Stirling Albion

Origins

Stirling Albion was founded in 1945 after the town's previous football team King's Park had failed to survive the Second World War. King's Park's ground (Forthbank) had been damaged during the war, having been hit by a German bomb on 20 July 1940. This was one of only two bombs to fall on the town during the Second World War.

The new club was the brainchild of local businessman Thomas Fergusson, a local coal magnate, and he purchased the Annfield estate to build a new stadium. Annfield was situated within a quarter of a mile from the town centre and would be the home of The Binos until 1992.

The name 'Albion' supposedly came from the make of Fergusson's coal trucks. This however is an urban myth. Albion Coal lorries were used as grandstands but the club was named at a meeting of fans long before a ball was kicked. (Reference, Stirling Journal Newspaper, 1945.) The name Albion was chosen because it was an old word for Great Britain and held meaning for the founder.

The yo-yo years

Between 1946 and 1968, the club gained a reputation as a club that was too good for the lower league but never quite good enough to establish themselves in the top flight, being relegated and promoted several times, hence the club's nickname of The Yo-Yos. For a time it was a saying in Scotland that something or somebody was "going up and down like Stirling Albion". In 1966 the club became the first British team to play in Japan.

The 1970–1980s

Under the vastly experienced Bob Shankly, Stirling made progress, achieving consecutive third place finishes in 1971–72 and 1972–73, narrowly missing out on promotion to the top tier.

On retiring to the boardroom, Shankly was succeeded for one season by Frank Beattie but then handpicked his long-term protege, former Albion player Alex Smith, who had been cutting his managerial teeth at Stenhousemuir. Smith's first season in 1974–75 saw the club finish 8th, three points behind Alex Ferguson's St Mirren in 6th. That slim margin would prove crucial as league reconstruction meant it was the difference between staying in the Second Division or starting afresh in the new third tier.

Over the next two seasons, Smith began a major rebuild of the playing staff that would create one of Albion's finest squads. To a core of long-standing regulars including midfielder Robert Duffin, half-back James Clark and goalkeeper George Young, he added, among others, centre-half John Kennedy from Partick Thistle, Clyde full-back James Burns and Hibernian youngsters Allan Moffat and David Steedman. Midfielder Robin Thomson and teenage winger Graeme Armstrong also arrived from non-league football.

Albion opened the 1976–77 season with a League Cup campaign that saw them nearly topple Premier Division Aberdeen in the quarter-finals, losing the first leg 1–0 at Pittodrie but then winning the return by the same score at Annfield with a Robert Gray header. The Dons won the replay at the neutral ground of Dens Park, Dundee, 2–0, before beating both Rangers and Celtic on the way to lifting the trophy. Albion went on to win the Second Division crown that season, conceding only 29 goals in 39 matches and taking the title with several games to spare.

Back in the second tier, Albion finished a creditable 5th in 1977–78 and enjoyed comfortable mid-table finishes in the subsequent two seasons. However, despite consolidation on the pitch, Annfield's infrastructure was in dire need of repair and the club's cash supplies began to run low.

The 1980–81 season started memorably with a stunning 1–0 win over Celtic in the first leg of their second round League Cup tie thanks to a Lloyd Irvine goal. They took an early lead in the 2nd leg at Parkhead too with a Matt McPhee free kick, but minutes away from a famous victory, a late Tommy Burns strike took the tie to extra time. Albion were eventually overwhelmed and lost 6–2 on aggregate, a teenage Charlie Nicholas coming off the bench to grab his first two goals for the Hoops.

Following a third match against Celtic – a 3–0 defeat in the Scottish Cup in February – goals and confidence dried up and 13 games without finding the net led to relegation back to the 3rd tier. Through necessity, Albion began to cash in on the squad's better players, and Smith was given the task of developing a conveyor belt of local talent to sell on and keep Albion afloat.

George Young had already signed for Rangers for £20,000 in 1979 but the exodus began to pick up pace. Defender George Nicol went to Dundee United in 1981 and John Kennedy to St Johnstone a year later.

Three of Smith's local discoveries left in quick succession in 1983 and 1984: striker John Colquhoun to Celtic, midfielder Brian Grant to Aberdeen and Scotland youth defender John Philliben to Doncaster Rovers. Meanwhile, stalwart goalkeeper Gordon Arthur departed for Dumbarton. Despite the calibre of the players leaving, Albion maintained consistent top-half finishes and, in 1984, racked up a record 20–0 Scottish Cup victory over Selkirk, which made headlines around the world.

Following a bright start to the 1986–87 campaign, Smith was prised away to take charge of St Mirren, and his assistant George Peebles took over at Annfield. Albion finished third and missed out on promotion only on goal difference.

Three more local players were poached from the club between 1986 and 1987: Willie Irvine by Hibernian and Robert Dawson and Keith Walker by their old boss at St Mirren, bringing the total revenue raised from player sales linked to the Smith era to nearly £1 million.

However, off the field, the council had decided to make as much money as possible from Annfield, and the grass pitch was considered not to be cost effective. The main stand was also demolished after being declared an unsafe building. An extra large crowd turned up in September 1987, to see Stirling play Ayr United on the first-ever game on artificial turf in Scotland.