Annbank Football Club was a football club that existed from 1879 to 1920, from the village of
Annbank
Annbank is a village in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is around five miles east of Ayr. Originally a mining settlement, it once had a rail link to Ayr via the Auchincruive Waggonway.
The village has a village hall, bakery, shop, bowling green, ...
,
Ayrshire
Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine, North Ayrshi ...
, Scotland.
History
The club was founded in 1879. In 1880, the club played its first competitive matches in the
Ayrshire Cup
The Ayrshire Cup was an annual association football regional competition in Scotland. The cup competition was a knockout tournament between football clubs in the historic county of Ayrshire. The Ayrshire Cup was first held in 1877–78, with t ...
, going all the way to the final, losing to Lugar Boswell.
The club entered the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1881-82. The club often punched its weight in the national competition, even reaching the quarter-finals on two occasions. The first quarter-final appearance came in 1884-85, and it included a win over Kilmarnock F.C. before a defeat at Hibernian.
Annbank's reputation was as a tough side and its players were often miners. In 1884, one of the Annbank players, goalkeeper Daniel Fitzsimmons, was arrested for assaulting an
Ayr F.C.
Ayr Football Club was a Scottish Football League club from Ayr, Scotland. They were formed in 1879 by a merger of the Ayr Thistle and Ayr Academicals football clubs. Their initial home ground was Springvale Park, which they left in 1884 to pl ...
player during an Ayrshire Cup tie, and one of the club's forwards, Walter Dunlop, was seriously injured in a mining explosion which killed four of his co-workers. By the late 1880s, the club was one of the strongest in Ayrshire, winning the Ayrshire Cup for three years in four, and being good enough to beat the
Scottish League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a 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 km sout ...
aspirants Thistle F.C. 4–2 away from home in a friendly, despite walking off the field temporarily in protest at a refereeing decision.
The club was also a regular invitee to the Ayr Charity Cup, an invitation for the leading four clubs in Ayrshire, losing the final in 1886 to Ayr, but won the final at
Somerset Park
Somerset Park is a football stadium located in Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It has been the home of Ayr United since they were founded in 1910. Prior to that, it was the home ground of Ayr, who merged with Ayr Parkhouse to form Ayr United. ...
against the same club in 1890, in front of a crowd of 3,000, winning 5–2.
Its reputation as a hard side to play survived into the early 1890s, the club's tactics in its second and last Scottish Cup quarter-final against
Rangers F.C.
Rangers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the Govan district of Glasgow which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Although not its official name, it is often referred to as Glasgow Rangers outside Scotland. The fo ...
in 1891-92 being described as kick and rush. Nevertheless, it was also a club with a reputation for a large female following.
Local leagues
In 1891, the club was a founder member of the
Ayrshire Football League
Ayrshire Football League is a defunct soccer league in Scotland.
Formed in 1891 by Annbank, Ayr Parkhouse, Beith, Galston, Irvine, Kilwinning Monkcastle, Mauchline, Newmilns, Saltcoats Victoria and Stevenston Thistle F.C.
By 1893 the Ayrshire ...
, winning the competition in its first two seasons. The second season had seen the league grow to 16 clubs, which both increased travel costs and reduced overall crowds, as some of the smaller clubs in the competition lacked the support of the more established clubs. In 1893, seven of them, including Annbank, therefore withdrew to form the
Ayrshire Football Combination
The Ayrshire Football Combination was formed in 1893 as a breakaway from the Ayrshire Football League.
. Annbank again was the first champion, but after a mid-table finish in 1894-95 it withdrew. Kilmarnock joining the
Scottish League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a 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 km sout ...
in 1894–95, followed by Ayr in 1896–97, seem to have been disastrous for the club, simultaneously removing opponents that could generate revenue and diverting supporters to the higher standard League game.
Further, the introduction of the qualifying rounds for the Scottish Cup in 1895 was also detrimental to the club; Annbank won the first-ever
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 Cup ...
Abercorn F.C.
Abercorn Football Club was a football club based in Paisley, Scotland. The club were members of the Scottish Football League from 1890 until 1915 and folded in 1920. Abercorn were founder members of the Scottish Football League, but eventuall ...
; the Shire showed the greater skill, but the Miners, with the veteran "White" Gourlay marshalling the defence, gained something of a smash and grab victory. However the introduction of the qualifying rounds reduced the opportunities for the club to play national opposition. The same season the club reached the Ayrshire Cup final against Kilmarnock, but the clubs refused to play at the scheduled ground (Warner Park in
Stevenston
Stevenston ( sco, Steenstoun, gd, Baile Steaphain) is a town and parish in North Ayrshire, Scotland. Along with Ardrossan and Saltcoats it is one of the " Three Towns", all of similar size, on the Firth of Clyde coast; the easternmost parts ...
). The Ayrshire FA refused to award the trophy or medals, but Annbank and Kilmarnock played an unofficial final anyway, which Annbank won in a replay at
Rugby Park
Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium situated in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock. It was first used in 1899 and is the home of Kilmarnock F.C. Rugby Park has also been used for c ...
.
After leaving the Ayrshire Combination, the club struggled to find an alternative league in which to play. In 1900–01, the club played in the North Ayrshire League, finishing second behind
Beith F.C.
Beith Football Club were a football club based at Bellsdale Park in Beith, Scotland. The club were members of the Scottish Football League from 1923 to 1926.
History
The club was initially formed in 1875 and were founder members of the Ayrshir ...
, but the competition only had 7 clubs, and the club withdrew from the competition the next season. In 1903-04 the club was one of the six founder members of the Ayrshire & Renfrewshire League, finishing third, but Annbank did not play in the league's second and final season.
The club's final attempt to play in a senior league was a disaster. In 1909, the club joined the Scottish Football Combination, but only played two matches - a win over a Queen's Park reserve side and a defeat at the
5th King's Own Scottish Borderers F.C.
The 5th King's Own Scottish Borderers Football Club was a football team based in Dumfries, Scotland.
History
The club's origin is from volunteer regiments (i.e. part-time soldiers) being raised in response to increasing unrest withi ...
- before withdrawing.
Final years
The club continued to enter the Scottish Cup until 1919-20, although it last reached the proper rounds in 1910-11, losing to
Motherwell F.C.
Motherwell Football Club is a Scottish professional association football, football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Motherwell have not dropped out of the top-flight of Scottish football sinc ...
in the first round. The club's defeat to
Girvan F.C.
Girvan Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Girvan, South Ayrshire. Nicknamed ''the Seasiders'', they were formed in 1947 and play at Hamilton Park. They currently compete in .
Prior to the 2004–05 season, Girvan ...
in the first qualifying round in 1919 appears to have been the club's final match.
Colours
The club's colours were as follows:
*1879-86: white shirt with blue sash, white shorts
*1886-89: red & white stripes
*1889-90: cardinal & royal blue
*1890-1920: white shirts with navy shorts
The club had adopted white shirts in time for the Ayr Charity Cup final in 1890.
Scottish Cup
*Best run: last 8, 1884–85 and 1891–92
Scottish Qualifying Cup
*Winners: 1895–96
Ayrshire Cup
*Winners: 1889–90, 1891–92, 1892–93
*Unofficial winners: 1894–95
*Runners-up: 1879–80, 1902–03
Ayr Charity Cup
*Winners: 1889-90
*Runners-up: 1885-86
Ayrshire Football League
*Winners: 1891–92. 1892–93
Ayrshire Football Combination
*Winners: 1893-94