Clydebank FC
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The first club to represent the town of Clydebank was formed in 1888. Clydebank FC played their matches at Hamilton Park. The club competed in the Scottish Cup numerous times and were members of the Scottish Federation from the years 1891-1893. The club folded in 1895 only to be resurrected for the first time in 1899. They remained a member of the Scottish Federation until 1902 but they were basically a non-entity. The Clydebank Juniors FC side continued playing under the name until 1964 and competed in the Scottish junior competitions.
It wasn’t until 1914 that Clydebank FC came back into existence and became a football league club for the first time., becoming part of the SFL. The club played their home games at Clydeholm. They only lasted 17 seasons, with a second-place finish in the second division being the best they could do, occurring in the 1922-23 season and 1924-25 season. In the 1922-23 season they were beaten to the title by Queens Park by five points, winning 31, drawing 10 and losing only 7 in a 38-game season. The following season they were relegated from the first division, coming 20th in a league won by Rangers. But like a yo-yo they gained promotion in the 1924-25 season, coming second to Dundee United and only losing out on the title by two points. (Winning 20, Drawing 8 and losing 10). But once again they finished bottom of the First division that was won by Celtic this time. And that was the height of Clydebank FC’s success the second time around and in 1931 they resigned from the league for a second time.
It wasn’t until 1964 when Clydebank FC returned to the fold, but under controversial circumstances and under the original name E.S. Clydebank FC. The owners of East Stirlingshire FC decided to merge their club with Clydebank FC Juniors (Hence the end of them in 1964). It proved to be an unpopular move amongst East Stirlingshire supporters who legally challenged to get ownership and name of their club. It proved successful and the club East Stirlingshire FC remained in Falkirk, with their previous owners, Jack and Charlie Steadman, opting to stay and continue with Clydebank FC, who took up a position in Division two. (A side note about East Stirlingshire, they were the first club Alex Ferguson managed back in 1974 for one season) The 1964-65 season when the club was known as E.S Clydebank FC is widely discredited by East Stirlingshire FC fans as being a ‘non-existent’ season in their club’s history.
And so, it wasn’t until 1965 that the second official Clydebank FC was formed. But because they were technically a new club again and not piggy backing on East Stirlingshire FC anymore, they had to start even further down the ladder and started off in the combined Reserve League, were they played the likes of Celtic and Rangers third teams. The next season, (1966) they were again elected into the SFL and played once again in the second division. This time they had a more successful stint and lasted much longer than previous Clydebank FC’s before them. They lasted a total of 37 years this time, playing in the Premier Division three times, the last being in 1987. They were also the first football club to play in all three SFL divisions. The club reached the semi-final of the SFA cup but were beaten by Celtic and two Andy Walker goals, with the final score 2-0. Celtic were consequently beaten in the final by Aberdeen 9-8 on penalties. The club played their home games at New Kilbowie until 1996 when the Steadman brothers sold it. The New Kilbowie was one of the first British grounds to be classed as an all-seater stadium due to the installation of wooden benches. The club’s fans, who had expected to have their own stadium build off the promises from the Steadman brothers were left disappointed and homeless for the next six seasons playing their ‘home’ games at places like Boghead Park, Dumbarton, Cappielow Park and Greenock.
The club was sold in the 90’s to a Dr John Hall, a Bermuda Business man. He had plans to relocate the club as a franchise, he attempted to do a cross channel switch and bring the club to Dublin but with the efforts of United Clydebank Supporters, the FAI, the SFA and the SPL this move was rejected. He also tried to relocate to English towns such as Carlisle and Galashiels but again these plans failed. The 1999-00 season saw the club relegated from the first division, only winning one game all season. By 2002 the club’s identity had disappeared, but the assets were both by a consortium led by Jim Ballantyne. Another club at the time, Airdrieonians had gone into liquidation, so with Clydebank FC’s assets he moved the club to Airdrie and formed it under a new name known as Airdrie United an they took their place in the second division in 2002-03 season. And so, the end of Clydebank FC was again, until a year later.
