Stranraer's home ground is Stair Park, which has the capacity to seat around 1,830 spectators and a total of 4,178[1] including standing. The ground was opened in 1907 and is located in the east of Stranraer.
History
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Stranraer were founded in 1870 and play their football at Stair Park. Most of Stranraer's football was played under Southern Counties auspices until, in 1949, the club was admitted to C Division where they came up against the reserve sides of the established league clubs. However they had taken part in the Scottish Cup since their debut in the national tournament in 1877–78. In 1955 C Division was abolished and the Blues found themselves in B Division and playing first team league football. They would remain in the bottom tier until their first-ever promotion eventually arrived under the club's legendary manager Alex McAnespie in 1993–94.
With the league reformation at the end of the 1993–94 season, champions Stranraer found themselves leapfrogging six relegated teams and playing in the new First Division in season 1994–95, finishing last, with only 17 points from 36 games. With Campbell Money at the helm Stranraer spent three seasons in the Second Division before winning promotion back to the First Division at the end of the 1997–98 season. Once again, they finished bottom of the league, with the same points total as before and 29 defeats. During that season a notable league win was secured at Easter Road against Hibernian. During Money's reign the club lifted the Scottish League Challenge Cup, defeating St Johnstone 1–0 at Broadwood on 3 November 1996. Saints' Danny Griffin was the unfortunate scorer of an own goal.
The club, now under the management of Billy McLaren, then spent a further four years in the Second Division, with the most notable event being a strong Scottish Cup run in season 2002–03, which saw them go to the quarter finals, where they were beaten 4–0 by SPL side Motherwell. However, the team's cup run did not reflect their league form, as they finished ninth in the Second Division, and thus were relegated to the Third Division for season 2003–04. The team's fortunes improved from there as, under Neil Watt, they won the Third Division at the first attempt, gaining promotion back to the Second Division. In season 2004–05, the team stayed in the top two for most of the campaign. A 1–1 draw with closest promotion rivals Morton on 30 April 2005 saw them gain promotion to the First Division for the third time, although they were relegated to the Second Division the following season after finishing ninth and losing out in the play-offs to Partick Thistle.
The team had a largely unsuccessful campaign in 2006–07, with heavy defeats by relegation rivals Peterhead and Forfar Athletic. They finished ninth, which resulted in a play-off with Third Division promotion contenders East Fife. A 4–2 aggregate defeat (despite winning the second leg 1–0) saw them relegated to the Third Division.
On 21 January 2009, club chairman Nigel Redhead stated that Stranraer owed £250,000, and had a 50–50 chance of survival to the end of the season. In response, on 22 January 2009, a small consortium launched the Friends of Stranraer F.C. to try to secure the club's future through donations from the football community at www.savestranraerfc.com. On 23 January 2009, as part of efforts to reduce costs to a manageable level, key player Gregory Tade transferred to Clyde. On 24 January 2009, Stirling Albion defeated Stranraer 8–2. Shortly after the game, Stranraer and team manager Derek Ferguson parted company by mutual consent and Keith Knox took over the reins. On 4 April 2009, after a 3–0 loss to Raith Rovers, Stranraer's relegation to Division Three was confirmed, meaning the club had played in a different division for each of their last eight seasons.
On 23 July 2011, they lost 8–0 to Morton in a Ramsdens Challenge Cup game. A year later, they lost 8–0 at home again, this time in the Scottish League Cup against Livingston.
