Clydebank Football Club are a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in the town of

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland, local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the north-west of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. ...

. Formed in 2003, they are currently a member of the . The current Clydebank are a phoenix club formed after the previous

were bought out by

Airdrieonians F.C. Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

and moved to Airdrie. Supporters currently fund the club.

History

Background

In 1888 the first club by the name of Clydebank F.C. was formed. This team played home matches at Hamilton Park and competed in the Scottish Federation from 1891 to 1893. They folded in 1895, and were followed by another Clydebank F.C. in 1899 who soon became defunct in 1902. In 1900, Junior Football team, Duntocher F.C., based in the neighbouring village of

Duntocher Duntocher (Scottish Gaelic: ''Dùn Tòchair'' or ''Druim Tòchair'') is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It has an estimated population of 6,850. The etymology of the name of the village indicates that its name means "the fort on the ...

, moved to Clydebank and changed name to Clydebank Juniors. A third club named

Clydebank F.C. Clydebank Football Club are a Scottish association football, football club based in the town of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire. Formed in 2003, they are currently a member of the . The current Clydebank are a phoenix club formed after the pre ...

were formed in 1914. Playing their home games at

Clydeholm Clydeholm was a football and greyhound racing stadium in Clydebank, Scotland. It was the home ground of the first Clydebank F.C. to play in the Scottish Football League. History Clydebank F.C. was founded in 1914, and acquired a ten-year lease ...

they immediately joined the Scottish Football League, but by 1931 they had disbanded. In 1964 the owners of

East Stirlingshire F.C. East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins can be traced ...

, Jack and Charlie Steedman, merged the

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 resident population of 32,422 at the ...

-based team with Clydebank Juniors, naming the new entity East Stirlingshire Clydebank F.C.. ES Clydebank inherited East Stirlingshire's place in Division Two and played their home games at New Kilbowie. The merge, which was opposed by fans of both clubs, lasted only one season, with East Stirlingshire

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of corporate stock refers to an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the ...

s winning several court cases against it. East Stirlingshire reverted to its original legal status and moved back to

, parting company with the Steedman brothers. The fourth

were formed in 1965 by the Steedman Brothers. The club joined the Scottish Football League in 1966 and by 1978 had reached the Premier Division, becoming the first club to play in all Scottish League divisions after league reconstruction in 1975. Clydebank spent most of the following seasons in the First Division, but their fortunes changed around 1996 when the Steedman brothers sold their New Kilbowie ground with no new stadium to replace it. Following the sale of Kilbowie the club played "home" games at

Boghead Park Boghead Park was a football ground in the town of Dumbarton, Scotland. It was owned by Dumbarton F.C., who played there for 121 years between 1879 and 2000. By the time the ground closed in 2000, it was the oldest stadium in Scotland that had ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, then

Cappielow Park Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, w ...

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

. After the liquidation of

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

, a consortium led by Jim Ballantyne put forward a bid to fill the vacancy in the SFL and build a new club in Airdrie from scratch. This effort failed, so instead the group bought the ailing Clydebank, renamed them Airdrie United, and moved the club to Airdrie.

Founding of the phoenix club

During the 2002–03 season, the remaining Clydebank supporters were left without a team to follow as the transformation into Airdrie United happened too close to the beginning of the season to make alternative plans. In the following months, members of the UCS supporters' group met with the purpose of creating a new Clydebank F.C. Airdrie United Ltd agreed to voluntarily transfer their unwanted ownership of the name and insignia of Clydebank F.C. to UCS, and a venue for matches in the Clydebank area was secured following an agreement to ground share with

Drumchapel Amateurs Drumchapel Amateur Football Club is a football club from the village of Duntocher, near Clydebank in Scotland. Formed in 1950 in the Drumchapel area of the city of Glasgow, they are nicknamed ''"The Drum"''. The club presently competes in the C ...

at Glenhead Park,

. For the 2002–03 season, Clydebank FC was the name used by the club's supporters team in the Scottish Supporters League. The UCS group re-established Clydebank Football Club in 2003–04, entering the West Region structure 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 (soccer), football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the ...

. The club won the league and gained promotion from Central League Division Two that season playing in front of up to 1,000 fans. In 2004–05 Clydebank finished third in Division One, missing out on a second successive promotion by one point on the last day of the season. 2005–06 saw record crowds since the rebirth of the club, with up to 1,600 watching Clydebank come within

penalty kicks A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. T ...

of reaching the last four 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 ...

