Brechin City Football Club is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

. of

Brechin Brechin (; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Scottish Reformation, Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which contin ...

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

. The club was founded in 1906 by players and officials of two local clubs, Brechin Harp and Brechin Hearts. The club currently competes in the after suffering three relegations in four seasons: from the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, League One in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, and League Two in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

following a 3–1 aggregate play-off defeat by Kelty Hearts. The club's highest achievements include winning the third tier of Scottish football three times, most recently in 2004–05 as champions of the Second Division. The club has also reached the final of the

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,Queen of the South in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. Brechin's home ground is Glebe Park which can seat around 1,500 spectators in its capacity of 4,123. The ground opened in 1919.

History

Early years

The club was founded in 1906 by players and officials from two comparatively successful local junior sides – Brechin Harp and Brechin Hearts. A deputation from the Forfarshire Football Association had met with representatives of the local game at the Temperance Hall in City Road and managed to persuade them that Brechin would benefit from having a single senior club. Although Brechin Harp folded with the establishment of the senior side, Brechin Hearts continued as a viable and successful Junior side until the years of the Great War. The club won its first important local honour, the

Forfarshire Cup The Forfarshire Cup is a football competition in Scotland competed for by teams in the Forfarshire Football Association from Angus, Dundee and Perth. The name of the competition is often baffling to some, as "Forfarshire" is an archaic and angli ...

, in the 1909–10 season with a side that featured nine players from the town. The club moved to their Glebe Park home in 1919, a stadium which currently has a capacity of 4,123 (1,519 seated) and is famous for the

hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced (3 feet or closer) shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate ...

that runs alongside one side of the pitch.

Joining the league

The team was admitted to the Scottish league in

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

with the formation of the original Third Division. However, City struggled, finishing bottom of the League in that first season. The club failed to make any headway in the doomed division and disappeared from the Scottish League at the end of the 1925–26 season along with most of the other teams in the division. The club was not away long, as it returned to the League for the 1929–30 season following the departure of

Bathgate Bathgate ( or , ) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Linlithgow, Livingston, and West Calder. A number of villages fall under ...

and Arthurlie the previous season. Once again the club finished rock bottom. The club continued to struggle in the bottom half of the Second Division throughout the 1930s before going into hibernation during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Indeed, so poor was the club at times that during the 1937–38 season the club were beaten 10–0 by

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath () is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 1890. According to a 20 ...

, Albion Rovers and Airdrieonians.

Post-war return

Brechin City returned to action in the 1946–47 season in the C Division, a competition which did not have full membership of the Scottish Football League and which contained a mix of first teams and reserve sides. The club remained in this set-up until its success in the North-East section (the division having been restructured into two separate competitions) in the 1953–54 season saw it return to full League membership. Their first season back however resulted in another bottom placed finish, although it was not relegated. Despite this shaky return the club enjoyed a halcyon period of sorts in the late 1950s, securing four consecutive top half finishes (without managing to clinch promotion) as well as reaching the semi-finals of the 1957–58

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

. The 1960s, however, saw the club struggling again, with yet another bottom place its fate for the 1961–62 season and again the following season with a further two wooden spoon efforts before the end of the decade. The unwanted feat of finishing bottom two years in a row was repeated in 1972–73 and 1973–74 as Brechin City continued to be one of the weakest sides in Scottish League football.

New Second Division

The club finished 17th out of 20 in the 1974–75 season and as such was placed in the new Division Two, which was the third tier of the restructured League. The new set-up suited the club little better as they remained in and around the bottom. However a mid-table 1979–80 season ushered in something of a change in fortune as the club began to challenge for its first promotion as full League members. With both a new stand and floodlighting added to Glebe Park, the club played with a new ambition until finally breaking its duck with a title win in the 1982–83 season. Under the chairmanship of David Will, the then