The 2012 financial problems of Scottish Premier League side, Rangers, and the subsequent decision by SPL clubs to expel Rangers from the SPL, led to Scottish Football League member clubs voting Rangers into the Third Division. This meant that an additional team from each tier of Scottish football was promoted for the 2012–13 season. As Stranraer were runners up in the previous season's third division promotion play-offs, they were promoted to the Second Division.[3] They secured their place in the third tier of Scottish football after a 2–1 win at Stenhousemuir on the final day of the season, but only after Stephen Aitken had taken over from Knox in October.[4]
The club then settled well in the third tier under manager Stephen Aitken, finishing third behind full-time Rangers and Dunfermline Athletic in 2013–14 and second behind full-time Morton the following season. Stranraer's Boxing Day draw at Ibrox in 2013 saw the club scoring their first goal against Rangers and taking their first point off the Glasgow club. In both of these seasons, however, they were knocked out of the promotion play-offs at the semi-final stage. During this spell the club also performed well in the cups– defeating Ross County in the League Cup, taking Inverness to a Scottish Cup replay, and only losing out on penalties to Livingston in the semi-final of the Petrofac Challenge Cup. Aitken impressed to the extent that he was recruited by Championship side Dumbarton in May 2015 and was quickly replaced by former Ayr United manager Brian Reid.[5] Stranraer started the 2015–16 season horrendously and were bottom of the table at Christmas. A great run afterwards, however, saw them finish 4th and qualify for the promotion play-offs for a third successive season.
This was the seventh time Stranraer had taken part in a relegation/promotion play-off in only 11 years of the system's implementation. They failed to achieve their target in the first six times, although in 2008 and 2012 they eventually achieved promotion as losing finalists because of another club's misfortune. In the semi-finals they faced Livingston, who had finished 9th in the Scottish Championship. They were victorious 5–2 at Stair Park but two late goals for Livi in the second leg made it 6–6 on aggregate (away goals not counting in the playoffs), forcing extra time. Stranraer scored twice to lose the match 4–3 and win 8–6 on aggregate. They faced Ayr United in the two-legged finals for a place in the second tier.
Stranraer drew 1–1 with Ayr in the first leg at Stair Park, with a late goal from Ayr's Ross Docherty to deny Stranraer a first-leg advantage. The second leg finished 0–0 with the game being decided on penalties, Ayr winning 3–1 and being promoted ahead of Stranraer.
2016–17 also started dreadfully for Stranraer and, following a 1–0 January defeat at Stenhousemuir which saw the hosts leapfrog the Blues at the foot of the table, Reid departed to be replaced by Stephen Farrell as manager.
Records
Most league points in a season:
58 (Second Division– 1993–94) (two points for a win)
79 (Third Division– 2003–04) (three points for a win)
In 1990, Stranraer became the first side to win a Scottish Cup tie on penalties, defeating Kilmarnock 4–3 after a 0–0 draw in the second round replay.
The club hold the record for a shirt sponsorship deal. Stena Line have been on the front of the shirts since the start of 1996–97 season (and Sealink from 1988–89). As the Sealink brand was renamed Stena Line, as of the start of the 2023–24 season the club's sponsor has remained the same for over 35 seasons.
Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is The Honest Men, from a line in the Robert Burns poem "Tam o' Shanter". They play at Somerset Park.
East Fife Football Club is a semi-professional football club established in 1903 in Methil, Fife, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and compete in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system.
Falkirk Football Club is a Scottish professional association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1876 and competes in Scottish League One, the third tier of Scottish football, as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. The club was elected to the Second Division of the Scottish Football League in 1902–03, was promoted to the First Division after two seasons and achieved its highest league position in the early 1900s when it was runner-up to Celtic in 1907–08 and 1909–10. The football club was registered as a Limited Liability Company in April 1905 – Falkirk Football & Athletic Club Ltd.
Stenhousemuir Football Club is a Scottish football club located in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk. They are a member of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two.
Ross Tokely is a Scottish professional football player and coach who plays for Nairn County in the Highland League. Tokely previously played for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Ross County and Brora Rangers.
The 1998–99 season was the 102nd season of Scottish league football.
The 2007–08 season was the 111th season of competitive football in Scotland.
The 2007–08 Scottish Football League Third Division was the 14th season in the format of ten teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The season started on 4 August 2007 and ended on 26 April 2008. East Fife F.C. finished top and were promoted alongside Arbroath F.C. as play-off winners. Stranraer F.C. were also promoted due to Gretna being demoted to the Third Division.
