Bo'ness Football Club was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Falki ...

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 the ...

. The club was a member of 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 south ...

from 1921 to November 1932, and played at

Newtown Park Newtown Park is a multi-purpose stadium in Wellington, New Zealand, owned and managed by Wellington City Council. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer) matches in winter, and athletic events in summer. Newtown Park is the primary at ...

. Their home kit consisted of royal blue shirts and white shorts.

History

The club claimed a foundation date of 1881, although there is reference to a Bo'ness Football Club existing in 1878. The earliest record of a match is of a pair of fixtures against the

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshop ...

club's second XI of

Bonnybridge Bonnybridge ( gd, Drochaid a'Bhuinne; sco, Bonniebrig) is a village in the Falkirk council area of Scotland. It is west of Falkirk, north-east of Cumbernauld and south-southwest of Stirling. The village is situated near the Bonny Water which ...

in late 1881. The club moved to Newtown Park in 1886, opening the ground with a fixture against

Dumbarton F.C. Dumbarton Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Dumbarton, Scotland. Founded on 23 December 1872, they are one of the oldest football clubs in Scotland. The club plays home games at the Dumbarton Football Stadium next to Dumbar ...

, losing 4-0. It joined the Eastern Football Alliance in 1891, but the league failed to complete its first season. After winning the East of Scotland Shield in 1894–95, Bo'ness returned to competitive league football in 1901 as a member of the Central Football Combination and eventually ended up in the

Central Football League There have been at least three competitions in Scotland known as the Central Football League The first was originally formed in 1896 by five clubs - Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline Athletic, Fair City Athletic, Kirkcaldy and St Johnstone. In 1897 this v ...

. Along with much of the membership of the group, Bo'ness were admitted to the newly expanded

Scottish Football League Second Division The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SF ...

in 1921. After five seasons of mid-table finishes, the club won the Second Division championship in 1927 and were promoted to the First Division. The club was relegated back to the Second Division after just one season. Bo'ness then struggled financially, like many other clubs in the region, due to the decline of the local coal and shale oil industries. Bo'ness offered free admission to local unemployed people after 30 minutes of play. The club struggled to raise the £50 match guarantee to visiting clubs in 1931, but was surprisingly re-elected. The failure to pay the match guarantees to Stenhousemuir F.C. and

Brechin City F.C. Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...

in October 1932 meant that the club was expelled from the League; the blame was put on "industrial depression and the opposition of dog racing in neighbouring towns". The club had an overdraft at the time of £500 and the club's record of 4 wins, 2 draws, and 8 defeats was expunged. Bo'ness continued as a non-league side until 1939, appearing in the

Scottish Football Alliance The Scottish Football Alliance was a football league football structure set up in Scotland in competition with the Scottish Football League. Its success in the early years of professional football in both England and Scotland made Alliance the bas ...

, Edinburgh and District League, Scottish Football Combination and the

East of Scotland Football League The East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) is a senior football league based in the east and south-east of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–9 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Fo ...

. Future Scotland international Alex Munro also came through the ranks at this time. The club survived

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

but merged with local side Bo'ness Cadora to form junior club Bo'ness United in 1945.

Stadium

*1881–1885 Field at site of Parish church *1885–1886 Soo Cra Park *1886–1945 Newtown Park.

Scottish Football League record

Notable former players

Players at the club who were also full internationals: * George Allan *

Willie MacFadyen William MacFadyen (23 June 1904 – 20 January 1971) was a Scottish football player and manager. A goalscoring centre forward, his 52 league goals for Motherwell's 1931–32 championship winning side remains the record goals total for a sin ...

* Alex Munro * Christy Martin

References

External links

Club history and kits
{{Scottish Football League Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1882 Association football clubs disestablished in 1945 Football in Falkirk (council area) Scottish Football League teams 1882 establishments in Scotland 1945 disestablishments in Scotland Bo'ness