Annan Athletic Football Club is a Scottish

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in the town of

Annan, Dumfries and Galloway Annan ( ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. Historically part of Dumfriesshire, its public buildings include Annan Academy, of which the writer Thomas Carlyle was a pupil, and a Georgian build ...

. The club was founded in 1942 and competes in as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club competed in Scottish junior football and English regional leagues before becoming a member of the Scottish Football Association in 1978 which made the club eligible to compete in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,South of Scotland League twice and the East of Scotland League four times before successfully applying to join the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...

(SFL) in 2008.History of Annan Athletic FC 1942–2007
, Annan Athletic F.C.. 10 October 2007. Retrieved 10 May 2013. Annan Athletic's best finish in the SPFL is ninth in League One in 2024–25 whilst its best result in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2021–22. The club plays its home games at Galabank in the north of Annan.

History

Founded in December 1942 as Annan Air Training Corps, the club changed their name to Annan Athletic the following April. They entered the Dumfries and District Youth League, but this competition lasted only throughout the war years, and in 1945 they joined the Dumfries and District Junior League instead. They had a fairly successful time as a junior club, reaching the fifth round of the

Scottish Junior Cup The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA). The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA on the 2nd October 1886 and, as of the 2023–24 ed ...

on one occasion (losing 2–1 to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

side Jeanfield Swifts). In 1950–51 the Dumfries and District Junior League had to be wound up due to lack of officials, and the following season (1951–52) the club had to go into abeyance as the Junior Association would not release them from their membership. For the following season (1952–1953) Annan Athletic joined the Carlisle and District League and the Cumberland Football Association. This proved an astute move when Annan Athletic won every competition they entered bar one in their first season in membership. Annan remained members of the Carlisle and District League until they moved back to Scottish football in the 1977–78 season when they joined the South of Scotland Football League. This switch, along with some upgrade work to their Galabank ground also allowed the club to compete in the qualifying stages of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,East of Scotland Football League in season 1987–88, although they maintained their commitment to the South League by running a reserve side. They won promotion in their first season in the East League, and two years later won the Premier Division. They became one of the league's top sides and qualified for the Scottish Cup's early rounds on various occasions.

Scottish Football League

Annan applied to join the

in 2000, when two new clubs were admitted, but lost out to

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

and Elgin City. Following the demise of local rivals Gretna in 2008, Annan applied along with four other clubs to replace them in the Third Division. They were the successful candidate, being chosen due to the standard of their facilities, ahead of Cove Rangers,

Spartans Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the valley of Evrotas river in Laconia, in southeastern P ...

, Preston Athletic and Edinburgh City. Their first league match as a professional team ended in a 4–1 win over Cowdenbeath in the 2008–09 season. They finished 7th that season and 8th in the next season (however, they reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Challenge Cup). They were challenging for promotion to the Second Division in the 2010–11 season, their 3rd season in Scottish senior football. They finished 4th and qualified for the play-off final after a win over Alloa Athletic in play-off semi-finals (2–1, 0–0). They played Albion Rovers in the two-legged final, however, they lost the tie 4–3 on aggregate (1–3, 2–1), meaning that they missed out on promotion to the Second Division. After the first quarter of the 2011–12 season, Annan sat top of the league, three points clear. Also, for the second time since becoming SFL members in 2008, they reached the semi-finals of the 2011–12 Scottish Challenge Cup. Later as the season progressed Annan dropped points and fell into mid table; they would then finish the season in 6th place, 8 points off the play-off places and 28 points off first position. A 3–0 defeat to First Division Falkirk ended their hopes of a first Challenge Cup Final. During the 2012–13 season, Annan secured a 0–0 draw at home to Rangers on 15 September 2012, in what was the first-ever league meeting between the two sides. In the same season, on 9 March, Annan beat Rangers 2–1 at Ibrox, the first win for the club after the appointment of Jim Chapman as manager in January. A second-place finish in the newly named SPFL League Two the following season included the clubs record points tally and saw them face Stirling Albion in the play-offs. After losing the first leg 3–1 the return leg at Galabank was an 8-goal thriller, Annan eventually losing 8–4 on aggregate. In 2014–15 Annan produced an upset with a 3–2 win over Championship side Livingston in the Scottish Cup. 2015–2016 saw Annan miss out on the play-offs on goal difference as a final day 1–0 win over Queens Park proved not enough, the visitors pipping them to the spot by one goal. The season highlight once again came in the Scottish Cup after the first in what was to become a series of cup wins over Premiership side Hamilton Accies. Forfar Athletic defeated Annan 6–4 on aggregate the following season in the play-offs, which signalled the end of Jim Chapmans reign. Irishman Peter Murphy became only the third manager of Annan Athletic whilst an SPFL club, his first managerial role. On 19 May 2023, they defeated Clyde 2–1 to earn a 5–2 aggregate play-off victory and seal promotion to Scottish League One, the club's first promotion to the third tier.

