Bo'ness Athletic F.C.

Did You Know?

• They only played 26 matches at Junior level before COVID-19 cancellations.
• They won the EoSFL Third Division in 2022–23 with just one loss all season.

History

The club began in 2001 as Linlithgow Thistle, playing in the Lothian and Edinburgh Amateur Football Association. In 2019, after Bo'ness United left the East Region Junior leagues for the East of Scotland Football League, Thistle moved to Bo'ness and became Bo'ness United Juniors, keeping a Junior side in the town. The pandemic cut their Junior stint short to just 26 matches. In 2021, all remaining East Region Junior clubs south of the River Tay joined the East of Scotland league, and the team renamed itself Bo'ness Athletic, severing ties with Bo'ness United.

The older club's chairman worried about a rival in the same league system in their small town, though by then his side had moved up to the Lowland Football League. Athletic won their first trophy in 2022–23, taking the East of Scotland Third Division title with just one loss, and also lifted the League Cup after beating five sides from higher divisions. They followed up by winning the Second Division in 2023–24. The next season, 2024–25, they earned promotion again as First Division runners-up and won the King Cup. In March 2026, the club announced it would resign from the league and fold at the end of the 2025–26 season.