– beaten after two 1–1 draws against

Tayport Tayport, also known as Ferry-Port-on-Craig, is a town in Fife, Scotland. It lies on the Firth of Tay opposite Broughty Ferry, a suburb of Dundee. The two were linked by a ferry service until 1939. To the east of Tayport is the vast Tentsmuir ...

. In 2006–07 the club were promoted to Super League Division One. In June 2008, Clydebank and Drumchapel agreed to terminate their groundsharing agreement, with ''the Bankies'' moving across the town to share Holm Park with

Yoker Athletic Yoker Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football club based in Clydebank near Glasgow. Yoker is an area of Glasgow adjacent to Clydebank, however Yoker's stadium lies just outside the Glasgow boundary. Nicknamed the ''Whe Ho'', the club wer ...

. Many ground improvements have already taken place at the long time established Junior ground. 2008–09 proved to be the most successful Clydebank season since reformation in 2003. A successful run to the final of the

2008–09 Scottish Junior Cup The 2008–09 Scottish Junior Cup was a competition in Scottish Junior football. It was won by Auchinleck Talbot after they defeated Clydebank 2–1 in the final which had an attendance of 8,122. Under a 2007 rule change, the Junior Cup winners ...

saw Clydebank defeat Petershill and

Pollok Pollok (, ) is a large housing estate on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate was built either side of World War II to house families from the overcrowded inner city. Housing 30,000 at its peak, its population ha ...

, before falling at the final hurdle by two goals to one against Auchinleck Talbot. Around 3,700 Clydebank fans travelled to

Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a association football, football stadium which is the home of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock F.C. and is situated in the Scotland, Scottish town of Kilmarnoc ...

for the final, contributing to the total crowd of 8,122. In 2011, the club won promotion to the West Super League Premier Division.Dons and Bankies stand up against the franchises
FourFourTwo, 10 August 2011 In

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, they were relegated to the Super League Division One. In 2017, the club won promotion back to the Super League Premier Division, where they remained until leaving Junior football. The team were managed from their return to the Junior grade in 2003 until December 2016 by former Clydebank player Billy McGhie. Following McGhie's thirteen-year tenure, the club appointed former

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

player

Kieran McAnespie Kieran Liam McAnespie (born 11 September 1979) is a football manager and former player. Capable of playing as a full-back or winger, he appeared in the Scottish Premier League for St Johnstone and Hearts. Born in England as a teenager he repre ...

as their new manager in January 2017. Due to ground improvements taking place at Holm Park, Clydebank agreed a short-term groundshare with

Maryhill F.C. Maryhill Football Club are an association football team based in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland. The team is a member of the Scottish Junior Football Association, now playing in the West of Scotland Football League Second Division in th ...

Lochburn Park Lochburn Park is a football stadium in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the home ground Maryhill F.C. of the Scottish Junior Football Association West Region, who have played there since the late 19th century. The ground is tight ...

Maryhill Maryhill () is an area in the north-west of Glasgow in Scotland. A former independent burgh and the heart of an eponymous local authority ward, its territory is bisected by Maryhill Road, part of the A81 road which runs for a distance of ro ...

, Glasgow, for the 2018–19 season. In the 2019–20 season they returned to the newly refurbished and renamed Holm Park Community Football Academy for the foreseeable future. Holm Park pitch

In June 2020, Clydebank opted not to retain their SJFA membership after all

SJFA West Region The Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region was one of three regions of the SJFA which organised its own distinct league and cup competitions. The SJFA used to be split into six regions, but in 2002 they decided to reform into three (Ea ...

teams moved to the newly formed West of Scotland League.

Current squad

On loan

Management team

Honours

West of Scotland Football League The West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) is a senior football league based in the west of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–10 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Founded in 20 ...

Premier Division Champions: 2024–25 * West Super League First Division Runners-up: 2010–11, 2016–17 *

Charity Cup Winners: 2025 * Central League Division Two: 2003–04 * Division One Runners-up: 2006–07 *

Runners-up: 2008–09 *Central League Cup Winners: 2009–10, 2011–12 *Sectional League Cup Winners: 2013–14, 2017–18 **Runners-up: 2006–07

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Official Website
* *
The Bankies ArchiveResults and statistics for SFL entity 1966-2002
at ''Fitbastats'' {{Coord, 55.892535, -4.391876, region:GB, display=title Association football clubs established in 2003 Football clubs in Scotland Scottish Junior Football Association clubs Football in West Dunbartonshire Phoenix clubs (association football) F.C. West of Scotland Football League teams 2003 establishments in Scotland