The 2009–10 Scottish Football League Third Division was the 16th season in the format of ten teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The season started on 8 August 2009 and ended on 1 May 2010. Livingston F.C. finished top and were promoted alongside Forfar Athletic as play-off winners.
Season 2001–02 was a turbulent one for Hibernian, as the team had three different permanent managers during the season. Alex McLeish left the club in December to manage Rangers; Hibs surprisingly replaced him with star player Franck Sauzée, who retired as a player when he was appointed manager. Sauzee's brief tenure saw a long winless run in the SPL and domestic cup defeats by Rangers and Ayr United. The winless run in the league dragged Hibs into the fringes of a relegation battle, and Sauzee was sacked after just 69 days in charge. Kilmarnock manager Bobby Williamson was hired as Sauzee's replacement, and a brief winning run averted any danger of relegation. Earlier in the season, Hibs had been knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the first round by AEK Athens, but only after a dramatic second leg at Easter Road that went to extra time.
After relegation to the Third Tier of Scottish Football, Ayr United play in the Second Division with Airdrie United, Alloa Athletic, Brechin City, Dumbarton, East Fife, Forfar Athletic, Livingston, Peterhead and Stenhousemuir. Ayr regained First Division status following promotion via the play-offs, in which Ayr secured a 7–4 aggregate win over Forfar Athletic and a 3–2 aggregate win over Brechin City. Ayr also enjoyed respectable cup runs, progressing to the Quarter-Finals of the Challenge Cup, before being defeated away to Partick Thistle and reaching the Fifth Round of the Scottish Cup, with victories over Junior side, Sunnybank and SPL club, Hibernian before being knocked out by St Mirren of the SPL respectively, However failed to progress beyond Elgin City of the Scottish Football League Third Division in the League Cup.
The 2011–12 Scottish League Cup was the 66th season of Scotland's second-most prestigious football knockout competition, the Scottish League Cup, also known as the Scottish Communities League Cup for sponsorship reasons. It was won by Kilmarnock
The 2011–12 Scottish Football League Third Division was the 18th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The season started on 6 August 2011 and finished on 5 May 2012.
The 2011–12 Scottish Football League Second Division is the 18th season in the current format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football. Livingston F.C. are the current champions.
The 2012–13 Scottish Football League Second Division was the 19th season in the current format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football. Cowdenbeath were the current champions.
The 2012–13 season was Stranraer's first season back in the Scottish Second Division. Stranraer also competed in the Challenge Cup, League Cup and the Scottish Cup. They were due to play in their fourth consecutive season in the Scottish Third Division, having been relegated from the Scottish Second Division at the end of the 2008–09 season. On 16 July 2012, it was confirmed that Stranraer would be promoted to the Scottish Second Division to fill the vacancy's left by Dundee's promotion to the Scottish Premier League and Airdrie United's promotion to the Scottish First Division. This was to fill the slot vacated by Rangers, who were voted into the Scottish Third Division following their liquidation.
The 2013–14 Scottish League One was the 20th season in the current format of 10 teams in the third-tier of Scottish football. This was the first season of the competition being part of the newly formed Scottish Professional Football League after the merger of the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. Queen of the South were the defending champions.
The 2015–16 Scottish Championship is the 22nd season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football.
Morgyn Neill is a Scottish professional footballer who plays a defender for Alloa Athletic. He has previously played for Motherwell, Livingston, Stranraer, Stenhousemuir, Dumbarton and Cove Rangers, as well as Ayr United and Stranraer on loan.
Season 1996–97 was the 113th football season in which Dumbarton competed at a Scottish national level, entering the Scottish Football League for the 91st time, the Scottish Cup for the 102nd time, the Scottish League Cup for the 50th time and the Scottish Challenge Cup for the seventh time.
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