Selkirk F.C.
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| Full name | Selkirk Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | The Souters |
| Founded | 1880 |
| Ground | Yarrow Park, Selkirk (Capacity: 1,000) |
| Manager | Paul Brownlee |
| League | East of Scotland Football League Premier Division |
| 2008–09 | East of Scotland Football League Premier Division, 10th |
Selkirk Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Selkirk. They are members of the East of Scotland Football League and currently play in the Premier Division.
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[edit] History
Nicknamed The Souters, the club was founded in 1880 and is the oldest club in the Borders. Their home ground is Yarrow Park.
The club have appeared in the Scottish Cup on numerous occasions, with their most infamous appearance having been in 1984–85 when they were beaten 20–0 by Stirling Albion. This was the biggest winning margin in British senior football during the 20th century. The team representing Selkirk that day was in fact the club's reserve team, Selkirk Victoria F.C., who compete in the local Border Amateur League. The first team had temporarily dropped out of the East of Scotland league and were effectively defunct at the time; to preserve the club's future participation in the Scottish Cup, 'The Vics' took to the field and were mercilessly exposed by their professional opponents. [1]
Famous players produced by the club include two Scottish internationalists - Selkirk-born Bobby Johnstone, who was a member of Hibernian's Famous Five, and Bob Mercer, who played for Heart of Midlothian. Tragically, Mercer collapsed and died while playing for Heart of Midlothian in a friendly match at Selkirk, aged only 36.
[edit] Recent times
Selkirk won promotion to the Premier League in season 2005–06 after some spirited performances, including a 6–1 humbling of local rivals Gala Fairydean. Season 2006–07 saw the club consolidate their place in the top flight.
Season 2007–08 initially resulted in relegation from the Premier League, but they were reprieved when Annan Athletic left to fill the SFL Division 3 position vacated by the departing Gretna. Buoyed by this unexpected turn in fortunes, the club ended the campaign on a high by capturing their first silverware in 30 years, triumphantly lifting the Image Printers' Cup with a 3–1 victory over the much-fancied Lothian Thistle.
Manager Fraser Lothian shocked the club shortly afterwards by leaving his post. It was confirmed that former Berwick Rangers player and local stalwart Paul 'Paulie' Brownlee would be taking over the managerial reigns for the forthcoming 2008–09 season.[2] Brownlee stuck to a policy of building a squad of predominantly local players, an ethos that continues to the present day.
Season 2008-09 saw the team finish the campaign in 10th position. Easthouses Lily and Peebles finished 11th and 12th respectively, and were relegated to the First Division. Towards the culmination of the fixture list, Selkirk had recorded unexpected home and away victories over the reigning league champions, Whitehill Welfare, to avoid the dreaded trapdoor and ensure that Premier League football will be witnessed at Yarrow Park for another year.
[edit] Sources
- "Soccer in Selkirk": Article by Keith Anderson in Scottish Football Historian magazine, No.5 (Mar 1983)
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article591865.ece Lothian keen to set the record straight for Selkirk's castaways] Times Online, 19 November 2005. Accessed 9 April 2007
- ^ Brownlee takes over at Yarrow Park “Selkirk Weekend Advertiser Online”, 27 June 2008. Accessed 27 June 2008
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East of Scotland League Premier Division 2008–09
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