Fort William Football Club is a senior football team from Fort William,

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creatio ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. They play in the

North Caledonian Football League The North Caledonian Football Association is a football association operating throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and is a recognised body of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and as such has its senior football competitions of ...

having being relegated from the 2021–22 Highland Football League.

History

Origins and the early years

The club was founded in 1974 by then chairman Colin Neilson and started out playing mainly friendlies and cup competitions, such as the

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 ...

, the

North of Scotland Cup The North of Scotland Cup is a knock-out tournament for football teams in membership of the North of Scotland Football Association. The teams involved are based in the Highlands and Moray and membership consists of senior clubs from the Scotti ...

and the

Inverness Cup The Inverness Cup is a football competition for teams around Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. Originally, it was contested by the four Inverness based teams: Caledonian, Citadel, Clachnacuddin and Thistle, but became an invitational tourna ...

. This lasted for 11 years, before they joined the North Caledonian League in 1983. The club enjoyed much success in their two-year spell in the North Caledonian League. They won both the ''Chic Allan Cup'' and ''Morris Newton / SWL Cup'' in successive seasons, while also winning the ''Football Times Cup'' and finishing as runners-up in the league in the 1983–84 season. However, the season after, 1984–85, they won the division outright, making it their only league championship victory to date. Ever since forming in 1974, the club had tirelessly campaigned for entry into the Highland League, but were rejected many times before they were admitted to the North Caledonian League in 1983. After significant success in their brief spell in the NCL, the club were finally given entry to the Highland League, and began life there in the 1985–86 season. Fort William played their first-ever Highland League match against nearest rivals Clachnacuddin in a game which ''The Fort'' won, with striker Gordon MacIntyre scoring their maiden Highland League goal in a 1–0 home win. Later that season, they recorded their highest-ever attendance of 1,500 when they entertained Scottish Football League side

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, before losing 6–0 in the replay at Annfield a week later. Prior to the days of the Highland League and the North Caledonian League, the club produced, arguably, their most famous player to date. In the late 1970s, John McGinlay made his senior debut for Fort William at the age of 14, coming on as a substitute in a North of Scotland Cup tie with now Scottish Professional Football League side

Elgin City Elgin City Football Club (also known as City or The Black and Whites) is a professional senior football club based in Elgin, Moray. Elgin was founded in 1893 and originally played their football in the Highland Football League. The club was g ...

(formerly of the Highland League). At the age of 17, he moved to Nairn County, and would later go on to play in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

with Bolton Wanderers and eventually represent

. He was childhood friends with another, now former, professional footballer Duncan Shearer, who also hailed from Fort William.

Recent times

The club was unable to build upon their relatively competitive start to life in the Highland League, and gradually, season-by-season, began to struggle to the point where they had finished bottom in 14 of the 18 seasons between 1996–97 and 2013–14. Their struggles included a record 17–0 away defeat in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, to now

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

side

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

. Despite this, ''The Fort'' did not finish bottom that season, with the

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

going to Nairn County. In the 2008–09 season, they accumulated only a solitary point from 28 matches, making it the Highland League's record lowest points total since its inception. During the 2008–09 season, an exciting future appeared forthcoming, when television producer and former

resident, Paul MacDonald, unveiled his vision for the football team. In conjunction with his American Entertainment company, ''PMAC Tonight'', he planned to create a reality TV series based around the toiling team. The premise was to import some of the best young American talent from college campuses across the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, in an attempt to take Fort William ''"From Worst to First"'', in what was envisaged to be the ultimate underdog story. However, after much initial media hype, the project failed to materialise. The club formerly fielded a reserve side in the

, but were forced to disband this team prior to the 2011–12 season due to a lack of playable pitches in the Fort William area - something that has always plagued the club. They were, however, able to set up an Under 19s team, which was formed with the sole purpose of participating in the

Scottish Youth Cup The Scottish Youth Cup (also known as the SFA Youth Cup) is an annual Scottish football competition run by the Scottish Football Association for under-18 teams,

. In January 2015, the club made history when it recorded four consecutive league victories for the first time since joining the Highland League, after a 2–1 success over Clachnacuddin. The club's continuing presence in the Highland League was threatened in early 2018 as all six directors announced they would be stepping down at the end of the season. However, despite a poor season (picking up just five points and conceding over 180 goals), it was announced that Fort William would continue its involvement for the 2018-19 season. Five games into the 2018–19 season and still pointless, the club was deducted nine points by the Highland League after fielding an ineligible player on three occasions. They finished the season with no wins and two draws from their 34 games, ending on -7 points. This led to them being dubbed ''"The worst football team in Britain".'' In July 2019,

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 ...

club

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team currently competes in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional ...

loaned nine players to Fort William in order to both prepare the youngsters for professional football and bolster the Fort William squad. On 31 July 2019, Fort William won their first competitive match in 707 days when they defeated Nairn County 5–2 in a

tie, ending a 69-game run without a victory. This win came one day after BBC Scotland broadcast ''The Fort'', a documentary on the club's winless run. After another winless month, Fort William finally recorded their first league win in 882 days on 11 September, with a 1–0 home win against Clachnacuddin. In the 2021–22 season, Fort William finished bottom of the table and were relegated to the North Caledonian League after forfeiting their

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

match against North Superleague side

Banks O' Dee F.C. Banks o' Dee Football Club is a Scottish football club from the city of Aberdeen that plays in the Scottish Highland Football League. Their home ground is Spain Park, by the banks of the River Dee. In 2009, Banks o' Dee were among four clu ...

Current squad

Honours

* North Caledonian League **Champions: 1984–85 *Football Times Cup **Winners: 1983–84 *Chic Allan Cup **Winners: 1983–84, 1984–85 *Morris Newton / SWL Cup **Winners: 1983–84, 1984–85

League positions

All final positions are from the Highland League.

Claggan Park

Their ground, Claggan Park, has a capacity of 1,800 - and is sometimes regarded as one of the most picturesque grounds in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, mainly due to the views of the nearby

Ben Nevis Ben Nevis ( ; gd, Beinn Nibheis ) is the highest mountain in Scotland, the United Kingdom and the British Isles. The summit is above sea level and is the highest land in any direction for . Ben Nevis stands at the western end of the Grampian ...

mountain range. Claggan Park consists of standing areas on all sides of the pitch, with one 'rustic' stand that can seat 200 spectators. To date, the record attendance is 1,500 - recorded in a

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

. Often during the autumn and winter months, many home matches are postponed (usually due to a waterlogged pitch) - a consequence of the heavy rainfall the town experiences.

References

External links

*
Facebook

Twitter
{{Highland Football League Football clubs in Scotland Highland Football League teams Former North Caledonian Football League teams Association football clubs established in 1974 1974 establishments in Scotland Football in Highland (council area) Fort William, Highland