Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

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 A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

. of

Brechin Brechin (; gd, Breichin) is a city and former Royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Traditionally Brechin was described as a city because of its cathedral and its status as the seat of a pre-Reformation Roman Catholic diocese (which continues today ...

in Angus. The club was founded in 1906 by players and officials of two local clubs, Brechin Harp and Brechin Hearts. The club currently competes in the Highland Football League after successive relegations from the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

via the play-off in 2021 after a 3–1 aggregate defeat by Kelty Hearts. The club's highest achievements include winning the third tier of Scottish football three times, the last coming in 2004–05 as champions of the Second Division. The club has also reached the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup, losing 2–0 to Queen of the South in 2002. Brechin's home ground is Glebe Park with the capacity to seat around 1,500 spectators in its capacity of 4,123. The ground opened in 1919. They are managed by ex- Hearts Women First Team Manager Andy Kirk.

History

Early years

The club was founded in 1906 by players and officials from two comparatively successful local junior sides – Brechin Harp and Brechin Hearts. A deputation from the Forfarshire Football Association had met with representatives of the local game at the Temperance Hall in City Road and managed to persuade them that Brechin would benefit from having a single senior club. Although Brechin Harp folded with the establishment of the senior side, Brechin Hearts continued as a viable and successful Junior side until the years of the Great War. The club won its first important local honour, the

Forfarshire Cup The Forfarshire Cup is a football competition in Scotland competed for by teams in the Forfarshire Football Association from Angus, Dundee and Perth. The name of the competition is often baffling to some, as "Forfarshire" is an archaic and angli ...

, in the 1909–10 season with a side that featured nine players from the town. The club moved to their Glebe Park home in 1919, a stadium which currently has a capacity of 4,123 (1,519 seated) and is famous for the

hedge A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoin ...

that runs alongside one side of the pitch.

Joining the league

The team was admitted to the Scottish league in

1923 Events January–February * January 9 – Lithuania begins the Klaipėda Revolt to annex the Klaipėda Region (Memel Territory). * January 11 – Despite strong British protests, troops from France and Belgium occupy the Ruhr area, t ...

with the formation of the original Third Division. However, City struggled, finishing bottom of the League in that first season. The club failed to make any headway in the doomed division and disappeared from the Scottish League at the end of the 1925–26 season along with most of the other teams in the division. The club was not away long, as it returned to the League for the 1929–30 season following the departure of

Bathgate Bathgate ( sco, Bathket or , gd, Both Chèit) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Armadale, West Lothian, Armadale, Blackburn, ...

and Arthurlie the previous season. Once again the club finished rock bottom. The club continued to struggle in the bottom half of the Second Division throughout the 1930s before going into hibernation during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

. Indeed, so poor was the club at times that during the 1937–38 season the club were beaten 10–0 by

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 189 ...

, Albion Rovers and Airdrieonians.

Post-war return

Brechin City returned to action in the 1946–47 season in the C Division, a competition which did not have full membership of the Scottish Football League and which contained a mix of first teams and reserve sides. The club remained in this set-up until its success in the North-East section (the division having been restructured into two separate competitions) in the 1953–54 season saw it return to full League membership. Their first season back however resulted in another bottom placed finish, although it was not relegated. Despite this shaky return the club enjoyed a halcyon period of sorts in the late 1950s, securing four consecutive top half finishes (without managing to clinch promotion) as well as reaching the semi-finals of the 1957–58

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

. The 1960s, however, saw the club struggling again, with yet another bottom place its fate for the 1961–62 season and again the following season with a further two wooden spoon efforts before the end of the decade. The unwanted feat of finishing bottom two years in a row was repeated in 1972–73 and 1973–74 as Brechin City continued to be one of the weakest sides in Scottish League football.

