Brechin City F.C.

Did You Know?

• The club won the Second Division title in 1982–83 and again in 1989–90, each time by a single point.
• Brechin reached the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup in the 2010–11 season, drawing 2–2 with SPL side St Johnstone at Glebe Park before losing the replay 1–0.

History

The club was formed in 1906 by players and officials from two local junior sides, Brechin Harp and Brechin Hearts, after a deputation from the Forfarshire Football Association met with local representatives at the Temperance Hall in City Road and persuaded them that a single senior club would benefit Brechin. Brechin Harp folded upon the establishment of the senior side, while Brechin Hearts continued as a junior side until the Great War. The club won its first important local honour, the Forfarshire Cup, in the 1909–10 season with a side featuring nine players from the town.

In 1919 the club moved to Glebe Park, a stadium with a capacity of 4,123 (1,519 seated) and known for the hedge along one side of the pitch. Brechin City was admitted to the Scottish league in 1923 with the formation of the original Third Division, but finished bottom in its first season and disappeared from the Scottish League at the end of the 1925–26 season along with most other teams in that division. The club returned to the League for the 1929–30 season after Bathgate and Arthurlie departed the previous season, again finishing rock bottom.

Throughout the 1930s the club struggled in the bottom half of the Second Division, and during the 1937–38 season it lost 10–0 to Cowdenbeath, Albion Rovers and Airdrieonians. After going into hibernation during the Second World War, Brechin City returned in the 1946–47 season in the C Division, a competition that did not grant full Scottish Football League membership and included both first teams and reserve sides. The club remained in that setup until its success in the North-East section (the division having been restructured into two separate competitions) in the 1953–54 season, which saw it return to full League membership.

Its first season back resulted in another bottom-place finish, though it was not relegated. The late 1950s brought a halcyon period with four consecutive top-half finishes (without promotion) and a semi-final appearance in the 1957–58 Scottish League Cup.

Notable players

The list of players who have made at least 100 league appearances for Brechin City between the 1940s and the 2010s includes Bobby Aitken (149/3), Ray Allan (129/0), Richard Baillie (127/0), Kevin Bain (123/24), Roddie Black (200/19), Ralph Brand Jr. (174/43), Alex Brown (120/0), Bobby Brown (444/33), Harry Cairney (355/3), Dick Campbell (157/7), Ian Campbell (282/125), Graeme Christie (129/7), Doug Clark (145/5), Frank Conway (200/7), Andy Dow (100/7), Charlie Dunn (223/22), Alex Edmiston (127/0), Charlie Elvin (225/19), Craig Farnan (102/7), Ian Fleming (132/15), Graham Gibson (100/18), Ralph Gillespie (112/29), Steven Hampshire (123/31), Bisset Harrier (208/15), Hugh Hill (118/4), Jimmy Hodge (227/3), Andy Jackson (208/68), Steve Kerrigan (111/19), John Kidd (103/2), Charlie King (297/54), David Lawrie (166/0), Gordon Lees (203/41), Ray Lorimer (107/7), George Mackie (118/15), James McKellar (148/15), Duncan MacLeod (124/3), Paul McLean (299/21), Tom McLevy (236/0), Billy McNeill (128/17), Marc Millar (123/25), Jim Morton (124/22), Derek Neilson (244/0), Craig Nelson (209/0), Archie Paterson (142/1), Ian Paterson (256/65), Brian Reid (139/37), Brian Reid (303/6), John Ritchie (287/0), Paul Ritchie (179/60), Ronnie Robb (136/30), Sandy Ross (120/40), Frank Sandeman (128/12), Doug Scott (414/18), John Sime (164/1), Greig Smith (103/1), Jamie Smith (100/11), Peter Smith (141/5), Les Sneddon (157/43), Stuart Sorbie (118/23), Bobby Stewart (113/19), Ian Stewart (116/14), Clark Sutherland (104/7), Chris Templeman (129/55), George Tidy (124/0), Willie Tocher (159/15), Scott Walker (128/0), Bobby Warrender (200/83), and David Watt (459/3). Bold type indicates a player still at the club.