Kelty Hearts Football Club is a football club based in the village of

Kelty Kelty (Scottish Gaelic: Cailtidh) is a former coal mining village located in Fife, Scotland. Lying in the heart of the old mining heartlands of Fife, it is situated on the Fife/Kinross-shire boundary and has a population of around 6,000 res ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

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 ...

. Formed in 1975 and nicknamed ''the Hearts'', ''the Maroon Machine'' and ''the Jambos'', they play their home games at New Central Park. Their home colours are maroon shirts, white shorts and maroon socks, while their away colours are typically all blue. Kelty Hearts compete in

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was ...

, having been promoted from

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

as champions in 2022. The club were previously members 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 ...

, playing in the Fife League followed by the East Region Superleague. In December 2017 the club became a full SFA member, making them eligible to enter the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,pyramid system.

History

In 1975, Kelty Hearts were formed as Kelty Hearts Amateur Football Club and worked their way up from the bottom of the Kirkcaldy & District Amateur Football Association to the top in four seasons. The club turned junior after only a few years to remain competitive with other local sides. They initially played in the Fife League, one of six regions across the country, quickly becoming one of its leading sides, then became members of the East Region in 2002 when the number was reduced to three. Kelty reached 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 ...

final twice but were runners-up both times: in 1999 they lost 1–0 to

Kilwinning Rangers Kilwinning Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kilwinning, Ayrshire. Formed in 1899, the club competes in the West of Scotland Football League, and are eligible to participate in the Scottish Cup. Nicknam ...

, and in 2007 they were defeated 2–1 after extra time by Linlithgow Rose. Kelty looked to move away from being a junior side after winning the East Region Super League for the second time in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. The club applied for membership to join the SFA and in December 2017 became a full member, making them eligible to enter the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...

. After being accepted into and winning the

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. ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, Kelty were promoted to the

Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the ...

(the fifth tier of the

Scottish football league system The Scottish football league system is a series of generally connected leagues for Scottish football clubs. The Scottish system is more complicated than many other national league systems, consisting of several completely separate systems or 'gr ...

) for the 2018–19 season after a comprehensive 10–0 aggregate win over Threave Rovers in the

promotion play-off Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

. The team had been managed since October 2013 by Tam Courts but the club reluctantly accepted his resignation as manager on 11 October 2018. Former

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 ...

and

captain

Barry Ferguson Barry Ferguson (born 2 February 1978) is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently the manager of Alloa Athletic. Ferguson spent most of his playing career at Rangers, in two spells either side of a £7.5 mil ...

was announced as the club's new manager on 18 October 2018. The 2019–20 Lowland League season was ended with immediate effect on 13 April 2020 due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

pandemic with Kelty Hearts being declared champions on a points per game average based on the current standings. For the second consecutive season, Kelty were declared champions of the 2020–21 Lowland Football League on a points per game formula due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was announced by the

Lowland Football League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the ...

on 30 March 2021. Kelty were promoted to the

SPFL 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 we ...

for the first time on 23 May 2021 after beating

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...

3–1 on aggregate in the Pyramid play-off final. Continuing to make history during the 2021–22 season, Kelty, leading

at the time, played in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup for the first time. Facing

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

side and cup holders

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an ol ...

, Kelty won 1–0 after extra time at home in front of a sold-out crowd, thanks to a goal by

Kallum Higginbotham Kallum Michael Higginbotham (born 15 June 1989) is an English footballer who plays as a winger for Tranent in the Lowland League. Higginbotham started his football career as a youth player at Salford City and then in Oldham Athletic's reserv ...

. Kelty were promoted to

at the first attempt with five games of the season remaining on 26 March 2022 when they beat

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nea ...

1–0, and nearest challengers Annan Athletic lost their match.

Ground

Kelty Hearts play their home games at New Central Park, situated just off Bath Street in

. The overall capacity of New Central Park is 2,181 and consists of two covered enclosures which can hold around 1,030 spectators in total and a seated stand with a capacity of 354. There is a social club and a sports bar/hospitality lounge within the ground. The pitch at New Central Park has a 3G MX artificial surface, which was installed in 2015 along with floodlights.

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish Association football, football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Champ ...

Reserves also play their home games at New Central Park.

Supporters

The majority of supporters of Kelty Hearts come from the village of

and surrounding areas in

. Kelty are also known to attract many groundhoppers due to the club's good reputation as hosts on matchdays.

Rivalries

Kelty share a fierce local rivalry with East of Scotland team Hill of Beath Hawthorn. Both clubs were founded in the same year in 1975. The rivalry mainly stems from the close proximity of the two clubs and both being very successful junior sides within the Fife League, often exchanging league title wins from year to year and frequently meeting in the cup competitions. Kelty are currently two leagues above Hill of Beath; however, they can still face each other in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Linlithgow Rose and

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 ...

, two successful former East junior sides, who they have faced in both league and cup competitions over the years. Upon gaining promotion to the

, Kelty compete in the bigger Fife derbies, with their closest rivals being

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

, the two separated by just .

Current squad

On loan

}

Staff

Coaching staff

Managers

Season-by-season record

† Season curtailed due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

- Kelty were announced as champions for the 2019–20 and 2020–21 season. A points per game basis was used to finalise standings.

Honours

Senior

* League Two **Winners: 2021–22 * Lowland League **Winners: 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

**Winners: 2017–18 *King Cup ** Winners: 2017–18

Junior

* East Region Super League **Winners: 2014–15, 2016–17 **''Runners-up'': 2015–16 *

**''Runners-up'': 1998–99, 2006–07 * SJFA East Region Premier League **''Runners-up'': 2006–07 * SJFA Fife District League: 2002–03 * Fife Junior League winners: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1996–97, 1998–99 *Fife Junior (PSM) Cup: 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1992–93, 2007–08, 2008–09 *Fife & Tayside (Taycars) Trophy Winners 1997–98 *Cowdenbeath (Interbrew) Cup: 1981–82, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1992–93, 1999–00 *Fife Drybrough Cup: 1981–82 *Laidlaw Shield winners: 1984–85, 1986–87 *Clark Beckett Cup: 1993–94 *ACA Sports Fife League Cup: 2006–07 *Maloco Associates (Fife) Cup: 2007–08, 2008–09 *Rosslyn Trophy Winners: 1991–92, 1996–97

References

External links

Official club site

Facebook

Twitter
{{Football in Fife Football clubs in Scotland Scottish Junior Football Association clubs Football clubs in Fife Association football clubs established in 1975 1975 establishments in Scotland Kelty East of Scotland Football League teams Lowland Football League teams Scottish Professional Football League teams