besides won the scottish Challenge Cup more than any early club, winning it for the fourth time in 2012. In their early years, Falkirk played at three venues : Hope Street, Randyford Park and Blinkbonny Park. Between 1885 and 2003, the club was based at Brockville Park, built on the former Hope Street ground. After the creation of the SPL in 1998, its hard-and-fast stadium criteria – to which Brockville Park did not conform – was enforced, and the club was denied promotion on three occasions. The club ‘s present dwelling ground since 2004 is the Falkirk Stadium, an 7,937 all-seater stadium on the outskirts of Falkirk. [ 1 ]

history [edit ]

Club formation and early years [edit ]

The cabaret ‘s date of formation is uncertain. [ 3 ] Although some accounts point to the year 1876, others claim it was formed in 1877. [ 4 ] however, the erstwhile is the date used by the club and its fans. [ 5 ] In 1878, the cabaret joined the Scottish Football Association, and became eligible to compete in the scots Cup, a smasher tournament which became the country ‘s independent association football cup rival. The cabaret reached the moment rung in the first class that it competed. [ 6 ] In the first gear few years after it was formed, Falkirk played largely friendly games. They played their home matches at three unlike grounds during this period ; Hope Street, Randyford Park and Blinkbonny Park. It left the latter in 1884 and moved to Brockville Park, which remained the club ‘s home labor for 118 years. The Stirlingshire Football Association was founded in 1883, which invited clubs from the Stirlingshire region to join. It resulted in the constitution of a fresh tournament, the Stirlingshire Cup, a competition overt entirely to the teams from the region, which Falkirk won in its inaugural season. [ 7 ] [ 8 ] The cabaret ‘s nickname is “ The Bairns ”, [ 9 ] a Scots word mean sons or daughters, which is given to natives of the town of Falkirk. [ 10 ] This is reflected in the Falkirk Burgh motto : “Better meddle wi’ the de’il than the Bairns o’ Fa’kirk”. [ 11 ]
After playing by and large regional matches, friendly games and the countrywide Scottish Cup tournament for the majority of its being, the club was elected to the bottom grade of the Scottish Football League in 1902–03, a national sports league consist of Scotland ‘s top football clubs. At the time, the league consisted of two tiers, the First and Second Divisions. Falkirk was promoted to the top division with a second-place finish behind Clyde after two seasons. Despite the club ‘s success, several months beforehand a proposal to merge with local anesthetic rivals East Stirlingshire was raised, which was narrowly rejected in a vote. [ 12 ] In 1907–08, Falkirk ‘s one-third season in the top fledge, the golf club finished the temper in second position, its highest league status to date, and repeated this in the 1909–10 season. [ 12 ] On both occasions it finished behind champions Celtic despite being the top goal scorers in the league, becoming the foremost scots club to break the 100 goals barrier in a one season. [ 12 ] In 1913, the club won the scots Cup for the inaugural time, defeating Raith Rovers in the final 2–0. In 1922, the club broke the world record transfer tip, paying £ 5000 for the transfer of hitter Syd Puddefoot from English club West Ham United. [ 13 ] [ 14 ] The be year, the club played against the scots Football League XI to raise funds for those affected by the Redding mine calamity. [ 15 ] [ 16 ] Falkirk spent 30 straight seasons in their first spell in the top flight of scots football, before being relegated in 1934–35 after finishing 20th at the bottom of the league. [ 17 ] Despite this, the club was promoted to the top trajectory after one season, as champions of the 1935–36 Second Division, amassing a club record of 132 league goals in the process. Falkirk remained in the top flight until the outbreak of World War II in 1939, when the league was suspended .

Post-war promotion and demotion [edit ]

After the war ended in 1945, the scots Football League resumed and Falkirk regained its place in the First Division for the 1946–47 temper. In 1947, a new competition, the Scottish League Cup, was inaugurated. In the 1947–48 season, Falkirk reached the concluding, and lost 4–1 to East Fife in the replay final after an initial 0–0 draw. The club competed in the final of the scots Cup in 1957. They defeated Kilmarnock in a play back. This was their first gear success in the tournament since winning it 44 years earlier. In June 1958 Alex Parker and Eddie O’Hara from the cup winning english were bought by Everton for a aggregate fee or £18,000. [ 18 ] John White was signed two months later from Alloa Athletic with £3,300 of that money. [ 19 ] In the years to follow, relegation and promotion between the first and second tiers occurred seven times until the 1995–96 season. The club spent eight back-to-back seasons at a time in either division. As a result, Falkirk has won or finished runner-up in the irregular tier of Scottish football a record 14 times, the majority occurring in this period. The baseball club besides spent three seasons in the late 1970s in the newly created third base tier, the lowest tier it has competed in. In 1977–78 the club finished in its lowest rate to date, ending the season in the equivalent of 29th in Scotland following a 5th-place finish in the newfangled Second Division. [ 20 ] In the 1996–97 temper, the club reached the final of the scottish Cup for the third time, and Falkirk became the seventh club in 106 years to reach the concluding whilst competing outside the top league of scottish football. Falkirk ‘s opponents were Kilmarnock, a repeat of the 1957 final, [ 21 ] but the club could not match its 1957 success and lost 1–0. [ 22 ]

scottish Premier League [edit ]

