| Full name | Edinburgh City Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Lilywhites, The Citizens | |
| Founded | 1928 | |
| Dissolved | 1955 | |
Edinburgh City Football Club was an amateur Scottish football club which played in the Scottish Football League in the 1930s and 1940s, but went out of business in the 1950s. A new club adopted the Edinburgh City name in 1986.
Edinburgh City were founded in 1928 and joined the Scottish Football League as an amateur club in 1931. [1] The club won election to the league, where they replaced Clydebank, ahead of Nithsdale Wanderers by 25 votes to 7. [2]
The club was very unsuccessful in the league, as on average they won fewer than one game in six. [3] This record led to the club finishing bottom of the league table in six of the eight seasons between 1931 and 1939. [3] It also conceded more than 110 goals in seven of those seasons. [4] They achieved a famous Scottish Cup upset victory when they defeated Hibernian 3–2 at Easter Road in the first round of the 1937–38 competition. [4] Hibernian's Arthur Milne missed a penalty kick with five minutes left to play. In the next round, Edinburgh City lost 9–2 at Raith Rovers on 9 February 1938.
The club played in the Lothian Amateur League during the Second World War and were only admitted to the C Division in 1946. [3] [5] After three more years of struggle, the club left the Scottish Football League in 1949. [3] [5] It switched to junior status and played in the Edinburgh & District Junior League. [3] [5] The club stopped playing football in 1955. [3] The city council had not renewed the lease on its home ground, City Park. [5]
A new club called Postal United was founded in 1966. The Edinburgh City Football Club Ltd., [6] which had continued trading as a social club since the football club stopped playing, approved an application from Postal United in 1986 to adopt the Edinburgh City name. [5] The new Edinburgh City gained promotion to the Scottish Professional Football League in 2016.
When the club was formed in 1928, they played at the Marine Gardens. [7] When they first joined the Scottish Football League in 1931, it played its home matches at Powderhall Stadium. [4] The pitch was only just wider than the minimum width of 50 yards due to the presence of a sprint track. [4] Edinburgh City also played at City Park during the club's time in the SFL.
The club colours were white and black. [5]
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