Lochgelly United Football Club was a football club based in

Lochgelly Lochgelly ( ; gd, Loch Gheallaidh, IPA: �ɫ̪ɔxˈʝaɫ̪ai is a town in Fife, Scotland. It is located between Loch Ore, Lochs Ore and Gelly to the north-west and south-east respectively. It is separated from Cowdenbeath by the village of ...

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 ...

. Nicknamed the 'Happylanders', the club were members of the Scottish Football League between 1914 and 1926.

History

The club was formed in 1890 by the merger of two local clubs, Lochgelly Athletic (formed 1886) and Fifeshire Hibernian (formed 1889), and initially played at Schools Park. They spent their time variously in the Northern and Central leagues, and even had a spell between 1898 and 1902 when they played only cup games and friendlies. In 1901 the club moved to Reids Park, where they remained until 1910, when they moved again, to Recreation Park. They were admitted to the

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 1914, although the competition was suspended in 1915 due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. They continued in the

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

and Central Leagues and returned to the Second Division when it was reinstated in 1921. However the club suffered a traumatic season in 1923–24, setting two unwanted records for the old Second Division – most defeats in a season (30) and fewest league goals in a season (20). The Happylanders home form that season had been noted for low scores with the club and their visitors sharing only 22 goals in 18 of the 19 matches. However, in one match, played against King's Park on 16 February 1924, the club lost 8–3, half the total of all the others put together.J. Rollin, ''The Guinness Football Factbook'', Enfield: Guinness Publishing, 1993, p. 128 They were relegated to the new Third Division in 1924 and, when this was disbanded at the end of the 1925–26 season, they joined 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 ...

. They remained in this league until 1928 when they were wound up.

Former players

1. Players that have played/managed in the top two divisions of the Scottish Football League or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).
2. Players with full international caps.
3. Players that hold a club record or have captained the club. * Archie Devine *

James Haldane The Rev James Alexander Haldane aka Captain James Haldane (14 July 1768 – 8 February 1851) was a Scottish independent church leader following an earlier life as a sea captain. Biography The youngest son of Captain James Haldane of Airth ...

* Tommy Vail

References

External links

Lochgelly United
Historical Kits {{Football in Fife Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1890 Association football clubs disestablished in 1928 Football clubs in Fife Scottish Football League teams 1890 establishments in Scotland 1928 disestablishments in Scotland Lochgelly