The scottish Premier League ( SPL ) was founded in 1998 as the new top flight of scottish football. The newfangled league and its rules denied Falkirk the casual to be promoted into it on three occasions as a consequence of its formation. When the SPL was created from the previous Premier Division, a play-off match that was held between the team ranked ninth in the Premier Division and the team ranked irregular in the First Division was abolished during the 1997–98 season. Falkirk, ranked second in the First Division, was therefore denied a play-off with Motherwell. The SPL ‘s standard that clubs required a 10,000 capacity all-seater stadium in holy order to compete in the new league, which Falkirk ‘s Brockville Park did not comply with, was introduced. When the SPL was due to expand to 12 teams at the end of the 1999–2000 season, Aberdeen, which finished bottom of the SPL, would have competed in a tripartite play-off against the teams that finished second and third in the First Division, and two of these three clubs would gain SPL status for the adjacent temper. Brockville Park was calm below the SPL standard, and Falkirk applied to ground-share Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, but the marriage proposal was rejected. The play-off was abandoned, Dunfermline Athletic was automatically promoted and Aberdeen retained its status in the circus tent flight .
Historic chart of table positions of Falkirk in the League. Following four consecutive top three finishes in the First Division since 1997–98, the club ‘s fortunes changed dramatically and it finished the temper in ninth place, which would have qualified the golf club to be relegated to the third grade. however, it was spared relegation by the elimination of companion First Division golf club Airdrieonians on the last day of the season. [ 23 ] The watch season, Falkirk was again deny promotion to the SPL despite finishing top of the First Division. The cabaret submitted another application to ground-share, this time at New Broomfield – an SPL compliant stadium and the home of Airdrie United – but was rejected in a vote by SPL chairmen. Motherwell was thus spared delegating from the First Division. [ 24 ] In rate to meet the standard, Falkirk started building a new stadium and left Brockville Park. During the 2004–05 season, the SPL stadium standard was reduced to 6,000, which the baseball club ‘s new Falkirk Stadium met. The club won the First Division that temper, winning 1–0 to Ross County, and was promoted to the SPL. After three seasons in the SPL, including two seventh-place finishes, the club qualified for the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa League, the first time the club qualified for a european competition. The same year, Falkirk was beaten by Rangers in the final of the scottish Cup. [ 25 ] Despite its cup success, Falkirk finished in 10th place in the league and avoided delegating with a 1–0 succeed against Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The adopt season, the club competed in the Europa League but was relegated from the SPL to the First Division after being held to a 0–0 draw against Kilmarnock on the final day of the 2009–10 season. [ 25 ]

scottish First Division/Scottish Championship [edit ]

Following its return to the First Division, Falkirk finished the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons in third position. As members of the Scottish Football League, the club was eligible to compete in the scots Challenge Cup, which it won 1-0 against Hamilton Academical in 2012 to win the cup for a record fourth time. In the same year Falkirk reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, but lost to Celtic. The club had defeated the reigning SPL champions Rangers 3–2 in the third base cycle, [ 26 ] and besides defeated another top flight club Dundee United on penalties in the quarter-finals. [ 27 ] In 2012-13 Falkirk finished a distant third in the league, 25 points behind champions Partick Thistle, but had a great run in the scottish Cup, beating local rivals Stenhousemuir a well as Hamilton Academical en route to the semi-final against Hibernian at Hampden Park. Falkirk, under the management of Gary Holt for the first clock time, took a 3–0 one-half time leash, though Hibernian made a rejoinder to confirm their rate in the final with a 4–3 winnings ( AET ). Gary Holt left the managers mail in June 2014 to join Norwich on their coach team. He was replaced by Peter Houston. [ 28 ] In the 2013–14 season Falkirk finished third in the scottish Championship, narrowly missing out on the title by 3 points having hush been in with a luck on the final day of the season. They qualified for the Premiership play-off, where they defeated Queen of the South 4–3 on aggregate ( AET ) in the quarter-final, before losing to Hamilton Academical 2-1 on aggregate in the trailer truck. [ 29 ] In 2014–15, Falkirk missed out on the play-off places, finishing in 5th place in the championship, Falkirk went one good in the scots Cup than two years previously, reaching the final, avenging their loss to Hibernian in the semi-finals before being defeated by Inverness 2–1 in the final examination. In 2015–16 Falkirk finished moment in the Championship and qualified for the promotion play-offs. They defeated Hibernian 5–4 on aggregate in the semi-final [ 30 ] before facing Kilmarnock. A 1–0 home winnings in the first base leg put Falkirk on the scepter of a return to top flight football. however, Kilmarnock won 4–0 in the irregular leg to retain their place in the scottish Premiership 4–1 on aggregate. [ 31 ] The follow season, Falkirk again finished second in the league and qualified for the play-offs. They went out to Dundee United 4–3 on sum in the semi-finals. [ 32 ] Falkirk started the 2017–18 temper very badly and the club found themselves in danger of delegating to League One. Manager Peter Houston was sacked in September 2017 following a 2–0 home personnel casualty to Livingston, which left the cabaret second bottom of the league. [ 33 ] Paul Hartley replaced him as coach. [ 34 ] Hartley only won one of his foremost nine league games, and the clubhouse still sat in second bottom, 8 points from guaranteed condom at Christmas. [ 35 ] A prevail of three wins in five games caused Falkirk to draw level on points with third base bottom Dumbarton and finally pull away to finish eighth. [ 36 ]