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

vice-president and a future vice-president of

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

, and the player-management of ex-

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

stalwart

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

, the club pipped

Meadowbank Thistle Livingston Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Livingston, West Lothian and currently plays in the . Livingston were founded in 1943 as Ferranti Thistle, a works team. The club was admitted to the Scottish Football ...

to the title by one point.M. Robinson, ''Football League Tables 1888–2003'', p. 133

The 1980s

Under Will's progressive leadership City found its feet in the First Division and challenged near the top in the 1983–84 season before finishing in a creditable fifth place. However 1986–87 season saw the club narrowly relegated ahead of Queen of the South although undaunted it challenged at the top of the Second Division before winning the title for the second time in 1989–90 season again by one point, this time ahead of

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

The 1990s

Brechin's return to the First Division was to prove somewhat inauspicious as it was immediately relegated, although 1992–93 season saw it promoted again, this time as runners-up. Again, however, it was relegated immediately and worse was to follow as it suffered consecutive demotions, dropping into the newly created Third Division, the fourth tier of League football. However once again there was an immediate change as the club finished second in this division for the 1995–96 season, ensuring promotion and five changes of division in five frantic seasons. The club was relegated again after two seasons and finished the decade back in the bottom division.

The 2000s

In the new millennium the club experienced a revival in fortune under Dick Campbell, winning the Third Division in 2001–02 season after a narrow miss the previous season. The push continued the following season as the club finished runners-up to secure a second consecutive promotion with Chris Templeman bagging 21 League goals for the club in a season in which it was also beaten

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,First Division proved too much for the part-timers as they were immediately relegated. However the topsy-turvy existence of Brechin City continued as the following season it again won the Second Division title, although success was soured by the departure of Campbell to

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

. Without Campbell the team struggled even more than before in the First Division and managed only two wins all season on its way to relegation under Ian Campbell, the twin brother of their previous manager. The mood was lifted somewhat by the club's centenary celebrations which included a 2–2 draw in a prestige friendly against English Championship side Ipswich Town at Glebe Park. The club, led by the management of Michael O'Neill and with the goal threat of Iain Russell, finished fourth in the following season's Second Division and under new arrangements this entitled it to a place in promotion play-offs, although a 6–1 aggregate mauling at the hands of

Airdrie United Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Clu ...

put paid to any hopes of another immediate return to the second tier. 2007–08 proved somewhat disappointing as City missed out on the play-offs by finishing sixth, and on 31 January 2008, was thrown out of the Scottish Cup after fielding two ineligible players in its 2–1 fourth round replay win over Hamilton Academical. Hamilton Academical took their place in the fifth round. 2008–09 proved a season of upheaval as O'Neill left on 15 December 2008 to take charge of Republic of Ireland side

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

, although the experienced Jim Duffy followed him into the hotseat on 9 January 2009 and led the club to third place and a play-off place. Once again however the play-offs did not prove rewarding as Ayr United recorded a 5–2 aggregate win over the club to leave Brechin City in the Second Division for 2009–10. Under Duffy, Brechin made the play-offs again the following season but Duffy resigned after Brechin were beaten 3–0 on aggregate by

The 2010s

For the 2010–11 season the club appointed Jim Weir as manager, departing

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

at short notice after leading them to relegation. That season, Brechin reached the quarter-finals of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,SPL side St Johnstone at Glebe Park, resulting in a replay which City eventually lost 1–0 after a valiant effort. On 14 May 2011, Brechin beat Cowdenbeath 4–2 on aggregate, in the 1st Division play-offs semi-final, to set up a final with Ayr United, in which the victors secured First Division football for season 2011–12. In the first leg at Somerset Park the match ended 1–1 however Ayr won the second leg at Glebe Park 2–1 meaning that Brechin stayed in the Second Division. The club appointed Forfar Athletic defender Darren Dods as player/manager in June 2015. Dods' first season with the club saw Brechin remain rooted to the bottom of League One for the majority of the 2015–16 season, winning just four of their first twenty-six matches. However, a late burst of form saw the club win eight of the final ten games, pushing the side clear of the relegation and play-off positions to finish the season in seventh. Dods' second season was in stark contrast to the first, with Brechin remaining in the top four for most of the season 2016–17. Finishing the season in fourth, the club then went on to win promotion to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

for the first time in 11 years, defeating Raith Rovers and Alloa Athletic in the Championship play-offs.

