Troon FC

Beginnings of football in Troon

Despite Troon being synonymous with golf, there are records to the effect that local football has a history which began approximately three years before the golf course at the end of the South Beach was ever considered.

Troon Portland

As far back as 1875 there was a Troon Portland football team, reckoned as seniors, though most of their matches were of necessity friendlies since no leagues of any kind were then available. But they did play clubs such as Irvine, Irvine Victoria, Ayr, Kilmarnock Athletic, Kilmarnock Portland and other county teams.

The first Troon Portland team was as follows: Goal, Frank Briggs, Backs, Charles Fullarton, David Connell, and Hugh Allison; Half backs, Robert Hastings and James Connell; Forwards. Reuben McNeillage. John Kennan, James Murchie, William Cunningham, John Johnstone. Robert Smith. and David Johnstone.

Troon Academicals

The first proper football club in Troon first came into being in 1889, when Troon Academicals (together with 23 other clubs) became members of the first ever Ayrshire Junior Football Association. That Troon side won the Irvine and District Cup in 1891–92 and again in 1894–95. Two of their players, D. Boyd and T. Walker, played as a left wing for Scotland against England.

The Troon Academicals name was reborn in 2009 by a Troon F.C. affiliated supporters team of the same name.

Troon Rangers

In 1904–05 the Ayrshire Consolation Cup was won by a Junior team named Troon Rangers.

Troon Athletic

Troon Athletic were founded in 1919 by the Troon Federation of ex-Servicemen with a committee headed by Tom Wallace (President) William Noble (Treasurer) and William S. Elliot (Secretary). Their home ground was at the public park in Troon from the Station Hill to the Yorke Road Bridge.

Troon Athletic joined the Kilmarnock and District Junior League, winning it at the first attempt in the 1920–21 season. Their first team was as follows;– S. Elliott, W. Kettle, and A. Hendry; P. McAdam, G. Elliott, and H. Murdoch; J. Wright and J. Hillditch; A. Howie: J. McLean and R. Hunter.

In 1921–22, and now playing in the stronger Western league, they finished in seventh place out of nineteen clubs. the Scottish Cup saw a run to the sixth round, which was then the stage of the last sixteen clubs in the competition. Fellow Ayrshiremen, and eventual Cup winners, Kilwinning Rangers put an end to the Cup dream. However, they won the Ayrshire Junior Cup when over three thousand people watching them defeat Ardeer Thistle 2–1 at Rugby Park, home of Kilmarnock Football Club.

In 1924 the Ayrshire Consolation Cup came to town, after a 3–0 defeat of Cumnock. Another two years passed and Athletic were again in the running for honours. Semi-finalists in the Western League Cup and Ayrshire Consolation Cup, finalists in the Irvine & District Cup, and in the last sixteen of the Scottish Cup, it was a season of near misses. In the Scottish Cup, they had their record win in the trophy, with a second round 11–4 win against Glasgow Highlanders, but Renfrew put the run to an end.

The four seasons in the Intermediates was relatively successful, winning the Ayrshire Intermediates Cup (1928–29) and the Gold Watch competition (1929–30) as well as being finalists in the 1930–31 Stirling Trophy. In 1935, Saltcoats Victoria defeated Athletic by a convincing four goals to nil in the final of the West of Scotland Consolation Cup, whilst 1936 saw their final piece of silverware won, in the shape of the Ayrshire Consolation Cup, with a 4–3 win against Kilbirnie Ladeside.

Second World War

As with most levels of football, Junior football was suspended during the period of the Second World War of 1939–1945, and Troon Athletic closed down for good in 1940 as many of the players and officials were involved in Air Raid patrols or working overtime in the local shipyard, with insufficient time to run a football club.

Troon Juniors formed

After the Second World War, Junior football reformed and the people of Troon grasped the opportunity of a new dawn in Scottish football in the post-war era.

Troon Juniors, a brand new club, was established in 1946 at the newly constructed Portland Park, a purpose-built stadium to give the club the opportunity to progress in Scottish football.

Troon Juniors played in the Western League North Section but the first few years saw little of any note, with league form being poor and usually ending in a lowly position. By 1953–54, the years of waiting finally bore some fruit, with sixth place achieved in the Western League, only four points behind Champions Irvine Meadow. Winners in the Land O'Burns Cup (4–0 against Kilbirnie Ladeside) and finalists in the Ayrshire Junior Cup, there was something to cheer the fans. To round off a good season, the fifth round of the Scottish Cup was reached, before losing 3–0 to Clydebank Juniors. The fourth round saw unusual opposition in Argyll side Lochgilphead, who were routed by four goals to one.

In 1955–56, as well as getting to the semi-finals of the two cups they had reached the final of two years earlier, a final placing of 5th in the league, though nineteen points off the top, was their best to date. After this, it was back to almost obscurity for a decade, with early exits and poor league form the norm.

The mid-1960s saw a brief improvement, with the first semi-final appearance in a decade (in the Western League Cup) and the following season they ended as second in the league and semi-finalists of the West of Scotland Cup. The Western League was disbanded in 1968, when Junior football was regionalised and The Ayrshire Region of the Scottish Junior Football Association was formed. We had our first taste of international recognition in 1969 when Gordon Armstrong was capped by Scotland at both Junior and Amateur level in successive weeks, playing in both matches against Wales. Troon Juniors played in the Ayrshire League Northern Section until season 1976–77 when the Sectional formation was abandoned. This was replaced by two Divisions with Troon Juniors being assigned to the Second.

Troon Football Club

After 1977 the term "Juniors" was dropped from the club title, which was the fourth occasion in the history of football in Troon that the town's Junior club changed its name. From then on it was simply known as "Troon Football Club" and it was around this time that black and blue vertical stripes first appeared on the club shirts, and they have remained to this day.