Kirkcaldy United F.C.
Full name | Kirkcaldy United Football Club | |
---|---|---|
Nickname(s) | the United, the Fifers[1] | |
Founded | 1901 | |
Dissolved | 1916 | |
Ground | Scott's Park | |
Capacity | 12,000 | |
|
Kirkcaldy United Football Club was a football club from Kirkcaldy in Scotland.
History
The club was founded as Kirkcaldy Amateurs at the start of the 1901–02 season,
The club joined the
After two mid-table seasons in the Northern League, the club had a banner year in 1906–07. It won the 8-team Fife Cup for the first time, beating Cowdenbeath 3–1 in the final at Stark's Park in front of 2,160 people;[9] the strength of the tournament being demonstrated by each of the other teams being Scottish League members present or future. The same season, the club won the Northern League, jointly with the Dundee 'A' (i.e. reserve) side. The United had finished its fixtures one point clear of Dundee, who had not been able to play the newly-defunct Hearts of Beath; after expunging all fixtures, the United and Dundee were level on points, and the Fifeshire FA agreed to award the title jointly to the pair. Possibly as a result of this success, Raith Rovers proposed a merger of the two Kirkcaldy sides in 1908, but it did not proceed.
In 1909 the club was one of several of the Northern League sides which joined the Central League, a de facto third division in Scotland, which, between 1909 and 1915, featured 21 teams in total; three were reserve sides, and 17 of the other 18 would end up as members of the Scottish League. The only club which never made it was Kirkcaldy United. The United did apply in 1912–13, when runner-up in the Central League, and having won the Fife Cup a second time by beating East Fife 5–2 in the final,[10] but the two clubs facing re-election were both re-elected.[11]
Kircaldy United went into abeyance in 1916,
Colours
The club originally played in black and white,[15] changing to blue and white in 1913.[16]
Grounds
They played their early games in Steedman's Park, moving to an open field at Overton Park in 1903.[17] In 1905 they moved into their new home, a purpose-built park named Scott's Park,[18] and brought the fixtures and fittings over with them. It was situated at the corner of Factory Road and Kidd Street.[19] After World War 1 this section of Factory Road was renamed Beatty Crescent.
The record crowd at Scott's Park was 12,000, for the 1909–10 Scottish Cup first round replay tie with Queen's Park, which the visitors won 6–1, the scores having been level at 1–1 at half-time.[20]
External links
References
- ^ "Fife Custodian". Daily Record: 6. 24 January 1910.
- ^ "Towns, Fields & Clubs of Fife" (PDF). Scottish Football Historical Archive. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ "Dewar Shield". Perthshire Advertiser: 3. 28 March 1904.
- ^ Mathers, Stewart. "Season 1904–05". Beautiful Dribbling Game. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ "Kirkcaldy v Morrisonians (Crieff)". Strathearn Herald: 8. 28 January 1905.
- ^ "Kirkcaldy Pluck". Daily Record: 6. 13 February 1905.
- ^ "Stevenston's Win". Daily Record: 6. 2 February 1914.
- ^ "Fife Custodian". Daily Record: 6. 24 January 1910.
- ^ "Association game". Glasgow Herald: 11. 4 March 1907.
- ^ "Football". Glasgow Herald: 14. 1 May 1913.
- ^ "Scottish League Re-elections and Elections" (PDF). Scottish Football Historical Archive. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ "Field and pavilion". Daily Record: 5. 22 August 1916.
- ^ "Raith Rovers shut shop". Daily Record: 7. 25 July 1918.
- ^ "Football notes". Lothian Courier: 4. 6 June 1919.
- ^ "League and Cup ties". Daily Record: 6. 22 September 1905.
- ^ "Club Directory". Scottish Football Historical Results Archive. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
- ^ "Broxburn get a big defeat". Lothian Courier: 3. 6 May 1904.
- ^ "Club Directory". Scottish Football Historical Results Archive. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
- ^ 1914 Ordnance Survey map for Kirkcaldy
- ^ ""Fifers" beaten". Daily Record: 6. 7 February 1910.