Back to back relegations

Brechin's return to the second tier proved short lived; having not won a league match and with four points, the club were relegated on 24 March 2018 following a 2–0 loss to Greenock Morton. Brechin ended their Championship campaign with a 1–5 loss to Queen of the South at Glebe Park. This meant the club became the first senior Scottish side in 126 years to fail to win a single game in a league season. Brechin ended the 2017–18 season with no wins, four draws, 32 defeats and no away points at all. Brechin went into the 2018–2019 season as favourites for promotion; however they ended up in yet another relegation battle which resulted in the club finishing bottom of League One and back to back relegations. The 2019–20 season again turned into a battle to stay off the foot of the table and dodge a play-off that could result in relegation to the Highland League. The club were at the bottom of League Two when the league was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and avoided the play-offs due to the league eventually being curtailed.

Out of the SPFL

On 23 May 2021, Brechin lost 3–1 on aggregate to Lowland League side Kelty Hearts in the relegation playoffs, dropping down to the Highland League, the club's first spell out of the national leagues in 67 years. In June 2021, after the departure of player/manager Michael Paton, the club appointed Andy Kirk to the role of club manager. In the club's first season in the Highland League, they secured a respectable third-place finish. The following season, they won the title after beating closest challengers, Buckie Thistle, 0–2 on the final day of the campaign. On 6 May 2023, Brechin were defeated 3–4 on penalties by Lowland League outfit The Spartans in the pyramid play-offs. They headed into the 2nd leg with a 1–0 deficit to turn around, despite winning the game 3–2 and making it 3–3 on aggregate; they fell short in the penalty shootout. The 2023-24 Season saw Brechin and Buckie Thistle the front runners for the title. The season came down to the final day for the 2nd year in a row. At the end of the campaign, Brechin were beaten to the title by rivals Buckie Thistle on goal difference, after both teams claimed 81 points for the season. Buckie Thistle were due to compete in the pyramid play-offs but were ineligible due to licensing issues.

Rivalries

Brechin share several rivalries with clubs from

, such as

, Forfar Athletic and Montrose, and contests between them are known as Angus derbies.

Recent managers

* Frank Sandeman (1970–1971) * Bobby Methven (1971–1972) *Ken Dick (1972–1974) *Charlie Dunn (1974–1978) * Ian Stewart (1978–1979) * Doug Houston (1979–1982) *

(1982–1987) * John Ritchie (1987–1993) * Ian Redford (1993–1994) * John Young (1994–2000) * Dick Campbell (2000–2005) * Ian Campbell (2005–06) * Michael O'Neill (2006–2008) * Jim Duffy (2009–2010) * Jim Weir (2010–2012) * Ray McKinnon (2012–2015) * Darren Dods (2015–2018) * Barry Smith (2018–2019) * Mark Wilson (2019–2020) * Michael Paton (2020–2021) * Andy Kirk (2021–2023) * Gavin Price (2023–2024) * Patrick Cregg (2024–2025)

Honours

* Second Division **Champions: 1982–83, 1989–90, 2004–05 **Runners-Up: 1992–93, 2002–03 **Play-off winners: 2016–17 * Third Division **Champions: 2001–02 **Runners-Up: 1995–96 * Highland League **Champions: 2022–23 *

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

**Runners-Up: 2002–03 *

**Champions: 1909–10, 1952–53, 1958–59, 1996–97, 2008–09 * Scottish League Division C **Champions: 1953–54 *

Scottish Qualifying Cup The Scottish Qualifying Cup was a football competition played in Scotland between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The Qualifying Cu ...