New Second Division

The club finished 17th out of 20 in the 1974–75 season and as such was placed in the new Division Two, which was the third tier of the restructured League. The new set-up suited the club little better as they remained in and around the bottom. However a mid-table 1979–80 season ushered in something of a change in fortune as the club began to challenge for its first promotion as full League members. With both a new stand and floodlighting added to Glebe Park, the club played with a new ambition until finally breaking its duck with a title win in the 1982–83 season. Under the chairmanship of David Will, the then Scottish Football Association vice-president and a future vice-president of FIFA, and the player-management of ex- Dundee stalwart Ian Fleming, the club pipped

Meadowbank Thistle Livingston Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Livingston, West Lothian. Livingston currently play in the Scottish Premiership and were founded in 1943 as Ferranti Thistle, a works team. The club was admitted to the ...

to the title by one point.M. Robinson, ''Football League Tables 1888–2003'', p. 133

The 1980s

Under Will's progressive leadership City found its feet in the First Division and challenged near the top in the 1983–84 season before finishing in a creditable fifth place. However 1986–87 season saw the club narrowly relegated ahead of Queen of the South although undaunted it challenged at the top of the Second Division before winning the title for the second time in 1989–90 season again by one point, this time ahead of Kilmarnock.

The 1990s

Brechin's return to the First Division was to prove somewhat inauspicious as it was immediately relegated, although 1992–93 season saw it promoted again, this time as runners-up. Again, however, it was relegated immediately and worse was to follow as it suffered consecutive demotions, dropping into the newly created Third Division, the fourth tier of League football. However once again there was an immediate change as the club finished second in this division for the 1995–96 season, ensuring promotion and five changes of division in five frantic seasons. The club was relegated again after two seasons and finished the decade back in the bottom division.

The 2000s

In the new millennium the club experienced a revival in fortune under Dick Campbell, winning the Third Division in 2001–02 season after a narrow miss the previous season. The push continued the following season as the club finished runners-up to secure a second consecutive promotion with

Chris Templeman Chris Templeman (born 11 September 1980 in Kirkcaldy) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a striker. He played for several Scottish Football League sides, spending 7 years with Forfar Athletic as well as making appearances in the ...

bagging 21 League goals for the club in a season in which it was also beaten Scottish Challenge Cup finalists. However the First Division proved too much for the part-timers as they were immediately relegated. However the topsy-turvy existence of Brechin City continued as the following season it again won the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

title, although success was soured by the departure of Campbell to Partick Thistle. Without Campbell the team struggled even more than before in the First Division and managed only two wins all season on its way to relegation under Ian Campbell, the twin brother of their previous manager. The mood was lifted somewhat by the club's centenary celebrations which included a 2-2 draw in a prestige friendly against

English Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

side

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

at Glebe Park. The club, led by the management of Michael O'Neill and with the goal threat of

Iain Russell Iain Thomas Russell (born 14 November 1982) is a Former Scottish professional footballer who last played as a forward for Cowdenbeath, on loan from Pollok. Russell came through the youth teams at Annan Athletic and Rangers before making a f ...

, finished fourth in the following season's Second Division and under new arrangements this entitled it to a place in promotion play-offs, although a 6–1 aggregate mauling at the hands of Airdrie United put paid to any hopes of another immediate return to the second tier. 2007–08 proved somewhat disappointing as City missed out on the play-offs by finishing sixth, and on 31 January 2008, was thrown out of the Scottish Cup after fielding two ineligible players in its 2–1 fourth round replay win over

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

. Hamilton Academical took their place in the fifth round. 2008–09 proved a season of upheaval as O'Neill left on 15 December 2008 to take charge of Republic of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers, although the experienced Jim Duffy followed him into the hotseat on 9 January 2009 and led the club to third place and a play-off place. Once again however the play-offs did not prove rewarding as

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 is ...

recorded a 5–2 aggregate win over the club to leave Brechin City in the Second Division for 2009–10. Under Duffy Brechin made the play-offs again the following season but Duffy resigned after Brechin were beaten 3–0 on aggregate by

The 2010s

For the 2010–11 season the club appointed

Jim Weir James McIntosh Weir (born 15 June 1969) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. Weir played in the senior Scottish leagues for Hamilton Academical, Hearts and St. Johnstone. He has also worked as manager of Montrose, Arbroath, ...

as manager, departing Arbroath at short notice after leading them to relegation. That season, Brechin reached the quarter-finals of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,SPL SPL may refer to: Association football * Saudi Professional League * Scottish Premier League * SportPesa Premier League, Kenya * Singapore Premier League * RoboCup Standard Platform League, matches between autonomous robots Computing Program ...

