University of Stirling Football Club are 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

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

, Scotland. They are associated with the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

and have played in the

Lowland Football League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the ...

since 2013. The club operates six teams which compete in a combination of BUCS Football League (British university competitions) and in senior and amateur leagues across Scotland. The club currently have six teams in the BUCS Football League and also a team in the

, East of Scotland Football League, Lowlands U20 Development League and the

Caledonian Amateur Football League The Caledonian Amateur Football League is a football (soccer) league competition for amateur clubs in Scotland. It was formed in 1983 by inviting what were deemed to be top amateur clubs from across central Scotland with good facilities with hig ...

. The university deliver a High Performance Football Programme which provides players to the first team. As part of this programme, students can be offered football scholarships to study for a degree and play football at the university. The football scholarship programme is named after Craig Gowans, a talented

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

player who died in 2005 while training with the university.

History

The club was admitted to the First Division of the East of Scotland Football League in 2008, after

Berwick Rangers Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland. Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...

withdrew their

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players under contract to a club but who do not normally play in matches for the first team. Reserve teams often include back-up players from the first team, young players who need playing time to i ...

. The 2009–10 season was one of great success for the students, as they won the First Division title in only the team's second season in the East of Scotland League. They also won the Scottish Universities Championship and reached the King Cup final, losing to East of Scotland Premier Division champions

Spartans Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...

0–2 at Ferguson Park, Rosewell. In the 2010–11 season, in their first season in the East of Scotland Premier Division, the students secured a second-place finish and also suffered defeat in the King Cup final at the hands of Spartans at the

Falkirk Stadium The Falkirk Stadium is a football stadium in Falkirk, central Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish League One club Falkirk and Lowland Football League club East Stirlingshire. The stadium has a capacity of and currently consists of t ...

. They were successful in the Alex Jack Cup, winning the final 7–0 against Lothian Thistle at the Falkirk Stadium. In 2012, Stirling University again won the Alex Jack Cup, beating Gretna 2008 in the final. In March 2012, the university's first year scholar Stephen Hoyle left the program to sign for

ASB Premiership The New Zealand Football Championship ( mi, Te Whakataetae Whutupaoro a Aotearoa) was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a m ...

side

Hawke's Bay United Hawke's Bay United was a professional Association football club based in Napier, New Zealand. HB United most recently played in the ISPS Handa Premiership – a semi-professional franchise based league, which ran independently of the winte ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Stirling University had a remarkable 2011–12 season, bringing three trophies back to the university, including the East of Scotland Premier Division title for the first time. This saw the university compete in the 2012–13 Scottish Cup, participating in the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic in the second round, with the university losing 0–1. It was announced in 2013 that Stirling University would be admitted to the

Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior association football, football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, actin ...

as a founding member. The University would use

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 ...

Forthbank Stadium Forthbank Stadium is a football stadium in Stirling, Scotland. Opened in 1993, it has been the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Stirling Albion since then. Since 2013 it has also hosted the first team matches of Lowl ...

for their home fixtures. In August 2014, the University of Stirling became the first senior club in Britain to appoint a female manager when

Shelley Kerr Michelle Kerr (born 15 October 1969) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is currently the English Football Association's technical lead for women's national teams. As a player Kerr was a powerful centre back, who captained ...

took charge, Kerr took over as Scotland women's head coach on 13 April 2017. Following her departure, long-serving striker Chris Geddes was promoted to the role of first team coach after assisting Kerr throughout previous seasons. Many of the University Scholars have gone on to play professionally in recent seasons. At the end of the 2012–13 season, goalkeeper Kevin Walker left the university to sign a one-year professional contract with

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 ...

side

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

. More recently, two of the first team players during the 2018–19 season signed pre-contracts with professional clubs. Lewis Hunter and Blair Lyons signed professional terms with

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 e ...

sides East Fife F.C. and

Montrose F.C. Montrose Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish Semi-professional sports, semi-professional Association football, football team, based in the town of Montrose, Angus, Montrose, Angus, Scotland, Angus. The club was founded in 1879. They are memb ...

respectively. Former club captain, Angus Mailer signed a pre-contract with

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 ...

ahead of the 2020–21 season, joining up with former Uni teammate Rory MacEwan, who signed for Elgin the season prior. After 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 identif ...

curtailed the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, the University managed to complete the 2021–22 season by finishing in 10th place, alongside a defeat in the Second round of the Scottish Cup to fellow Lowland League side

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

. The 2022–23 season would turn out to be a fairly successful season for the University, by mid-January they would find themselves in 5th place in the League, but more impressively they had qualified to the

Fourth round Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

of the Scottish Cup, laying aside non league sides Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale, Dunbar United in their run to the third round, where they would meet

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 ...

side

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scotti ...

at Rover's home ground

Cliftonhill Cliftonhill Stadium, commonly known as Cliftonhill and currently 'The Reigart Stadium' for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League te ...

. The University managed to take the League side to extra-time in the tie, before in the 111th minute they took the lead and went on to win the tie to reach the fourth round for the first time in their history. The University were looking forward to a possible bumper tie, as Premiership sides entered the competition at this stage, and they were rewarded with a tie away to

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

where they took a 1,000+ crowd to

Tannadice Park Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in ...

as the University lost against the Premiership side 3–0, but nonetheless they were praised by many across Scottish football and beyond for their remarkable efforts. The University finished the campaign in 4th place, behind only Celtic B, Rangers B and league champions Spartans, this secured their best league finish since 2017.

Ground

Since 2013 the University's first team have played their Lowland League matches at

, groundsharing with

(apart from the 2017–18 season when they played at the

). Prior to this they played at Gannochy Sports Centre, which is still used by their second team playing in the East of Scotland League.

Current squad

Coaching staff

Women

In 2014 the women's team joined forces with Falkirk L.F.C. and compete as Stirling University and Falkirk L.F.C.

Season-by-season record

Lowland League

† Season curtailed due to coronavirus pandemic.

Honours

Below is a list of honours won by the first team squad of Stirling University Football Club.Honours – Stirling University FC
Stirling University. Retrieved 24-05-2014.

League

East of Scotland 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 ...

Premier Division: 2011–12 *

First Division: 2009–10

Cup

* SFA South Region Challenge Cup: 2011–12 *Lowland League Cup: 2013–14 *East of Scotland Qualifying Cup: 2022–23 *East of Scotland King Cup: 2011–12 *East of Scotland League Alex Jack Cup: 2010–11, 2011–12 *Stirling and District Amateur League Robertson Trophy: 1982–83

As students (1st XI only)

* BUSA Premier Division North: 2010–11, 2013–14, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23 * BUSA Football Championship: 2013–14 *SUFA Queen's Park Shield: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1988–89, 2000–01, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2016–17

External links

Official website

References

{{East of Scotland League Football clubs in Scotland Football clubs in Stirling (council area) University of Stirling University and college football clubs in Scotland East of Scotland Football League teams Lowland Football League teams