scots League one [edit ]

Falkirk had a black 2018–19 season which saw the cabaret relegated on the concluding day, despite running out 3–2 winners against the Champions Ross County. This led to the club ‘s second base spell in the scots third tier. The 2019–20 season was declared early on after 28 games played, leaving Falkirk in moment home, 1 point behind Raith Rovers. [ 37 ] The 2020–21 season was another to forget for Falkirk fans. After starting the season on form and seeing themselves clear at the circus tent of the table, a collapse in the irregular half of the season following a mid-season break due to Covid19 saw Falkirk fall to 5th in League 1 after a 2–0 defeat to Airdrieonians on the final day cost them a spot in the play-offs .

Colours and badge [edit ]

The first example of the navy blue and white strip from 1882 Falkirk ‘s traditional colours are united states navy blue and flannel, which the team first wore during the 1882 season. however, the club ‘s beginning strip, thin blue and white horizontal hoops on the jersey and socks, was worn between 1876 and 1880. This was replaced with a blue jersey and white shorts, which has featured predominantly since. Touches of crimson were introduced to the airstrip in the late 1930s – largely on the socks – was worn until the early 1960s, reintroduce in the mid-1970s and has since been featured in the team ‘s kit. For the 2017–18 season the kit consisted of a dark blue bluing jersey, white shorts and dark blue socks. [ 38 ] [ 39 ]

Stadiums [edit ]

In the club ‘s early years, Falkirk played its home games at three different sites : Hope Street, Randyford Park and Blinkbonny Park. The first gear used by the club was on Hope Street, the placement that would become Brockville Park in 1884. The foremost match at Hope Street was against Grasshoppers from Bonnybridge. [ 40 ] After one season, Falkirk moved to Randyford Park, the home of East Stirlingshire Cricket Club during the summer months, in 1878 where the clubhouse played its beginning competitive match, which it won against Campsie Glen of Lennoxtown in the scots Cup. [ 41 ] The establish was located near Forth Valley College, several hundred yards west of the stage Falkirk Stadium. The golf club played at Blinkbonny Park between 1881 and 1883. [ 42 ]
An previous turnstile from Brockville between 1885 and 2003, Falkirk was based at Brockville Park, which was located a quarter of a mile ( 0.4 kilometer ) from the township center of Falkirk. [ 43 ] Brockville Park was largely terrace and had a capacity of between 7,500 and 8,000 spectators in its late years. On 21 February 1953, Falkirk ‘s largest home attendance was recorded at the footing when 23,100 spectators watched the club play against Celtic in the third base round of the scottish Cup. [ 39 ] [ 44 ]
When the SPL was created in 1998, Brockville Park fell curtly of the SPL ‘s stadium criteria, chiefly because of the terrace stands. As a consequence, the baseball club was denied entrance to the league, despite winning the First Division or qualifying for a promotion play-off, on three occasions. Falkirk remained at the stadium until the last day of the 2002–03 football season, and in late 2003 Brockville was demolished and the locate sold to supermarket chain Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc. [ 45 ] To commemorate the golf club ‘s time at the stadium, the supermarket displays Falkirk F.C. memorabilia, including a turnstile. [ 46 ] For the 2003–04 season, Falkirk entered an agreement with Stenhousemuir to ground-share Ochilview Park stadium for one season while the cabaret ‘s new stadium was under construction. Since the begin of the 2004–05 season, the club has been based at Falkirk Stadium, an 7,937 capacity all-seater stadium built on the easterly outskirts of Falkirk. [ 39 ] The stadium was opened in July 2004 with a friendly match against Dundee. [ 39 ] [ 47 ] When it opened, lone the 4,200 capacity west stall was completed. The 2,000 capacity north stand was constructed during the open temper and was completed in May 2005, taking the stadium above the SPL ‘s reduced 6,000 seating standard. [ 47 ] Falkirk became champions of the First Division that season and was promoted to the SPL. The stadium has since been farther expanded ; the confederacy stand [ 48 ] officially opened in a peer against Royal Antwerp of Belgium in August 2009. [ 49 ]