**Champions: 1950–51 * Keith Tournament **Champions: 1982–83

Club records

*Record victory: 12–1: vs Thornhill F.C. on 23 January 1925–26 *Biggest loss: 0–10: vs Airdrieonians,

and Albion Rovers 1937–38 *Biggest home

attendance Attendance is the concept of people, individually or as a group, appearing at a location for a previously scheduled event. Measuring attendance is a significant concern for many organizations, which can use such information to gauge the effective ...

: 8,122: vs

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on 3 February 1972–73 *Record league appearances: David Watt 459 *Record scorer: Ian (Pink) Campbell 131 *Record for goals in one season: Grady McGrath (29) 2022–23

Club staff

Board of directors

*Chairman: Kevin Mackie *Vice-chairman: Grant Johnson *Secretary: Gary Robertson *Treasurer: John Littlewood *Directors: Kevin Mackie, Grant Johnson, David Hamilton, Paul Ritchie, Peter Carmichael *Commercial Director: Darren Taylor

Coaching staff

*Manager: Ray McKinnon *Assistant Manager: Paul Watson *Goalkeeping Coach: Stuart Garden *Sports Scientist: Shaw Grant *Physio: Anna Davidson *Kitman: Willie Christie

Current squad

On loan

Notable players

This list contains the players who have made at least 100 League appearances for Brechin City between the 1940s and the 2010s (figures indicate league appearances and goals scored, whilst bold type indicates a player still at the club).Brechin City: 1954/55 – 2013/14
, Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database * Bobby Aitken (149/3) * Ray Allan (129/0) *Richard Baillie (127/0) * Kevin Bain (123/24) *Roddie Black (200/19) *Ralph Brand Jr. (174/43) *Alex Brown (120/0) *Bobby Brown (444/33) * Harry Cairney (355/3) * Dick Campbell (157/7) * Ian Campbell (282/125) *Graeme Christie (129/7) *Doug Clark (145/5) * Frank Conway (200/7) * Andy Dow (100/7) *Charlie Dunn (223/22) *Alex Edmiston (127/0) *Charlie Elvin (225/19) *Craig Farnan (102/7) *

(132/15) * Graham Gibson (100/18) *Ralph Gillespie (112/29) * Steven Hampshire (123/31) *Bisset Harrier (208/15) *Hugh Hill (118/4) *Jimmy Hodge (227/3) * Andy Jackson (208/68) *Steve Kerrigan (111/19) *John Kidd (103/2) * Charlie King (297/54) *David Lawrie (166/0) *Gordon Lees (203/41) *Ray Lorimer (107/7) * George Mackie (118/15) *James McKellar (148/15) * Duncan MacLeod (124/3) * Paul McLean (299/21) *Tom McLevy (236/0) *Billy McNeill (128/17) * Marc Millar (123/25) * Jim Morton (124/22) * Derek Neilson (244/0) * Craig Nelson (209/0) *Archie Paterson (142/1) *Ian Paterson (256/65) *Brian Reid (139/37) *Brian Reid (303/6) * John Ritchie (287/0) * Paul Ritchie (179/60) *Ronnie Robb (136/30) *Sandy Ross (120/40) * Frank Sandeman (128/12) *Doug Scott (414/18) *John Sime (164/1) *Greig Smith (103/1) *Jamie Smith (100/11) *Peter Smith (141/5) * Les Sneddon (157/43) * Stuart Sorbie (118/23) *Bobby Stewart (113/19) *Ian Stewart (116/14) *Clark Sutherland (104/7) * Chris Templeman (129/55) * George Tidy (124/0) *Willie Tocher (159/15) * Scott Walker (128/0) * Bobby Warrender (200/83) *David Watt (459/3)

Notes

References

External links

Official site
{{Scottish Football League Football clubs in Scotland Football clubs in Angus, Scotland Association football clubs established in 1906 1906 establishments in Scotland Scottish Football League teams Scottish Professional Football League teams Brechin Highland Football League teams