Stevenston United Football Club was a football club from the town of
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 ...
,
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. The club only lasted for a decade, but once reached the quarter-finals of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Stevenston Thistle F.C. in 1903. Before the start of the 1913–14 season, a number of enthusiasts in the town decided that, given the success of Ardeer Thistle F.C. in the Junior ranks, the town could once more host a senior side, and formed a new club - Stevenston United - and recruited a number of players with
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 ...
experience. The new club joined the Scottish Reserve League for the season; the league featured 10 reserve teams, plus the first teams of Renton, Galston, and
Dumbarton Harp
Dumbarton Harp Football Club was a football club based in the town of Dumbarton in the west of Scotland. They were formed in 1894 by Irish Catholic immigrants to the area in a similar way to the formation of Celtic in Glasgow and Hibernian ...
. The club also entered the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 ...
.
1913–14 Scottish Cup run
The club's first Scottish Cup tie (the first round of the Qualifying Cup) was at home to
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 ...
side Ayr United, and Stevenston pulled off a major shock by winning 1–0, in front of 4,000 at Warner Park; a win that was "quite deserved", the visitors never getting to grips with the smaller ground. A win over Galston and a bye meant the club was guaranteed a place in the first round of the Cup proper, although the club then lost to
Albion Rovers
Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scot ...
in the fourth round of the Qualifying Cup.
In the competition itself, the club won 4–0 at Kirkcaldy United, the "clever and speedy" Ayrshire side's passing game more suited to the heavy conditions than the home side's attempts to dribble through the middle; two goals came from Alex McCurdie, loaned by
Kilmarnock F.C.
Kilmarnock Football Club, commonly known as Killie, is a Scottish professional Association football, football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire. The team is currently managed by Derek McInnes, who was appointed in January 2022 ...
for the competition.
The club's next tie, against Peebles Rovers F.C., was overshadowed by an explosion at the Nobel Explosives Company's works in the town on 20 February, the day before the tie was to take place, in which 8 people were killed. Seven members of the United team were employed at the factory; none was injured, but the club asked the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility fo ...
for a postponement. The SFA "reluctantly" said that it was too late to do so, and the match had to proceed. The tie therefore went ahead, with a flag at half-mast and players wearing black armbands, and United won through 3–2, having largely dominated the match but failing to take a number of chances.
The win put United into the quarter-finals, and the club was drawn to play
Third Lanark
Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scotti ...
at
Cathkin Park
Cathkin Park is a municipal park in Glasgow, Scotland. The park is maintained by the city's parks department, and it is a public place where football is still played. The park contains the site of the second Hampden Park, previously home to the ...
. The players prepared by undertaking extra work, so that they would be "hard as nails" for the match. The club was not considered to have much of a chance - "they are fated to be snuffed out without receiving the pecuniary reward they so richly deserve...unless the heavens should fall, or some scarcely less untoward catastrophe take place, Third Lanark will surely qualify for the semi-final". However United came away with a 0–0 draw and was considered unlucky not to win.
Third Lanark offered United £300 to switch the replay to Cathkin Park, and later offered to admit all Stevenston spectators for free should it be switched. United refused, but the tie was postponed after Third Lanark's goalkeeper
Jimmy Brownlie
James Brownlie (15 May 1885 – 29 December 1973) was a Scottish footballer and manager, who played as a goalkeeper.
Career
Brownlie was born in Blantyre, Lanarkshire, and was an outstanding personality in Scottish football over many years, a ...
was called up to play for Scotland against Ireland the next Saturday. When the replay finally took place, United took the lead on the hour, Farrell glancing home a corner, and Hamilton struck a post; but the shock was averted when Thirds equalized with almost the last kick of the game.
The club finally went out in a second replay, at Cathkin Park, with the only goal of the game coming at the start of the second period of extra-time. The consolation for the club was that the gate share had earned the club over £400.
Before World War 1
The club's first season in the Reserve League was fairly successful, finishing 3rd in the final table, but a late defeat to St Mirren's reserve side cost the club the title. This may have been playing on the club's mind in the Ayrshire Cup final against Galston, as the club lost 3–2, having played well below its normal standard.
The club could not repeat its national cup heroics in 1914–15; despite reaching the quarter-finals, the club did not earn an exemption from the Qualifying Tournament, and the club lost in the third qualifying round to Dykehead. However, the start of World War 1 meant the main competition did not take place.
The Ayrshire Cup nevertheless did play to a finish, and United beat Kilmarnock in the final, after a replay at Galston's Riverside Park. The club again finished 3rd in the Reserve League. However, the lack of a national Cup run had a deleterious effect on the club's finances; the club lost £100 7s 1d over the season, with income by a mammoth £911 to £364 10s 6d.
West of Scotland League
In 1915–16, the Scottish League suspended the second division, in order to save on travelling costs. Many of its members joined regional leagues instead, those in the west founding the West of Scotland League, and United was invited to join. The club more than held its own, finishing 4th in a 12 team league in 1915–16, and being runners-up to
Clydebank
Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) 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 and Milton beyond) to the west, and the Yoker and Drumchapel areas ...
in 1916–17. The club won every home match in the latter season, but a 4–0 defeat to Dumbarton Harp in the club's last match of the season left it 1 point short of the title. This had a consequential effect. For 1917–18, the Scottish League suspended three clubs for geographical reasons, and invited Clydebank, as West of Scotland champions, to make up the numbers; Stevenston was "first reserve" in case the Bankies turned the invitation down.
The club remained a member of the West of Scotland League, and won the title in 1919–20. The club also won - technically retaining, as it had not been played during the war - the Ayrshire Cup, beating Galston 1–0 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 ...
. Following such a season, United may have been considered a candidate to join the Scottish League, but the League had decided to abandon the Second Division, so the club missed out again.
This ultimately finished the club. The cost of running a side without a Scottish League place (and the guarantees for away matches, plus generally higher attendances) was proving crippling. At the close of the 1920–21 season, the club had a deficit of £130. Although a committee was formed to try to shore up the situation, and the club had a successful 1921–22 season, finishing 4th in the West of Scotland League, reaching the Ayrshire Cup final, and the first round proper of the Scottish Cup, there was no longer enough money available to keep the club going. The club did enter the Scottish Cup for 1922–23, in the hope of an attractive tie, but when drawn away at
Hurlford
Hurlford (Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile Àtha Cliath'') is a village in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It has a population of 4,968. Hurlford's former names include Whirlford and Hurdleford. The village was named Whirlford as a result of a ford crossing ...
, the club scratched. Ironically, on the demise of the West of Scotland League after the 1922–23 season, every eligible member club (except Hurlford, who also went bust at the season's end) was elected to the League.
The club has no relation to the Junior side New Stevenson United, which existed in the early 1920s.
Colours
The club played in blue shirts, white shorts, and black socks.
Grounds
The club played at Warner Park, whose irregular pitch was described as 'rig and fur'. The spectator area was expanded, with fresh banking, to accommodate 12,000 spectators, for the Cup quarter-final with Third Lanark.
Notable players
*
Carrick Hamilton
Carrick Hamilton was a Scottish amateur football outside left who played in the Scottish League for Queen's Park and Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scot ...
, scored for the club in its 1913–14 Cup run
*Bobby Brown, half-back, loaned from
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 ...
for the 1913–14 season and occasionally afterwards
*David Thomson, former
Port Glasgow Athletic
Port-Glasgow Athletic was a football club based in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The club was formed in 1878 and originally named Broadfield before changing their name in 1881. They played in the Scottish Football League between 1893 and 1911, and were ...