FC Arbroath

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FC Arbroath
Arbroath.svg
Basic data
Surname Arbroath Football Club
Seat Arbroath , Scotland
founding 1878
Website arbroathfc.co.uk
First soccer team
Venue Gayfield Park
Places 4.153
league Scottish Championship
2019/20 5th place
home
Away

The FC Arbroath (officially: Arbroath Football Club ) is a Scottish football club from Arbroath .

The club, founded in July 1878 during a meeting in the "George Hotel", plays in the 2016/17 season in Scottish League Two , the fourth-highest division in Scottish football, and plays its home games in Gayfield Park (or "Gayfield" for short). The team mostly competes in chestnut-colored jerseys. The nickname Red Lichties has its origin in the red lights that are used to guide fishing boats from the North Sea back to the local port.

history

Foundation and the first years

After a first official competitive game against "Our Boys of Dundee" in September 1878 - which the club won 3-0 - FC Arbroath acquired its future home ground in Gayfield Park in 1880, which at that time was still used as a dump. There the first game in the Scottish FA Cup took place against "Rob Roy of Callander", which the Red Lichties won 2-1. Four years later, the club defeated the Glasgow Rangers 2-1 in the Cup in 1884 , but this was not counted after an appeal by the guests after they had successfully criticized the insufficient width of the pitch. In the replay, FC Arbroath was finally defeated by a clear 1: 8.

In 1885, FC Arbroath set a world record in adult football when the "Bon Accord Football Club" was beaten 36-0 in a Scottish FA Cup game in 1885, with the referee not recognizing a few goals due to alleged offside . This result came about because a cricket team was invited due to a mix-up of the club names , which changed its name for this game only. Jocky Petrie scored 13 goals in this game alone. Archie Thompson set this record in the 2001 international match between Australia and American Samoa . A short time later, the club signed a goalkeeper, Ned Doig , who would later be successful for Liverpool FC and Southampton FC and, with his international debut for Scotland, is still the only Scottish international in the service of Arbroath FC.

After the increasing professionalism of football, especially in England, more and more of the club's players moved to the south. In contrast, the re-establishment of a "Northern League" tried to work in 1891, in which, in addition to FC Arbroath, seven other clubs - mainly from Dundee - took part. Two years later, the Red Lichties won the championship in this northern league, which has now increased to ten members.

From the Northern League to the Scottish top division

In 1903, after a 4-2 final victory over the Albion Rovers in Dens Park, FC Arbroath won the Scottish Qualifying Cup - a kind of preliminary competition to the FA Cup - and six years later joined the newly founded Central League without However, to forego the parallel participation in the Northern League.

Shortly after the end of World War I , the club first took part in the game operation of the Scottish Football League and completed the 1921/22 season in the second-rate Division Two in 16th place in the table (out of a total of 20 teams). The venue known today as Gayfield in this form was inaugurated in 1925 with a 2: 4 defeat against FC East Fife and FC Arbroath developed noticeably in terms of sport, which was reflected in a third place in the table at the end of the 1928/29 season.

The “golden era” of the club was not to follow until the 1930s. After previously talented players from the youth development arose - among them is especially George Mutch to name, in 1934 for 800 pounds to Manchester United , joined Scottish there international was and in 1938 the decisive goal in the English FA Cup Finals for Preston North End achieved - A successful generation was finally able to secure promotion to the Scottish elite league in 1935 with a second place. Particularly noteworthy were the achievements of goalkeeper George Cumming , who had conceded the fewest in the entire Scottish Football League with only 42 goals conceded (he too was supposed to leave the club for Middlesbrough FC for 5,000 pounds in October 1935 ). Between 1935 and 1939, FC Arbroath played in the first-class Division One and ranked consecutively in eleventh, fourteenth, eleventh and seventeenth place.

Stay in the lower-class professional leagues

Despite the relegation at the end of the 1938/39 season, FC Arbroath was downgraded to the second division after the resumption of play after the end of World War II . There the club took only twelfth and third from last place at the end of the 1946/47 season, but was able to rehabilitate itself by moving into the cup semi-finals. In the club's best cup round to date, however, they lost 2-0 against eventual title holder FC Aberdeen in front of 22,000 spectators in Dens Park.

This interim success could not eliminate the permanent sporting crisis in the championship and after placements mostly in the lower midfield, FC Arbroath even ended the season 1951/52 bottom of the table (a relegation from the then lowest Scottish professional league was not possible at this time). Despite this downturn, the club was able to report its highest attendance at Gayfield Park this season, when 13,510 spectators attended the 0-2 cup defeat by Rangers. Already in the following year they faced the same opponent, to whom they lost 4-0 in front of 44,000 spectators at Ibrox Park .

In 1954, the club's management developed plans to leave Gayfield Park and look for a new sporting home, but quickly rejected them. Instead, the club even installed a floodlight system in Gayfield two years later . At the end of the 1950s, a new sporting consolidation set in, which was initially initiated by the fact that the former long-time team captain Chris Anderson took over the sporting management together with the coach Tommy Gray, who had been in office since 1955 . The former basement child of the league rose to tenth place in 1957 and third place in the following year to rise as runner-up behind Ayr United at the end of the 1958/59 season. Above all, Dave Easson, with his 59 goals in the championship and in the cup, played a key role in this success and in 1959 was also the top scorer in a British professional football league.

The stay in the Scottish Division One should last only a year and the FC Arbroath rose with only 15 points from 34 games from bottom of the table. The only partial success was the semi-finals in the league cup , which was lost 3-0 against Third Lanark in Ibrox Park .