2003 saw the fourth version of Clydebank FC born. The United Clydebank Supporters had gone the whole 2002-03 season without a club to support, having been outbid by Jim Ballantyne and his consortium. They didn’t have time to form a new club for the 2002-03 season and so spent that season building up the formation Clydebank for a fourth time. Airdrie United Ltd granted permission for the use of the Clydebank FC name and an agreement with Drumchapel Amateurs saw them remain in the Clydebank area to play their home games at Glenhead Park So, for the 2003-04 season the team Clydebank FC entered the West Regional structure of the Scottish Junior Football Association. They won prometon in their first season and went up to the Central League Division Two, bringing in gates of 1,000 fans at home games. They missed out on a second successive promotion in 2004-05 coming third, one point behind second place. Record crowds of 1,600 since the re-birth of club followed the next season and in the 2006-07 season the club were promoted to the Super League Division One In 2008 the club moved ground again, to Holm Park, were they still currently play. In 2011 they won promotion to the West Super League Premier Division, where they last three seasons before being related in 2015. It didn’t take long until they were promoted again in 2017. The club are currently playing in the SJFA West Premiership, finishing 8th of the 16 clubs last year (2018-19)
While looking for a fan of Clydebank FC I was pointed in the direction of someone I was told would tell me everything I needed to know. His name was Roberto Pigeoni, a self-confessed ‘Bankies’ fan. And he didn’t disappoint. Every question I asked was given with a detailed answer. Starting off with what his best memory of supporting Clydebank FC is.
‘Seeing the club play in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup at Hampden in 1990 was a very special moment despite losing to Celtic. Up there with that would have to be our first match at Glenhead Park when we reformed in 2003, the place was rammed, and we pulled off a 3-2 win that laid the foundations we’ve made such as the Junior Cup final at Kilmarnock in 2009 vs Auchinleck Talbot.’
Indeed, from the heights of playing Celtic in a Major cup semi-final to playing little known Auchinleck Talbot in a Junior Cup final, it was clear that Bankies fans had seen it all, even the ones who were only around for the third and fourth instalment of the club. But being down in the lower leagues hasn’t dampened the passion of the supporters and that is also evident with Roberto, whose favourite away day was at Forfar!
‘I always enjoyed a day out to Forfar an I have no idea why to be honest! We had a good record there and it was always a very welcoming town’.
The other thing that was quite evident when Roberto answered my questions was his pride in supporting his local side, something that has been lost in football in the modern era, with many people deciding to follow clubs that they live millions of miles away from.
‘Supporting Clydebank…..well! I take immense pride in watching my local team and have done since I was 4/5 years old. At times watching it has been brutal however! The period of decline between 96-02 was very hard to take, crowds dropped, and we were playing further away from the town…’
Yes, as I have written already, we have seen the hardships and this club has been through it all and so has it’s fans, but Roberto is optimistic about the future of the club and where it’s going.
‘…2003 onwards has been special, we own the club and its run by the fans for the fans. With little funding we’ve put out good teams and won trophies in recent years and hopefully giving the town a bit of footballing pride back…’ And as for the future and making a re-appearance in the SFL he said, ‘ It’s certainly were we want to be and the board currently have a mandate to find a way back into senior football…’
As for former heroes, one name came up a bit and it’s a name Roberto mentioned as well.
‘Ken Eadie was my hero growing up and was fantastic centre forward and goalscorer. We were very fortunate to have him for as long as we did, and he produced the goods so many times and is the clubs record goalscorer…’
But it wasn’t the clubs record goalscorer that got the vote of being the best player to put a Clydebank FC jersey on, well in Roberto’s opinion.
‘I doubt many would disagree that Davie Cooper was by far the best player to pull on the Bankies jersey and even in his second spell at the club in his late 30’s he was still an absolute joy to watch before he was sadly taken away from us in 1995’.
Apart from Clydebank FC Roberto has a soft spot for Cardiff City and it seems some of the bluebird fans have a soft spot for the ‘Bankies’.
‘Some Cardiff fans come up too and this has been going on since the early 80’s and just something I grew into’.
With this conversation it became quite clear there is still a passion for clubs in the lower leagues, that there is still a connection between football clubs and communities. I have seen this in some of the clubs I’ve covered here in Ireland but now I hope to cover more of these type of clubs in this never-ending series, in other countries. Clydebank FC is just the first of many with a past that is chequered with problems and unfortunately some clubs didn’t get the second chance that the Bankies got, but I am determined to tell those clubs stories an resurrect the memories from the fans who supported them. On Clydebank FC I will leave the final word with Roberto
‘I’d just like to give a special shoutout to all those who refused to let the club die in 2002 and for those who give up their time week on week to keep the club going. They’re a credit to themselves and the town. Many friends for life have been made through our club and the things we’ve had to endure over the years we’ve never let it break us and we use it to continue the progress we’ve made on and off the park’