side St Johnstone at Glebe Park, resulting in a replay which City eventually lost 1–0 after a valiant effort. On 14 May 2011, Brechin beat Cowdenbeath 4–2 on aggregate, in the 1st Division play-offs semi-final, to set up a final with Ayr United, in which the victors secured First Division football for season 2011–12. In the first leg at Somerset Park the match ended 1–1 however Ayr won the second leg at Glebe Park 2–1 meaning that Brechin stayed in the Second Division. The club appointed Forfar Athletic defender Darren Dods as player/manager in June 2015. Dods' first season with the club saw Brechin remain rooted to the bottom of

for the majority of the 2015–16 season, winning just four of their first twenty-six matches. However, a late burst of form saw the club win eight of the final ten games, pushing the side clear of the relegation and play-off positions to finish the season in seventh. Dods' second season was in stark contrast to the first, with Brechin remaining in the top four for most of the season 2016–17. Finishing the season in fourth, the club then went on to win promotion to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

for the first time in 11 years, defeating

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

and

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

in the Championship play-offs.

Back to back relegations

Brechin's return to the second tier proved short lived; having not won a league match and with four points, the club were relegated on 24 March 2018 following a 2–0 loss to

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

. Brechin ended their Championship campaign with a 1–5 loss to Queen of the South at Glebe Park. This meant the club became the first senior Scottish side in 126 years to fail to win a single game in a league season. Brechin ended the 2017–18 season with no wins, four draws, 32 defeats and no away points at all. Brechin went into the 2018–2019 season as favourites for promotion; however they ended up in yet another relegation battle which resulted in the club finishing bottom of League One and back to back relegations. The 2019–20 season again turned into a battle to stay off the foot of the table and dodge a play-off that could result in relegation to the Highland League. The club were at the bottom of League Two when the league was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, and avoided the play-offs due to the league eventually being curtailed.

Out of the SPFL

On 23 May 2021, Brechin lost 3–1 on aggregate to Lowland League side Kelty Hearts in the relegation playoffs, dropping down to the Highland League, the club's first spell out of the national leagues in 67 years. In June 2021, after the departure of player/manager Michael Paton, the club appointed Andy Kirk to the role of club manager. In the club's first season in the Highland League, they secured a respectable third-place finish.

Rivalries

Brechin share several rivalries with clubs from Angus, such as Arbroath, Forfar Athletic and Montrose, and contests between them are known as Angus derbies.

Recent managers

* Frank Sandeman (1970–1971) * Bobby Methven (1971–1972) *Ken Dick (1972–1974) *Charlie Dunn (1974–1978) * Ian Stewart (1978–1979) * Doug Houston (1979–1982) * Ian Fleming (1982–1987) * John Ritchie (1987–1993) * Ian Redford (1993–1994) *

John Young John Young may refer to: Academics * John Young (professor of Greek) (died 1820), Scottish professor of Greek at the University of Glasgow * John C. Young (college president) (1803–1857), American educator, pastor, and president of Centre Col ...

(1994–2000) * Dick Campbell (2000–2005) * Ian Campbell (2005–06) * Michael O'Neill (2006–2008) * Jim Duffy (2009–2010) *

(2010–2012) * Ray McKinnon (2012–2015) * Darren Dods (2015–2018) * Barry Smith (2018–2019) * Mark Wilson (2019–2020) * Michael Paton (2020–2021)

Honours

**Champions: 1982–83, 1989–90, 2004–05 **Runners Up:

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, 2002–03 **Play-off winners: 2016–17 * Third Division **Champions: 2001–02 **Runners Up: 1995–96 * Challenge Cup **Runners-Up: 2002–03 *

**Champions: 1909–10, 1952–53, 1958–59, 1996–97, 2008–09 * Scottish League Division C **Champions: 1953–54 *

Scottish Qualifying Cup The Scottish Qualifying Cup was a football competition played in Scotland between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The Qualifying Cup ...

**Champions: 1950–51 * Keith Tournament **Champions: 1982–83

Club records

*Record victory: 12–1: vs Thornhill F.C. on 23 January 1925–26 *Biggest loss: 0–10: vs Airdrieonians,

and Albion Rovers 1937–38 *Biggest home

attendance Attendance is the concept of people, individually or as a group, appearing at a location for a previously scheduled event. Measuring attendance is a significant concern for many organizations, which can use such information to gauge the effectiven ...