The "Henderson Era"

After returning to the second division, the club could not join the ranks of the promotion favorites and mostly acted in the midfield of the league. With the signing of Albert Henderson as the new coach, however, the club ushered in a new era that would eventually last for 17 years. Supported by the return of Easson, who had meanwhile migrated to the Raith Rovers , the new coach built a new powerful team, which established itself in the upper echelons and only narrowly missed the promotion a few times. In 1968 they finally managed to return to the House of Lords, with the storm duo Jimmy Jack and Dennis Bruce causing a sensation with their total of over 60 goals.

As already nine years before, the club again had a hard time in Division One and rose as the bottom of the table directly back to the second division. From this setback, the Red Lichties recovered faster and the team, which had matured under Henderson, was able to ensure the return to the top Scottish league at the end of the 1971/72 season. Although Jimmy Jack and Tommy Walker left the club, the league was now successful and the team also came in the season 1972/73 to a respectable success with a surprising 3-3 draw in the league cup at Celtic Glasgow in Hampden Park , in which Derek Rylance alone get three goals.

Also in the 1973/74 season the sporting performance stabilized further and the highlight in a season in which the club finished 13th was the 3-2 away win at Glasgow Rangers at Ibrox Park. This was also the first away win for FC Arbroath against the seemingly overwhelming opponent. After the end of the following season, the Scottish Football Association sought to introduce a "Premier Division" as the new top division, for which FC Arbroath could not qualify because of the last place and back into the second division - which is now "Division One" itself. should be called - fell behind.

The high point in this phase was now overcome and FC Arbroath found itself in the further course of the 1970s mostly in the middle of the second-highest division. During the 1979/80 season, Henderson was dismissed as head coach after a total of 17 years and four months and replaced by Ian Stewart, who could not prevent that at the end of the season with the penultimate place even the case in the third division Division Two was pending.

Athletic decline

The return to the second division failed after the end of the 1981/82 season only narrowly against Alloa Athletic due to the worse goal difference and after a renewed change of coach to George Fleming, 1983 was only third place. This was followed by a sporty low-altitude flight that was unexpected in this drama, which ended after a comparatively good fifth place in the last position at the end of the 1984/85 season. This would also mean the end for Fleming, whose successor was Jimmy Bone. Bones engagement should also end after two years without any noteworthy successes and also under the successor John Young the FC Arbroath should stay mostly only in the lower third of the table of the third division until 1990.

Further successors could not prevent the club from breaking free from the lower house of the third division and the last place at the end of the 1990/91 season only faced another entry into the cup quarter-finals in the 1993/94 season, in which they lost 3-0 at home against the Rangers. After a further restructuring in the Scottish league system for the 1994/95 season, FC Arbroath was suddenly only fourth class by taking twelfth place. The club grew out of its increasing insignificance in 1996, when the much-noticed new edition of the duel against Bon Accord took place. There, FC Arbroath won “just” 4-0 compared to the record game. Nevertheless, the 1996/97 season found a new low point in the club's history when the club was first bottom of the third division called fourth division.

Recent developments

Contrary to expert opinion, however, the immediate resurgence in the following year and the club was even able to return to the second division after three more years, which is considered to be the greatest success of FC Arbroath in the recent past. In the First Division succeeded with the seventh place and 13 points gap in the 2001/02 season of safe relegation, but this changed dramatically in the following season when with only 15 points - now with 20 points gap to the "saving bank" - the Early relegation could not be prevented.

The direct relapse into fourth division could be averted on the last match day of the 2003/04 season, which was "made up" a year later after a 3-0 defeat against FC Dumbarton on April 30, 2005. Until the end of the 2007/2008 season, there was no renewed promotion. The season was completed with a 4th place, which entitled to the promotion play-offs. In the final you could defeat FC Stranrear and rose again to the Scottish Football League Second Division .

Known players

Coach chronicle

  • ScotlandScotland Bob McGlashan (-1946)
  • ScotlandScotland Archie Anderson (1946-1949)
  • ScotlandScotland Alec Cheyne (1949–1955)
  • ScotlandScotland Tommy Gray (1955-1957)
  • ScotlandScotland Chris Anderson (1957-1960)
  • ScotlandScotland John Prentice (1960–1962)
  • ScotlandScotland Albert Henderson (1962–1979)
  • ScotlandScotland Ian Stewart (1979-1982)
  • ScotlandScotland George Fleming (1982–1985)
  • ScotlandScotland Jimmy Bone (1985-1987)
  • ScotlandScotland John Young (1987-1990)
  • ScotlandScotland Ian Gibson (1990-1991)
  • ScotlandScotland Walter Borthwick (1991)
  • ScotlandScotland Mikey Lawson (1991-1992)
  • ScotlandScotland Danny McGrain (1992-1994)
  • ScotlandScotland Jocky Scott (1994)
  • ScotlandScotland George Mackie (1994-1995) with
  • ScotlandScotland Donald Park (1994)
  • ScotlandScotland John Brogan (1995-1996)
  • ScotlandScotland Tommy Campbell (1996-1997)
  • ScotlandScotland Dave Baikie (1997-2000)
  • ScotlandScotland John Brownlie (2000-2003)
  • ScotlandScotland Stevie Kirk (2003-2004)
  • ScotlandScotland Harry Cairney (2004-2005)
  • ScotlandScotland John McGlashan (2005-2009)
  • ScotlandScotland Jim Weir (2009-2010)
  • ScotlandScotland Paul Sheerin (2010-2014)
  • ScotlandScotland Allan Moore (2014-2015)
  • EnglandEngland Todd Lumsden (2015-2016)
  • ScotlandScotland Dick Campbell (2016-present)

Web links