Camelon Juniors Football Club are a Scottish football club based in

Camelon Camelon (; sco, Caimlan, gd, Camlann)
is a large set ...

, in the

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

district. The team plays in the , having moved from the

junior leagues The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (Junior League or JL) is a private, nonprofit educational women's volunteer organization aimed at improving communities and the social, cultural, and political fabric of civil society. With ...

in 2018. Despite this move, the club has decided to retain the "Juniors" part of its identity. The club have won the Scottish Junior Cup once, in 1995.

History

A previous Camelon side had existed in the Junior grade from 1906 to 1910, however the current club were formed in 1920. This Camelon Juniors side initially competed in Stirlingshire competitions but became the easternmost side to join the breakaway Scottish Intermediate League in 1927, ironically joining the West Division of the new set-up. The club resigned from the

Intermediates Intermediate 1 ( gd, Meadhan Ìre 1) is an educational qualification in Scotland on the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) Scottish Qualifications Certificate (SQC) achievement ladder similar to General Level at Standard Grades; it is the n ...

halfway through the 1929–30 season and joined the

Scottish Junior League The Scottish Junior Football League (SJL) was a Scottish football competition that, through various incarnations, existed from 1892 to 1947. It was based in the west of Scotland and largely consisted of Junior clubs that were not considered good ...

which at the time, contained fellow Stirlingshire sides

Dunipace Dunipace is a village in the west of the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The village is south of Stirling and north-west of Falkirk. The village is situated on the north bank of the River Carron and adjoins the town of Denny, to the south of ...

and

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'' ...

. Camelon remained with the SJL up to and including its solitary post-World War II season before moving in 1947 to the Edinburgh & District League. Camelon made their first appearance in the final of 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 1952, losing 1–0 to

Kilbirnie Ladeside Kilbirnie Ladeside Football Club are a Scottish football club, from Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire. Based at Valefield Park, they currently play in the West of Scotland Football League. Their main rivals are Beith Juniors. The club nickname, ''The ...

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 ...

in front of 69,959 supporters. John Hansen, father of future

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

internationalists

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

, played for the ''Mariners'' at centre-half. The club made consecutive final appearances in the 1990s, defeating Whitburn 2–0 at

Fir Park Fir Park Stadium is a football stadium situated in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell and was the temporary home of Gretna for the 2007–08 SPL season. ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lana ...

in 1995, to lift the trophy for the first time, then losing by the same scoreline to

Tayport Tayport, also known as Ferry-Port on Craig, is a town and burgh, and parish, in the county of Fife, Scotland, acting as a commuter town for Dundee. The motto of the Burgh is ''Te oportet alte ferri'' ("It is incumbent on you to carry yoursel ...

at the same venue a year later. The club provided several players to

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

over the years, including Jerry Dawson and

Archie Macaulay Archibald Renwick Macaulay (30 July 1915 – 10 June 1993) was a Scottish football player and manager. Playing career Born in Falkirk, Macaulay started his playing career in junior football and joined Rangers in 1933, where he became a regular a ...

, who both went on to become full Scotland internationals with Macaulay going on to play for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...

and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Max Murray Max Murray (7 November 1935 – 5 September 2016) was a Scottish footballer. Career Murray began his career at Queen's Park, before moving to Ibrox in 1955. His scoring debut came on 13 August 1955 in a Scottish League Cup match against Falki ...

also arrived at Ibrox from Camelon via Queen's Park, and scored Rangers first ever goal in European competition against

OGC Nice Olympique Gymnaste Club Nice Côte d'Azur (), commonly referred to as OGC Nice or simply Nice, is a French professional football club based in Nice. The club was founded in 1904 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the top tier of French football. ...

in 1956. Notable ex-Camelon players in more recent times include former

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

and

winger

Kevin McAllister Kevin McAllister (born 8 November 1962) is a Scottish former footballer. Career A winger, he started out in the Junior grade at local club Camelon and began his professional career with Falkirk, with whom he spent ten years over three spells ...

and Jack Ross. Ross was a member of Camelon's losing 1996 Scottish Junior Cup final side and was also capped for the Scotland Junior international team. After winning the Lothian District League Division One in 2005–06, the club played in the top tier of the East Region for twelve seasons until their move to the senior pyramid. Their best finish in the East Superleague was 2nd in 2008–09, losing to

Bonnyrigg Rose Bonnyrigg Rose Football Club is a Scottish football club from the town of Bonnyrigg, Midlothian. Formed in 1881 and nicknamed ''the Rose'', the team plays in , having been promoted after winning the Lowland Football League in 2021–22. Thei ...

on goal difference. Camelon was one of many junior clubs that moved to the senior

East of Scotland Football League The East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) is a senior football league based in the east and south-east of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–9 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. ...

during 2018. The team had been managed since October 2016 by former

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

striker, Gordon Herd. The club parted with Herd and his coaching staff on 11 March 2021.

Colours

Camelon's traditional home kit is all red, with the team currently possessing an away kit of blue tops with blue shorts.

Current squad

As of 28 May 2021

Coaching Staff

Honours

*Winners: 1994–95 *''Runners-up'': 1951–52, 1995–96

Other Honours

* South & East of Scotland Cup-Winners' Shield winners: 2018–19 * Alex Jack Cup winners: 2018–19 * East Region Division One winners: 1979–80, 1993–94, 1994–95 * Fife & Lothians (Heineken) Cup winners: 1970–71, 2005–06, 2014–15 * Lothian District League Division One winners: 2003–04, 2005–06 * East of Scotland Junior Cup winners: 1993–94, 2007–08 * East Junior League Cup winners: 1993–94 * Brown Cup winners: 1976–77 * St Michaels Cup winners: 2004–05

References

{{SJFA East Region Football clubs in Scotland Scottish Junior Football Association clubs Football in Falkirk (council area) Association football clubs established in 1920 1920 establishments in Scotland East of Scotland Football League teams