: 8,122: vs

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

on 3 February 1972–73 *Record league appearances: David Watt 459 *Record scorer: Ian (Pink) Campbell 131 *Record for goals in one season: Ronald McIntosh (26) 1959–60

Club staff

Board of directors

*Chairman: Kevin Mackie *Vice-chairman: Grant Johnson *Secretary: Gary Robertson *Treasurer: John Littlewood *Directors: Kevin Mackie, Grant Johnson, Grant Turriff, David Hamilton, Paul Ritchie *Football Operations/Committee: Dean Greig, Gary Robertson, John Littlewood, Graham Donald, Murray Lindsay, Clark Renilson, Dick Robertson *Commercial Director: Keith Haggart *Advisor:

Craig Levein Craig William Levein (born 22 October 1964) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is currently a full-time advisor to the board of directors at Highland Football League club Brechin City. During his playing care ...

Coaching staff

*Manager: Andy Kirk *Assistant Manager: Stephen Simmons *Goalkeeping Coach: *Kitman: Allan Grieve *Physio: Seb Panczyk

Current squad

On loan

Notable players

This list contains the players who have made at least 100 League appearances for Brechin City between the 1940s and the 2010s (figures indicate league appearances and goals scored, whilst bold type indicates a player still at the club).Brechin City: 1954/55 – 2013/14
Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Transfer Database *

Bobby Aitken Bobby Aitken is a Cuban-born Jamaican guitarist and singer who had a string of hits in Jamaica in the 1960s and led the band The Carib Beats. Biography Aitken is the brother of Laurel Aitken, and recorded in the early 1960s for producer King ...

(149/3) * Ray Allan (129/0) *Richard Baillie (127/0) * Kevin Bain (123/24) *Roddie Black (200/19) *Ralph Brand Jr. (174/43) *Alex Brown (120/0) *Bobby Brown (444/33) * Harry Cairney (355/3) * Dick Campbell (157/7) * Ian Campbell (282/478) *Graeme Christie (129/7) *Doug Clark (145/5) *

Frank Conway Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

(200/7) * Andy Dow (100/7) *Charlie Dunn (223/22) *Alex Edmiston (127/0) *Charlie Elvin (225/19) *Craig Farnan (102/7) * Ian Fleming (132/15) * Graham Gibson (100/18) *Ralph Gillespie (112/29) * Steven Hampshire (123/31) *Bisset Harrier (208/15) *Hugh Hill (118/4) *Jimmy Hodge (227/3) * Andy Jackson (208/167) *Steve Kerrigan (111/19) *John Kidd (103/2) * Charlie King (297/54) *David Lawrie (166/0) *Gordon Lees (203/41) *Ray Lorimer (107/7) * George Mackie (118/15) *James McKellar (148/15) * Duncan MacLeod (124/3) * Paul McLean (299/21) *Tom McLevy (236/0) *Billy McNeill (128/17) * Marc Millar (123/25) * Jim Morton (124/22) * Derek Neilson (244/0) * Craig Nelson (209/0) *Archie Paterson (142/1) *Ian Paterson (256/65) *Brian Reid (139/37) *Brian Reid (303/6) * John Ritchie (287/0) * Paul Ritchie (179/60) *Ronnie Robb (136/30) *Sandy Ross (120/40) * Frank Sandeman (128/12) *Doug Scott (414/18) *John Sime (164/1) *Greig Smith (103/1) *Jamie Smith (100/11) *Peter Smith (141/5) * Les Sneddon (157/43) * Stuart Sorbie (118/23) *Bobby Stewart (113/19) *Ian Stewart (116/14) *Clark Sutherland (104/7) *

(129/55) * George Tidy (124/0) *Willie Tocher (159/15) * Scott Walker (128/0) * Bobby Warrender (200/83) *David Watt (459/3)

Notes

References

External links

Official site
{{Scottish Football League Football clubs in Scotland Football clubs in Angus, Scotland Association football clubs established in 1906 1906 establishments in Scotland Scottish Football League teams Scottish Professional Football League teams Brechin Highland Football League teams