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Ayr Football Club was a
Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sou ...
club from
Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...
,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...
. They were formed in 1879 by a merger of the Ayr Thistle and Ayr Academicals football clubs. Their initial home ground was Springvale Park, which they left in 1884 to play home fixtures at Beresford Park, which they in turn left in 1888 to move to
Somerset Park Somerset Park is a football stadium located in Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It has been the home of Ayr United since they were founded in 1910. Prior to that, it was the home ground of Ayr, who merged with Ayr Parkhouse to form Ayr United. ...
. Ayr won their first ever game at Somerset Park 3–0 against
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Par ...
. Ayr had spent 13 seasons in the
Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sou ...
Division Two, with a best finish of third place which they managed on three occasions. They never won promotion above this level. Ayr F.C. merged with fellow league members Ayr Parkhouse in 1910 to form
Ayr United 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 ...
. This is the first and only example in Scottish football of a merger between two league clubs from the same town. The merger came about because it was felt that a merged club would have better prospects of playing in Division One. Ayr United achieved that status three years after the merger.


Origins

In 1879 two clubs from Ayr, Ayr Thistle and Ayr Academicals, merged to form a new club, the team was to be called Ayr F.C. and Springvale Park was chosen as the home ground. However, the club did retain the Academicals name for its Athletics section. There was a team simply called Ayr prior to the existence of Ayr F.C. but there is no connection between the two clubs. Shortly after the merger, a team calling themselves Ayr Thistle F.C. appeared briefly and shared only a name with the previous Ayr Thistle and no connection to the then-newly formed Ayr F.C., however, they did not last long. The Ayr Academicals name was also revived around 1884 and again had no connection to Ayr F.C.


History

At the time of the merger, two other prominent Ayr Clubs where Ayr Rovers F.C., who played at Savoy Park and Ayr Robert Burns F.C., who played at Mair Park and Virginia Park respectively. Ayr F.C. played both in their early years and in their first season they competed in the
Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Kilmarnock Athletic and the following season they recorded a 20-0 (twenty) over Dreghorn Black Watch in the
Ayrshire Cup The Ayrshire Cup was an annual association football regional competition in Scotland. The cup competition was a knockout tournament between football clubs in the historic county of Ayrshire. The Ayrshire Cup was first held in 1877–78, with ...
. Two weeks after this match they travelled to
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...
for an
Exhibition match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
with
Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay. The original Palm Bay estate was ...
, the Ayr side winning 4–1. These 'exhibition games' were regular and saw some of the biggest teams of the day play against the Ayr side, for example,
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Par ...
played against Ayr no more than four times, three times in Ayr, once in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. By the turn of the century Ayr F.C. had also played in these exhibition matches against
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the historic county of Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on the River Wear's mouth to the North Sea. The ri ...
,
Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...
and
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
. In 1884, Ayr F.C. moved the short distance from Springvale Park to Beresford Park at the top of the town (on the site that Odeon now stands). The inauguration match was won 3–1 against a side called Glasgow Pilgrims. The club's reserve side also had some success, with the 'Ayr Strollers' winning the 1887-88 Scottish Second XI Cup. In 1888, problems arose when the Annual Cattle Show was scheduled earlier than usual. The Cattle Show required Beresford Park and adjoining fields, but Ayr F.C. had a friendly arranged with Aston Villa on a conflicting date. This saw the club move north of the
River Ayr The River Ayr (pronounced like ''air'', ''Uisge Àir'' in Gaelic) is a river in Ayrshire, Scotland. At it is the longest river in the county. The river was held as sacred by pre-Christian cultures. The remains of several prehistoric sacrificia ...
to
Somerset Park Somerset Park is a football stadium located in Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It has been the home of Ayr United since they were founded in 1910. Prior to that, it was the home ground of Ayr, who merged with Ayr Parkhouse to form Ayr United. ...
, originally renting it from Walker's Chemical Works, situated just to the north. They also brought their clubhouse and grandstand with them from Beresford Park. Further adjustments to the ground for about a decade saw the club left with a debt of £600 in 1898. Ayr F.C.'s departure from Beresford Park, saw Ayr Parkhouse move in, and eventually developed a rivalry between the two clubs as the team from south of the river grew. A further important event in the club's history took place in 1888, when Ayr took on Canada and won convincingly 4–0 at the new Somerset Park. Between March and April 1897 Somerset Park was closed as the club changed the orientation of the pitch and to include a tarmacadam cycle track as well as a new grandstand. This was the format the ground would stay until the 1920s when it was changed to its current layout (by Ayr United). In 1901 Ayr F.C. won the
Ayrshire Cup The Ayrshire Cup was an annual association football regional competition in Scotland. The cup competition was a knockout tournament between football clubs in the historic county of Ayrshire. The Ayrshire Cup was first held in 1877–78, with ...
meaning the trophy would come back to the county town for the first time after defeating Stevenston Thistle 2–1 in a replay at
Rugby Park Rugby Park, also known as The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium situated in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock. It was first used in 1899 and is the home of Kilmarnock F.C. Rugby Park has also been used for c ...
. The club would go on to have further success in this competition, winning it again in 1905, 1906 and 1910, twice beating rivals Ayr Parkhouse in the final (in 1906 and 1910, in 1905 the beat Kilmarnock 1–0 to lift the trophy).


Grounds

*1879–1884 Springfield Park *1884–1888 Beresford Park *1888–1910
Somerset Park Somerset Park is a football stadium located in Ayr, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It has been the home of Ayr United since they were founded in 1910. Prior to that, it was the home ground of Ayr, who merged with Ayr Parkhouse to form Ayr United. ...


Honours

; Scottish County League * Champions (1): 1899–1900 ; Ayrshire Combination * Champions (3): 1894–95, 1895–96, 1896–97 ;
Ayrshire Cup The Ayrshire Cup was an annual association football regional competition in Scotland. The cup competition was a knockout tournament between football clubs in the historic county of Ayrshire. The Ayrshire Cup was first held in 1877–78, with ...
: * Winners (4): 1900–01, 1904–05, 1905–06, 1909–10 ; Ayr Charity Cup * Winners (8): 1884–85, 1885–86, 1886–87, 1890–91, 1892–93, 1900–01, 1901–02, 1904–05 ; Kilmarnock Charity Cup * Winners (2): 1884–85, 1886–87


Colours

1879–1910, Crimson & gold halved shirts, white shorts, crimson with gold top socks.


References

* * *


External links


Brief reference to Ayr FC
{{Scottish Football League Ayr United F.C. Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1879 Association football clubs disestablished in 1910 Sport in Ayr Scottish Football League teams 1879 establishments in Scotland 1910 disestablishments in Scotland Football in South Ayrshire