Supporters and rivalries [edit ]

Falkirk ‘s strongest holocene competition is the Kincardine bowler hat which is contested with Dunfermline Athletic. The towns of Dunfermline and Falkirk are approximately 13 miles aside, separated by the River Forth. Both clubs are a alike size and have regularly competed at the same horizontal surface in the SPL and First Division but the origin of the competition is ill-defined, as erstwhile Falkirk director John Hughes said in an interview in 2005. [ 50 ] The two clubs have played important promotion and relegation encounters against each other over the past thirty years which has only increased the animosity between the two sets of fans. [ 51 ] In 2009 the Falkirk Herald recalled Super Tuesday : “ More than 20 years ago a previously postponed league regular took place at Brockville. The then mighty Dunfermline had come to town expecting victory as they looked to continue their push for forwarding from the B & Q First Division. But, for over half of the 9200 supporters that packed the terraces on 7 March 1989, little did they know they would witness a match which would finally become part of Falkirk folklore. Goals from Derek McWilliams, Paul Rutherford, Sammy McGivern and Stuart Burgess without answer brought the Pars back down to earth with an godhead bang. ” [ 52 ] A significant equal between Falkirk and Dunfermline took seat in April 2009, when they met at the semi-final phase of the 2008–09 scottish Cup at Hampden Park ; the Bairns won 2–0 in front of over 17,000 fans to progress to the final. [ 53 ] The club ‘s traditional rival was East Stirlingshire, a baseball club that was besides based in Falkirk. The two teams regularly competed against each other in their early existences in the Stirlingshire Cup, vitamin a well as in league football following Falkirk ‘s election to the scots Football League in 1902–03, two seasons after East Stirlingshire. As of May 2020, the last meter the clubs played each early in a competitive league regular was in April 1982, which East Stirlingshire won 3–0, when both clubs were in the First Division. [ 54 ] Following East Stirlingshire ‘s delegating that season, the two clubs have not competed in the lapp league ; Falkirk predominantly in the First Division and East Stirlingshire in the Third Division. In 1999–00 the clubs were drawn against each early in the second round of golf of the Scottish League Cup, which Falkirk won 2–0 after excess time was played, the last competitive fixture between the clubs excluding the Stirlingshire Cup. [ 54 ]

Club staff [edit ]

Position[55]
Name

Sporting Director
Gary Holt

Head Coach
Martin Rennie

Assistant Head Coach
Danny Grainger

Goalkeeping Coach
Bobby Geddes

Head of Performance
Graeme Henderson

Head of Scouting and Analysis
Liam Corr

Head of Youth Development
Ian Fergus

Physio
Rachael Gillen

Kitmen
Robert Lochhead
Bobby Wilson

current police squad [edit ]

As of 30 September 2021[56]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

On loanword [edit ]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

celebrated players [edit ]

Managers [edit ]

The club ‘s first coach was Willie Nicol, who was appointed in 1905, before which all director appointments were assigned to the club secretary. Nicol was first appointed baseball club secretary in 1900, then secretary/manager and ultimately coach. As of 2021, Nicol is the longest serve coach in Falkirk ‘s history. Alex Totten, coach from 1996 to 2002 who led the side to the 1997 scottish Cup Final, was named the clubs lifetime ambassador ahead of his retirement from football in 2021. This list does not include caretaker managers or those who managed in a temp capacity. Only competitive matches are counted
^1. Win % is rounded to two decimal fraction places .

Honours [edit ]

League
Cups
†The 2019-2020 Scottish League One season declared early after 28 games played after the Covid-19 outbreak. [ 37 ]

baseball club records [edit ]

european record [edit ]

Since the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA ) was formed in 1960, Falkirk has qualified for a UEFA club competition on one occasion. [ 99 ] In 2009, Falkirk reached the concluding of the scottish Cup, which it lost to Rangers. The winner of the scots Cup would normally qualify for the UEFA Europa League, but because Rangers had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League through their league ranking in the SPL, the set was passed to Falkirk as runner-up. Falkirk was eliminated in the second qualify round of golf by FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein in a two-legged tie. [ 100 ] The clubhouse ‘s only european goal was scored by Ryan Flynn in the 1–0 first leg home victory against FC Vaduz .

See besides [edit ]

References [edit ]

Falkirk on BBC Sport: