Falkirk F.C.

History

The club's formation date is uncertain; some accounts point to 1876, others to 1877, but the former is used by the club and its fans. Falkirk joined the Scottish Football Association in 1878, becoming eligible for the Scottish Cup, and reached the second round in its first year. Early matches were mostly friendlies, played at Hope Street, Randyford Park and Blinkbonny Park before moving to Brockville Park in 1884. The Stirlingshire Football Association was founded in 1883, leading to the Stirlingshire Cup, which Falkirk won in its inaugural season.

The club was elected to the Second Division of the Scottish Football League in 1902–03 and promoted to the First Division after two seasons. A proposal to merge with local rivals East Stirlingshire was narrowly rejected before Falkirk finished second in the top flight in 1907–08 and again in 1909–10, both times behind Celtic, becoming the first Scottish club to score over 100 league goals in a season. Falkirk won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 1913, beating Raith Rovers 2–0 in the final.

In 1922, the club broke the world record transfer fee by paying £5,000 for striker Syd Puddefoot from West Ham United. The following year, Falkirk played against the Scottish Football League XI to raise funds for those affected by the Redding mine disaster.

Stadiums

In its early years, Falkirk played at Hope Street, Randyford Park and Blinkbonny Park. The first pitch was on Hope Street, the site that became Brockville Park in 1884. After one season, the club moved to Randyford Park in 1878, where it played its first competitive match, a Scottish Cup win against Campsie Glen. Blinkbonny Park was used between 1881 and 1883.

Brockville Park, located a quarter of a mile from Falkirk town centre, was the club's home from 1885 to 2003. It was largely terraced, with a capacity of 7,500 to 8,000 in later years; the largest attendance was 23,100 for a Scottish Cup match against Celtic in 1953. When the SPL was created in 1998, Brockville Park did not meet its all-seater criteria, and Falkirk was denied promotion three times. The club left after the 2002–03 season, and the stadium was demolished and replaced by a supermarket that displays Falkirk memorabilia.

For the 2003–04 season, Falkirk ground-shared Ochilview Park with Stenhousemuir while its new stadium was built. The Falkirk Stadium, an all-seater venue in the Westfield area, opened in 2004.

Supporters and rivalries

Falkirk's strongest recent rivalry is the Kincardine Derby with Dunfermline Athletic, whose grounds are about 13 miles apart, separated by the River Forth. The origin of the rivalry is unclear, as former Falkirk manager John Hughes noted in 2005, but the clubs have played important promotion and relegation matches over the past thirty years. A notable match was 'Super Tuesday' on 7 March 1989, when Falkirk beat Dunfermline 4–0 at Brockville in front of 9,200 fans.

Another significant encounter was the 2008–09 Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park, where Falkirk won 2–0 to reach the final. The club's traditional rival was East Stirlingshire, also based in Falkirk. The two teams regularly met in the Stirlingshire Cup and league football after Falkirk's election to the Scottish Football League in 1902–03. Their last competitive league fixture was in April 1982, a 3–0 win for East Stirlingshire.

The clubs have not been in the same league since, though they met in the 1999–2000 Scottish League Cup second round, which Falkirk won 2–0 after extra time.

Managers

Willie Nicol was Falkirk's first manager, appointed in 1905; before that, manager appointments were assigned to the club secretary. Nicol had been club secretary from 1900, then secretary/manager, and finally manager, and is the longest-serving manager in the club's history. Alex Totten, who managed from 1996 to 2002 and led the side to the 1997 Scottish Cup final, was named the club's lifetime ambassador ahead of his retirement from football in 2021. This list does not include caretaker managers or those who managed in a temporary capacity, and only competitive matches are counted.