 | |||
| Full name | Bellshill Athletic Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Hill, The Black & Yellows | ||
| Founded | 1897 | ||
| Ground | Rockburn Park, Bellshill | ||
| Chairman | David Brown | ||
| Manager | Dean Muir and Neil Rowatt | ||
| League | West of Scotland League Second Division | ||
| 2023–24 | West of Scotland League Third Division, 3rd of 16 (promoted) | ||
Bellshill Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Bellshill, North Lanarkshire. It plays in the West of Scotland League Second Division.
The history of the club can be traced back as far as 1897 when Bellshill Athletic were founded as a Juvenile club who played at Hawthorn Park. After two successful years as a Juvenile club, Athletic transferred to Junior level. The area had three other clubs at this time - Bellshill Thistle, Mossend Celtic and Mossend Brigade. On 6 August 1902 Bellshill merged with another local club, Clydesdale Wanderers, to form Bellshill & Clydesdale United. This new club only lasted for two seasons before folding, meanwhile a new Bellshill Athletic had been set-up in 1903 and this is the club that still exists today. In 1973, a Mossend pub named The Derby Inn became sponsors, after which the club became the first in Britain to have a sponsor displayed on their shirt. [1]
The club's early years had it based at many homes. These included Orbiston Park, Douglas Park and Brigade park. The club's previous ground, Brandon Park, was officially opened in 1903 in a friendly against Blantyre Victoria in the month of August that year. On the club's centenary year, they were then based at a new location, New Brandon Park, in the Hattonrigg area of the town. However, due to legal matters with the owner, the club were forced to abandon the ground and, after a brief stint in Blantyre, were permitted to move temporarily to the local Sir Matt Busby Sports Complex. [2] After this agreement expired, the club entered a groundsharing arrangement with Vale of Clyde at their Fullarton Park ground in Tollcross, Glasgow for the 2011–12 season. [3] In 2015, the club moved back to Bellshill at Rockburn Park, while planning to move to a new community facility at Bellshill Academy. [4]
The largest crowd seen in the club's history was around about 10,000 people who witnessed a Scottish cup sixth round tie against St Roch's. The game ended in a victory for St Roch's.
Professional footballer Billy Moffatt started his playing career at Belshill Athletic.
Professional footballer Hughie Gallacher also started his playing career at Bellshill Athletic, before becoming the last person to captain Newcastle United to a top division title.
Bellshill have played at Junior level since 1899, with an exception of a short spell (1927–1931) during which they played in the Intermediate League. As Juniors they have played in four different leagues: The Lanarkshire League, The Scottish League, Central League and the present West Region. The club were to suffer relegation from the Stagecoach Super League Premier Division in season 2009–10.
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark, is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. The county is no longer used for local government purposes, but gives its name to the two modern council areas of North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire.
Bellshill is a town in North Lanarkshire in Scotland, ten miles southeast of Glasgow city centre and 37 mi (60 km) west of Edinburgh. Other nearby localities are Motherwell 2 mi (3 km) to the south, Hamilton 3 mi (5 km) to the southwest, Viewpark 1+1⁄2 mi (2.5 km) to the west, Holytown 2 mi (3 km) to the east and Coatbridge 3 mi (5 km) to the north.
Blantyre Victoria Football Club, also known as Blantyre Vics, are a Scottish association football club based in the town of Blantyre, South Lanarkshire. Formed in 1889, they play at KG Stadium. They currently compete in the West of Scotland Football League First Division in the seventh tier of the Scottish football league system. Historically, they shared a healthy rivalry with Blantyre Celtic who played nearby at Craighead Park, until Celtic were dissolved in 1992. The team have been managed since June 2016 by former Alloa and Stirling Albion midfielder John Gibson.
Forth Wanderers Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the village of Forth, South Lanarkshire. Formed in 1904 they compete in the West of Scotland League Second Division and play in red strips with a white trim with a second strip of all black.
Lesmahagow Junior Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire, located just off the M74 motorway approximately 25 miles south of Glasgow.
Port Glasgow Junior Football Club is a Scottish football club, based in the town of Port Glasgow, Inverclyde.
Royal Albert Football Club are a football club, historically based in the town of Larkhall, Scotland and are now playing in the nearby village of Stonehouse. Formerly a member of the Scottish Football League and the Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region, they now play in the West of Scotland League Fourth Division.
Uddingston is a small town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is on the north side of the River Clyde, south-east of Glasgow city centre, and acts as a dormitory suburb for the city.
The Scottish Junior Football League (SJL) was a Scottish football competition that, through various incarnations, existed from 1892 to 1947.
Blantyre Celtic Football Club were a Scottish football club that played under the auspices of the Scottish Junior Football Association. Formed in 1914 as Blantyre United, they changed their name to Blantyre Celtic two years later. Their home ground was near Springwell in Blantyre and they had as local rivals Blantyre Victoria, known locally as the Vics. In many ways they were the poorer cousin, as they existed in a poorer area of the village and lacked the financial support that the Vics gained from having a large social club attached to their home ground.
Mossend is a small town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, located beside the town of Bellshill, west of the villages of Holytown and New Stevenston, north of the larger town of Motherwell and south of the Eurocentral industrial park and the M8 motorway. Along with Holytown, it forms a council ward which had a population of 13,480 in 2019, Mossend's estimated population being around half of that total.
The Sir Matt Busby Sports Complex is a public leisure centre located in Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is named in honour of Sir Matt Busby, the football manager who was born in Bellshill in 1909, managed Manchester United from 1945 to 1969 and died in 1994.
Uddingston and Bellshill is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council areas of North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the plurality method of election. It is also one of nine constituencies in the Central Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to nine constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The 2010–11 Scottish Junior Cup was the 125th season of the Scottish Junior Cup, the national knockout tournament for member clubs of the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition is sponsored by Emirates and is known as The Emirates Junior Cup for sponsorship purposes. Auchinleck Talbot won the competition for a record ninth time, defeating Musselburgh Athletic 2–1 after extra-time.
Baillieston Juniors Football Club were a Scottish football club based in Baillieston, Glasgow, who played in Scottish Junior Football Association competitions from 1919 until 2003. They won the Scottish Junior Cup once, in 1980.
Bridgeton Waverley Football Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Originally founded in 1904, they competed in the Junior grade from 1923 until folding in 1962.
The Lanarkshire Junior Football League was a football league competition operated in Lanarkshire under the Scottish Junior Football Association which operated from 1891, being the oldest-running regional competition of its kind until a merger in 1968.
The West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) is a senior football league based in the west of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–10 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League.
The 2021–22 West of Scotland Football League was the 2nd season of the West of Scotland Football League, with its top division as part of the sixth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system. The season began on 17 July 2021.
