Banks o' Dee Football Club is a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club from the city of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

that plays in the Scottish

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system The Scottish football league syst ...

. Their home ground is Spain Park, by the banks of the River Dee. In 2009, Banks o' Dee were among four clubs to apply for membership of the

. Their application was unsuccessful. Notwithstanding their junior status, in 2014 the club became a full member of the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...

and therefore competes in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Fort William 10–0 in the first round. They went out in the second round after a 5–1 defeat by

Inverurie Loco Works Inverurie Loco Works Football Club are a senior semi-professional football club from Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, who currently play in the Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL). The club was founded in 1903 by workmen from the Great ...

on 27 October 2008. Banks o' Dee were in the final of the Aberdeenshire Shield after demolishing Highland League side Huntly 6–1 at Spain Park in the semi-final on 28 October 2008. This was the first time that Banks o' Dee have ever made it to a Highland football league final. Previous to the semi-final Banks o' Dee beat Buckie Thistle 3–1 at Spain Park. They lost 2–0 in the final against

Cove Rangers Cove Rangers Football Club is a senior Scottish football club currently playing in the Scottish Championship. They are based in the Cove Bay area of Aberdeen and play their football at Balmoral Stadium, having left their former home at Allan ...

. In the first round, Banks o' Dee were drawn away to Highland League club

Rothes Rothes (; gd, Ràthais) is a town in Moray, Scotland, on the banks of the River Spey, south of Elgin. The town had a population of 1,252 at the 2011 Census. A settlement has been here since AD 600. History and castle At the south end of the ...

, winning 5–1 on 26 September 2009. In the second round, the club were defeated 3–0 at home by Montrose of the

Scottish Football League Third Division The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013. History The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) fro ...

. Having previously qualified for the Scottish Cup by virtue of winning the North Region Superleague, in 2014 Banks o' Dee became a full licensed member of the Scottish Football Association and therefore automatically qualified for the competition. They were once again drawn away to Rothes in the first round, and won 4–0. Their second round fixture was away to reigning Highland League champions

Brora Rangers Brora Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club from the village of Brora, Sutherland, in the Highland council area of Scotland. They play in the Highland Football League, of which they have been champions four times, having won their ...

, where they were knocked out by a score of 5–0. On 12 April 2017 the BBC reported that a football belonging to the under-19 team had washed ashore on a small island north of

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

, Norway over 1,000 miles away. In 2019 the club was invited to apply for the Highland Football League, to replace

who had been promoted to

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

, but declined and remained in the SJFA North Superleague. In 2022 the club won promotion to the

. They were due to play Fort William, who had finished bottom of the Highland Football League, in a two-leg play-off. However the day before the scheduled first leg, Fort William withdrew due to player eligibility rules. As a result, Banks o' Dee were promoted and Fort William were relegated.

Honours

Banks o' Dee's greatest achievement as a

Junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

club was winning the

Scottish Junior Cup The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2022–23 edition, 108 teams compete ...

in 1957, defeating

Kilsyth Rangers Kilsyth Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire. Nicknamed ''The Wee Gers'', they were formed in 1913 and play at Duncansfield Park, which used to be one of the bigger ''non-league'' f ...

1–0 in the final at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in front of 30,800 spectators. *

Highland League Cup The Highland League Cup is a knock-out tournament contested since 1946 by football clubs in the Highland Football League. Brora Rangers are the current holders, while Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given ...

: 2022–23 *

Aberdeenshire Cup The Aberdeenshire Cup is a Scottish football tournament for all senior clubs affiliated to the Aberdeenshire and District Football Association (ADFA), being clubs from the historic counties of Aberdeenshire and Banffshire. The Aberdeenshire C ...

: 2021–22 *

Aberdeenshire Shield The Aberdeenshire Shield, like the Aberdeenshire Cup, is a competition for Aberdeenshire Football clubs. The competition was first held in 1990–91 Highland Football League season and the winners were Cove Rangers. The Aberdeenshire Shiel ...

: 2021–22 *

Aberdeenshire League The Aberdeenshire and District League, usually known as the Aberdeenshire League, is a football tournament for clubs in membership of the Aberdeenshire and District Football Association. The clubs are drawn from the historic counties of Aberde ...

: 2013–14, 2017–18 *

: 1956–57 * SJFA North Superleague: 2007–08, 2008–09, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2021–22 * North East Premier Division: 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1986–87 * North East Division One: 1995–96, 1998–99 *Aberdeen & District Junior League: 1920–21, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1952–53, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1967–68 *North Regional Cup: 1969–70, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85, 2010–11, 2017–18, 2018–19 *North Region League Cup: 2013–14, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2021–22 *Archibald Cup: 1922–23, 1931–32, 1934–35, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1964–65, 1965–66, 1970–71, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1986–87 *McLeman Cup: 1924–25, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1950–51, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1960–61, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1986–87, 1990–91, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2021–22 *Duthie Cup: 1914–15, 1920–21, 1923–24, 1946–47, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1992–93, 1995–96 *North East League Cup: 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1982–83, 1983–84 *Morrison Trophy: 1985–86 *North Drybrough Cup: 1969–70, 1970–71, 1973–74, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85 *Aberdeen & District Junior League Cup: 1923–24, 1924–25, 1932–33, 1936–37, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1967–68 *Aberdeen County Trophy: 1914–15, 1920–21, 1927–28, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1936–37, 1949–50, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1967–68 *Jimmy Gibb Memorial Trophy: 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86 *Martin & Johnson Trophy: 1973–74, 1976–77

Stadium development

The 2011–12 season marked the start of a new Outdoor Fifa standard 3G artificial football pitch at Spain Park which was the first of its kind in Aberdeen. The new pitch was part funded by Sport Scotland and increases the dimensions of the pitch in order to host more youth international matches. Currently Banks o' Dee have an affiliation with local juvenile club Albion BC who will use Spain Park as a training facility and for home matches.

References

External links

Banks o' Dee FC Official Site
{{coord, 57.128953, -2.095281, region:GB, display=title Football clubs in Scotland Highland Football League teams Scottish Junior Football Association clubs Football clubs in Aberdeen Association football clubs established in 1902 1902 establishments in Scotland Banks O' Dee F.C.