Fort William Football Club is a senior

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 ...

team from Fort William,

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. They play in the

North Caledonian Football League The North Caledonian Football Association is a senior football association operating throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and is a recognised body of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and as such has its senior football competit ...

, having been relegated from the

Highland Football League The Scottish Highland Football League (SHFL, commonly known as the Highland League) is a senior football league based in the north of Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Scott ...

in 2022 after 37 seasons.

History

Origins and the early years

The club was founded in 1974 by then chairman Colin Neilson and started out playing mainly friendlies and cup competitions, such as the

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 Cu ...

, the

North of Scotland Cup The North of Scotland Cup is a knock-out tournament, knock-out tournament for association football, football teams in membership of the North of Scotland Football Association. The teams involved are based in the Highland, Highlands and Moray an ...

and the Inverness Cup. In the late 1970s, their most famous player to date, John McGinlay made his senior debut for Fort William at the age of 14, coming on as a substitute in a North of Scotland Cup tie with now

Scottish Professional Football League The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As well ...

side Elgin City (formerly of the Highland League). At the age of 17, he moved to Nairn County, and would later go on to play in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

with

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

and eventually represent

. He was childhood friends with another, now former, professional footballer

Duncan Shearer Duncan Nichol Shearer (born 28 August 1962) is a Scottish former footballer, currently coaching the 'Development squad' at Inverness Caledonian Thistle. During his playing career, Shearer predominantly played for Huddersfield Town, Swindon Town ...

, who also hailed from Fort William. Ever since forming in 1974, the club campaigned for entry into the Highland League, but were rejected many times. In 1983, Fort William were admitted to the North Caledonian League. The club enjoyed wins in the two-year spell in the North Caledonian League. They won both the ''Chic Allan Cup'' and ''Morris Newton / SWL Cup'' in successive seasons, while also winning the ''Football Times Cup'' and finishing as runners-up in the league in the 1983–84 season. In the 1984–85 season, the club won the division outright, making it their only league championship victory to date. In the 1985–86 season, the club was admitted to the Highland League. Fort William played their first Highland League match against their nearest league team Clachnacuddin, with striker Gordon MacIntyre scoring the goal in a 1–0 home win. In that season, they recorded their highest-ever attendance of 1,500, against 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 ...

side Stirling Albion in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, before losing 6–0 in the replay at Annfield a week later.

Recent times

The club was unable to build upon their relatively competitive start to life in the Highland League, and gradually, season-by-season, began to struggle to the point where they had finished bottom in 14 of the 18 seasons between 1996–97 and 2013–14. Their struggles included a record 17–0 away defeat in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, to now

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foot ...

side

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 ...

. Despite this, ''The Fort'' did not finish bottom that season, with the

wooden spoon A wooden spoon is a Kitchen utensil, utensil commonly used in food preparation. In addition to its culinary uses, wooden spoons also feature in folk art and culture. History The word ''spoon'' derives from an ancient word meaning a chip of woo ...

going to Nairn County. In the 2008–09 season, they accumulated only a solitary point from 28 matches, making it the Highland League's record lowest points total since its inception. During the 2008–09 season, an exciting future appeared forthcoming, when television producer and former

resident, Paul MacDonald, unveiled his vision for the football team. In conjunction with his American Entertainment company, ''PMAC Tonight'', he planned to create a

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

series based around the toiling team. The premise was to import some of the best young American talent from college campuses across the USA, in an attempt to take Fort William ''"From Worst to First"'', in what was envisaged to be the ultimate underdog story. However, after much initial media hype, the project failed to materialise. The club formerly fielded a reserve side in the

, but were forced to disband this team prior to the 2011–12 season due to a lack of playable pitches in the Fort William area – something that has always plagued the club. They were, however, able to set up an Under 19s team, which was formed with the sole purpose of participating in the

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual football in Scotland, Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,Clachnacuddin. The club's continuing presence in the Highland League was threatened in early 2018 as all six directors announced they would be stepping down at the end of the season. However, despite a poor season (picking up just five points and conceding over 180 goals), it was announced that Fort William would continue its involvement for the 2018–19 season. Five games into the 2018–19 season and still pointless, the club was deducted nine points by the Highland League after fielding an ineligible player on three occasions. They finished the season with no wins and two draws from their 34 games, ending on −7 points. This led to them being dubbed in 2019 ''"The worst football team in Britain", by many news media publishers.'' In July 2019,

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club Inverness Caledonian Thistle loaned nine players to Fort William to both prepare the youngsters for professional football and bolster the Fort William squad. On 31 July 2019, Fort William won their first competitive match in 707 days when they defeated Nairn County 5–2 in a

tie, ending a 69-game run without a victory. This win came one day after

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

broadcast ''The Fort'', a documentary on the club's winless run. After another winless month, Fort William finally recorded their first league win in 882 days on 11 September, with a 1–0 home win against Clachnacuddin. In the 2021–22 season, Fort William finished bottom of the table and were relegated to the North Caledonian League after forfeiting their

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...

match against North Superleague side Banks O' Dee F.C.

"Fort William became the first team to be relegated from the Highland League last season and were unable to play in the play-off final after being unable to raise a team." — ''Strathspey Herald'' (January 2023)

In November 2024, it was announced that the SFA had rejected Fort William's re-application for an entry level SFA Licence, leaving the club ineligible for promotion back into the Highland League and ineligible to compete in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,North Caledonian League.

Current squad

Honours

* North Caledonian League **Champions: 1984–85 *Football Times Cup **Winners: 1983–84 *Chic Allan Cup **Winners: 1983–84, 1984–85 *Morris Newton / SWL Cup **Winners: 1983–84, 1984–85

League positions

All final positions are from the Highland League.

Claggan Park

Their ground, Claggan Park, has a capacity of 1,800 – and is sometimes regarded as one of the most picturesque grounds in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, mainly due to the views of the nearby

Ben Nevis Ben Nevis ( ; , ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom, and the British Isles. Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian Mountains in the Highland region of Lochaber, close to the town of Fort William. The mount ...

mountain range. Claggan Park consists of standing areas on all sides of the pitch, with one 'rustic' stand that can seat 200 spectators. To date, the record attendance is 1,500 – recorded in a

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Stirling Albion. Often during the autumn and winter months, many home matches are postponed (usually due to a waterlogged pitch) – a consequence of the heavy rainfall the town experiences.

References

External links

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{{Highland Football League Football clubs in Scotland Former Highland Football League teams North Caledonian Football League teams Association football clubs established in 1974 1974 establishments in Scotland Football in Highland (council area) Fort William, Highland