Clint Jones

Falkirk

Falkirk Football Club

Honours

  • Best League Finish: 2nd in the Scottish Football League Division One / Scottish Premiership (1907-08 & 1909-10)
  • Best Scottish Cup Finish: WINNERS (1912-13 & 1956-57)
  • Scottish Cup
    • Winners (2): 1912-13, 1956-57
  • Scottish First Division (second tier)
    • Champions (7): 1935-36, 1969-70, 1974-75, 1990-91, 1993-94, 2002-03, 2004-05
  • Scottish Second Division (third tier)
    • Champions (2): 1979-80, 2023-24
  • Scottish Challenge Cup
    • Winners (4): 1992-93, 1996-97, 2003-04, 2011-12
  • Stirlingshire Cup
    • Winners (32)

Falkirk Football Club is a Scottish club that will be playing in the Scottish Championship, the second-tier league in the Scottish football pyramid, for the 2024-25 season. They are based in the former steelwork and canal town of Falkirk / An Eaglais Bhreac / Fawkirk, which is located within the unitary authority council area of the same name although historically in the old county of Stirlingshire. Situated within the Central Lowlands of Scotland and within the Forth Valley, it is approximately 23,5 miles northwest of Edinburgh and 20,5 miles northeast of Glasgow, and with an estimated population of approximately 36k inhabitants, it is Scotland’s 20th most populous settlement.

Although it was originally described by Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns as “an unremarkable town”, Falkirk has an interesting history and many fascinating attractions. The town is at the junction between the Forth & Clyde and the Union Canals, which gave rise to the town’s extensive iron and steel industries during the Industrial Revolution. It is also the home of the remarkable Falkirk Wheel, a feat of impressive engineering where boats are lifted onto (or descend from) the Union Canal in a rotating boat lift. Another of Falkirk’s most famous modern landmarks is The Kelpies, a pair of 30-metre-high horsehead sculptures representing the mythical transforming water beasts of Celtic history as well as celebrating the history of the literal horsepower used in the local industry.

Falkirk currently plays its home games at the 7937-capacity, all-seater Falkirk Stadium, which has been home of the club since 2004 after they moved from their traditional ground of Brockville Park where they played for 118 years. They also share the stadium with town rivals and Lowland Football League club East Stirlingshire who returned back to Falkirk following 10 years of groundsharing with nearby Stenhousemuir. The ground can be found on the eastern outskirts of the town on the junction of the A9 and A904 roads, with the M9 motorway just to the east of the stadium. It is a 35-minute, 1,5-mile walk from Falkirk Grahamston railway station.

[MAIN IMAGE: @Falkirkdaft]

Falkirk Football Club was founded in 1876, joining the Scottish Football Association two years later after their foundation and competing in the very first edition of the Scottish Cup, reaching the second round. The club would be a regular entrant in the annual cup competition but it wouldn’t be until the 1902-03 season that they finally joined the Scottish Football League, being elected into the Second Division of the pyramid, before achieving promotion to the top tier two seasons later. The pre-war period would be a successful time for the Bairns as they achieved their highest-ever league finish of second place during this period, achieving it on two separate occasions in the 1907-08 and 1909-10 seasons (whilst becoming the first Scottish club to score 100 league goals in a season), as well as winning the Scottish Cup for the first time in 1913 when they defeated Raith Rovers 2-0 in the final.

The 1907-08 Scottish Division One table – Falkirk’s highest-ever league finish of 2nd place, which was matched in 1910.
[IMAGE: Wikipedia]

The club spent thirty consecutive seasons in the Scottish top flight in their first spell and during this time created football history when they became the only Scottish club to break the world transfer fee record by forking out £5k for forward Syd Puddefoot from West Ham United in 1922. He would spend three years at Falkirk scoring 45 goals in 113 appearances before moving to Blackburn Rovers for £4k in 1925.

Syd Puddefoot
[IMAGE: Wikipedia]

Falkirk continued to compete in the Scottish top flight in the early post-war period and had another period of relative success. They reached the inaugural Scottish League Cup final in the 1947-48 campaign but lost to East Fife 1-4 following a replay of the final. However, nine years later, the club was on the right side of a replayed final when they lifted their second Scottish Cup by defeating Kilmarnock 2-1 after extra time following a 1-1 draw four days prior. In the following decades, the fortunes of Falkirk dipped as they fluctuated between the top two tiers of Scottish football, so much so, that they have either won or finished as runners-up in the second tier for a record 14 times. Following the creation of the Scottish Premier League in 1998, Falkirk were unable to gain promotion on three occasions due to their Brockville Park ground being below the 10,000 capacity requirement for SPL teams. It wouldn’t be until the criterion was lowered to 6,000 and Falkirk moved into the Falkirk Stadium that they finally achieved promotion in 2005. During their five-season stay in the top flight, they reached the 2009 Scottish Cup final but lost by a single goal to Rangers, but this final appearance qualified them for the inaugural UEFA Europa League, their first appearance in European football. Sadly, the Bairns’ European adventure ended in the second qualifying round after losing 1-2 on aggregate to Liechtensteiner club FC Vaduz. Even more unfortunately for Falkirk, they suffered relegation at the end of the 2009-10 season after finishing bottom of the table – that was the last appearance in the Scottish top flight so far.

