Montrose F.C.

Did You Know?

• In the 1975–76 Scottish Cup quarter-final, Montrose were 90 seconds away from beating Hearts at Links Park before an injury-time equaliser forced a replay.
• Montrose are one of only two teams from the sixteen teams in the 1925–26 Third Division still competing in the SPFL today.

History

The first Montrose Football Club was created on February 25, 1871, when local young men gathered to organize playing the "national game of football" on the Links of Montrose. The version of football they played back then looked more like rugby than the modern sport. Over the next few years, the club played friendly matches against its own members, townspeople, Montrose Academical, Arbroath, and Aberdeen University before it disbanded. A new club formed on September 8, 1877, at a meeting held at Montrose Academy.

At the new club's annual meeting on October 13, 1879, at the Town's Buildings, the committee voted unanimously to adopt General Association rules, and an association rules match among club members took place on October 18, 1879. The club played its first external match under association rules on November 8, 1879, against Arbroath Wanderers. Since the Montrose side was unfamiliar with the new rules, they lost 4–0. They are the 18th oldest association football team in Scotland still in existence.

Montrose initially played on the Links before moving to the first Links Park, east of Dorward House. That original ground was deemed unsuitable for football, so in 1887 the club moved to the present-day Links Park on land rented from the 'Auld Kirk'. Montrose debuted in the Scottish Cup in 1887 with a 5–7 win away to Broughty. By 1890, they were one of the stronger teams in Scotland, having beaten Aberdeen and faced West of Scotland sides like Dumbarton, Third Lanark Volunteers, and Glasgow Thistle.

In 1891, Alex 'Sandy' Keillor became the first Montrose player to earn a Scotland cap, called up for a win against Wales in Wrexham. He earned one more cap while at Montrose, scoring the opening goal in a 3–2 victory over Ireland in Belfast during the 1891–92 British Home Championship. Fellow 'Gable Endie' George Bowman was also capped in that match. Bowman and Keillor remain the only players selected for Scotland while playing for Montrose.

George Bowman also captained the club to its first trophy, the Forfarshire Cup, with a 5–3 win over Dundee East End in the 1892 final at West Craigie Park.

Notable players

Martin Boyle, a former Montrose forward, was selected for Australia’s 2022 World Cup squad in November 2022. He became the third ex-Montrose player named to a World Cup squad, following Jimmy Rooney (Australia, 1974) and Marvin Andrews (Trinidad and Tobago, 2006). Both Boyle and Andrews were injured before their tournaments, so Rooney remains the only former Montrose player to actually appear in a World Cup. He played in all three of Australia’s matches at the 1974 tournament in West Germany.

The Montrose Hall of Fame inductees are listed in italics, and players still with the club are in bold. The full list includes Martin Allan, Les Barr, Ivo den Bieman, Dennis D’Arcy, Hugh Davidson, Seán Dillon, Neil Forbes, Charlie Guthrie, Harry Johnston, Jimmy Kemp, Steve King, David Larter, Bobby Livingstone, Innes MacDonald, Terry Masson, Colin Maver, Colin McGlashan, Chic McLelland, Bruce Morrison, Willie Nicoll, Gary Murray, John Sheran, Andrew Steeves, Ian Stewart, Alex Stuart, Brian Third, Gordon Wallace, Paul Watson, Graham Webster, and Garry Wood.