Rivalries

Annan Athletic's local derby rivals are Queen of the South. It is often a familiar battle as many players played for both clubs; there are a lot of connections between the clubs and even people who support both teams. Two teams, Annan F.C. and Queen of the South Wanderers, played each other in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...

is less local but has become an increasingly more competitive derby with many red cards seen in recent matches as the sides frequently meet in Scotland's fourth tier. Despite both clubs being in the same county, the distance between the grounds is 88 miles. Due to both being in the same division for many seasons, games against Clyde have become a day to look forward to for Annan fans as the clubs built up a rivalry which was only intensified when Annan manager Jim Chapman left to take charge of the Bully Wee and a large portion of players followed him. Berwick Rangers are a cross-border rival of Annan. Gretna F.C. 2008 are more of a friendly opponent of the Galabankies with the Black and Whites frequently inviting the Black and Golds to their annual Raydale Park Cup competition. Annan have also shown kindness by welcoming the phoenix club to Galabank when their pitch was getting resurfaced. Annan took the

place of the now defunct Gretna in 2008.

Stadium

Annan played at Mafeking Park from 1946 to 1953, when they moved to their present ground at Galabank. The ground has a capacity of 2,504, including 500 seats.

Current squad

Coaching staff

*Manager: Willie Gibson *Assistant manager: Steven Bell *First team coach: Andy Aitken *Goalkeeping coach: Greg Fleming *Performance coach: Peter Watson *Performance analyst: Kieran Thomson *Physio: Jack Messenger *Sports scientists: Callum Graham and David Hasting *Kit coordinator: Karen Robertson Source:

Managers

Annan Athletic appointed their first manager in 1975; previously, the team was selected by the club's management committee. * Sam Wallace (1975–1993) * Stuart Rome (1993–1994) * Derek Frye (1994–1997) * Kevin Hetherington (1997–1998) * Tony Chilton (1998) * Davie Irons (1998–2002) * Billy Sim (2002–2003) * Harry Cairney (2003–2004) * Sandy Ross (2004–2005) * Kenny Brown (2005–2006) * Harry Cairney (2006–2012) * Jim Chapman (2013–2017) * Peter Murphy (2017–2024) * Willie Gibson (2024–present)

Honours

*Carlisle and District League **Winners: 1952–53 * Cumberland Senior Cup **Winners (3): 1952–53, 1968–69, 1971–72 **''Runners up'': 1954–55 * East of Scotland Football League **Winners (4): 1989–90, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2006–07 **''Runners up (3)'': 1992–93, 2002–03, 2004–05 * East of Scotland Football League First Division **Winners: 1987–88 * East of Scotland League Cup **Winners: 1999–00 **''Runners up'': 2006–07 * South of Scotland League **Winners (2): 1983–84, 1986–87 **''Runners up (2)'': 1982–83, 1984–85 * South of Scotland League Cup **Winners (4): 1984–85, 1992–93, 2004–05, 2007–08 * SFA South Region Challenge Cup **Winners: 2007–08 * Scottish Qualifying Cup South **Winners: 2006–07

References

External links

* * {{Scottish Football League Association football clubs established in 1942 Football clubs in Scotland Scottish Junior Football Association clubs Football clubs in Dumfries and Galloway 1942 establishments in Scotland Scottish Football League teams East of Scotland Football League teams South of Scotland Football League teams Scottish Professional Football League teams Annan, Dumfries and Galloway Military football clubs in Scotland Expatriated football clubs