Falkirk spent the next nine seasons in the second tier, initially finishing in the top three for five of those seasons and two consecutive runners-up placements in both the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons finishing 11 points behind Rangers and Hibernian respectively to then fail in the promotion playoffs. They also reached their fifth Scottish Cup final, this time as a second-tier club, by getting to the 2015 edition to face Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Despite getting an 80th-minute equaliser from Peter Grant, a late 86th-minute decider from the Highlanders ensured the auld cup ventured north for the first time. Disappointingly for the club, their exit from the league went in the other direction as they finished bottom of the Scottish Championship at the conclusion of the 2018-19 season to be relegated to the third-tier SPFL League 1. Falkirk have spent five seasons trapped in the third tier of Scottish football, missing out on promotion in the 2019-20 and 2022-23 seasons despite finishing as runners-up once again. Thankfully, this story has had a very happy ending this season as the Bairns finally clinched promotion back to the Championship after winning the League 1 title in style with an unbeaten league season. They won 27 of their 36 league fixtures and drew the remainder and finished 16 points ahead of nearest rivals Hamilton Academical.

Answering questions about a club that will be competing in the Scottish Championship after a five-season hiatus, we interviewed John McInally from the excellent Falkirk Daft podcast. Falkirk Daft is a weekly unofficial podcast hosted by John and Ross Wayne that comes out every Monday and they discuss all things involving Falkirk FC resulting from the previous week. To find out more about Falkirk Daft, their social media accounts and podcast links can be found below. In addition, on June 1st, a Falkirk Daft Select team will take on the Falkirk Football Fans in Training in a charity match played at the Falkirk Stadium to raise money for Lymphoma Action. The JustGiving page to donate to the great cause can also be found below :

Q. Firstly, how did you decide to start following and supporting Falkirk?

My Dad was a rugby man so he never took me to football. When I was about 13 or so my mates asked if I wanted to go to Brockville [Falkirk’s old stadium] for the Falkirk game and from that point I was hooked.

Q. From your time following the club, who has been your favourite player, and the reasoning behind your choice?

Russell Latapy

Has to be Russell Latapy. Drank and smoked like a sailor but one of the best to pull on the Navy Blue. He bossed midfield and played like he was on the playground. Dwight Yorke (his best mate) had him in his dream team and he played at a World Cup as a Falkirk player [playing at the 2006 World Cup with Trinidad & Tobago]! Unbelievable!

Q. Of the current squad, who would you say is the best player at the club and why?

Callumn Morrison

Callumn Morrison over the last 3 seasons has stood out even in bad teams but this year he has taken his game to another level. A winger scoring 23 goals in the league is an outstanding achievement.

Q. Who would you say is the most exciting up & coming talent at the club?

Finn Yeats

Finn Yeats is a 20-year-old midfielder who has been converted into a right-back. He has been excellent in this position throughout the season and a great foil for Morrison. I have a funny feeling with our rise into the Championship he will gain Scottish Under 21 caps next season.

Q. Who would you regard as Falkirk’s biggest or historical rivals?

Without a doubt Dunfermline Athletic. No one is really sure where the rivalry stems from but it is more likely we are similar-sized clubs who probably bunch below our weight. It’s the first fixture every Bairn will be looking out for next season.

Q. From your time following the club, what would you say has been the best game, result, or performance in your opinion?

I think the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden when it was a straight shoot-out for Europe would be up there but I have to look at the last game of this season. Now a draw against Alloa Athletic on paper sounds terrible but when that draw comes from being 2-0 down to claim an Invincible season it definitely puts things into perspective. It capped off a brilliant season.

Q. What do you think of the situation in Scottish league football currently? Are there any improvements you would like to see happen?

Personally, I think the whole thing needs to be restructured and I would like to see a 16-team league in the top flight. The current format of playing each team four times in all the leagues has made supporters grow weary and, for a small country, four professional leagues is too much.

Q. How would you describe the current performance or state of the club? How do you think this past season has gone?

After being mismanaged both on and off the pitch the club has been stabilised by the current board and manager. With the supporters now owning 25% of the club, this has all made more of a connection between us and the team. I still need some convincing on fan ownership and whether it can get the club to the level we want to be at but for now it is working. This last season will be etched in the memory as the only other teams to go Invincible in Scotland over a 30-game season are Rangers and Celtic. To have the tag ‘Invincibles‘ is unbelievable no matter what level you are at.

Q. What are the best and worst things about being a fan of the club?

I think the best thing about being a Falkirk supporter is the connection with the club. You know the people that run it, you know the faces in the stand and there is a real relationship with the team. Obviously, it would be great to win a major trophy or two and make our way back into Scotland’s top flight but I wouldn’t swap the season we just had for a mediocre run in the Championship. The worst thing about being a fan is the constant slagging for not having a fourth stand!

The inside of the Falkirk Stadium.
[IMAGE: Lorna McWilliam]

Q. Finally, what are your hopes for the future of Falkirk?

I really hope we can be back in the Premiership by our 150th anniversary and also re-establish our Youth Academy, which in the past has produced some brilliant talent. A wee Scottish Cup win would be alright as well considering we have been in three finals in my lifetime and lost them all!

The outside of the Falkirk Stadium.
[IMAGE: @HoppersGuide]

A massive thank you to John from the Falkirk Daft podcast for answering our questions on the Scottish League One champions Falkirk. Remember you can find their social media accounts, podcasts, and donation page for their upcoming charity match in the links towards the top of the blogpage.

If you have any comments, suggestions, reactions, or even your own answers to the above questions, please write them in the comments box below. Likewise, you can either email us at the94thmin@gmail.com or send a message at @The94thMin on Twitter.

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