Sunnybank Football Club are a Scottish football club, based in 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 ...

. Members of the

Scottish Junior Football Association The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the level of football ...

, they currently play in the North First Division. In respect of honours won, the club are historically regarded as one of the "big two" of North Region Junior football along with city rivals Banks O' Dee, sharing the distinction of being the only North clubs to lift Junior football's national prize, 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 compet ...

. The club are based at Heathryfold Park in the North-West suburbs of

and their colours are black and white.

History

Sunnybank FP were founded in 1936 and played in youth football until the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In 1946 the club merged with another local side Belmont, founded in 1944, and joined the Aberdeen & District Junior Football League as Sunnybank F.C.. The club won their first cup competitions in 1947-48, first league championship in 1951–52 and in 1953–54 won the

, defeating

Lochee Harp Lochee Harp Football Club are a Scottish Junior football club historically based in the Lochee area of the city of Dundee. Formed in 1904 and nicknamed ''"the Harp"'', they play at Lochee Community Sports Hub. The team moved into this new gro ...

in front of 22,600 fans at Hampden Park,

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 ...

, the first club from what would become the North Region to do so. Since 1946 the club had played at Linksfield Stadium, near the centre of

but in 1957 purchased the site of Heathryfold Park from Lord Hay of Seaton, a local landowner, for the sum of £360. Although at that time on the city outskirts, the ground was soon surrounded by new housing schemes such as

Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connec ...

. This enabled the club to operate a thriving social club although in the early 21st century, this has fallen on hard times. As a result of winning the 2009–10 SJFA North Superleague, the club earned entry to the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Gala Fairydean of the East of Scotland Football League. This tie was played on 25 September 2010 which they won. In the next round, they were drawn away to Albion Rovers of the

Scottish 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 ...

, and caused a shock by winning 1–0. Their reward in the third round was a match away to

Scottish Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...

side

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

. However, their run in the Scottish Cup was to come to an end as they were beaten 5–0. Owing to the resignation of their management team and a lack of signed players, the club were on the verge of taking a year out in July 2011 with the intention of returning for the start of the 2012–13 season, however they continued after a deal was agreed to use the youth players of local rivals Banks O' Dee. Just two seasons after winning the league, however, they were relegated to the North Division One after achieving just six points out of 26 games. Their only win was a 3–1 victory at Lewis United. In November 2016 the club appointed Gordon Milne as goalkeeping coach

Honours

* Winners: 1953–54

Other honours

*North & Tayside Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10 * Scottish Junior Football North Super League, North Region Superleague winners: 2002–03, 2009–10 * North East Premier Division winners: 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1982–83, 1996–97, 1998–99 *Aberdeen & District Junior League winners: 1951–52, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1965–66, 1966–67 *North Premier Division (ATR Group) Cup: 2006–07 *North (Norsco) Regional Cup: 1993–94, 1996–97, 2001–02 *North Region Grill League Cup: 2001–02, 2007–08, 2009–10 *Archibald Cup: 1947–48, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1963–64, 1969–70, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1979–80, 1983–84, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1997–98 *McLeman Cup: 1948–49, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1961–62, 1963–64, 1966–67, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1999-00 *Duthie (Acorn Heating) Cup: 1984–85, 1989–90, 1994–95, 1998–99 *North East League Cup: 1975–76, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1999-00, 2000–01 *Morrison Trophy: 1971–72, 1980–81 2013-2014 *North Drybrough Cup: 1975–76, 1979–80, 1982–83 *Aberdeen & District Junior League Cup: 1948–49, 1949–50, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1966–67 *Aberdeen Cable TV Cup: 1991–92, 1992–93 *Aberdeen County Trophy: 1947–48, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1958–59 *Jimmy Gibb Memorial Trophy: 1982–83, 1996–97 *Martin & Johnson Trophy: 1975–76

References

Sources

Club Website

Scottish Football Historical Archive
{{Football in Aberdeen, state=collapsed Football clubs in Aberdeen Football clubs in Scotland Scottish Junior Football Association clubs Association football clubs established in 1946 1946 establishments in Scotland