Scarborough
Formed 1879
Promoted to Division Four 1987. Relegated to the Conference 1999.
Kit History
1879-1885 m
1885-1890 m
1890-1894 m
1894-1902 a j m
1902-1905 j
1905-1906 m
1910-1911 a j
1914-1920 m
1924-1929 a j
1929-1931 a j
1931-1938 j
1938-1939 a j
1945-1947 a j
1947-1948 m
1948-1949 j
1952-1953 a j
1956-1957 a
1961-1963 a
1964-1965 a
1966-1967 a
1967-1968 a
1969-1970 a
1970-1971 a
1971-1972 a
1972-1973 a
1973-1975 a o
1975-1976 a
1977-1978 a
1978-1979 a l
1980-1981 a
1981-1982 a
1982-1984 a h i
1984-1985 a h
1985-1986 a
1986-1987 a
1987-1988 a c n
1988-1989 a n
1989-1990 a n
1990-1991 a
1991-1992 a k
1992-1993 a b
1993-1994 g
1994-1995 a
1995-1996 h k
1996-1997 a k
1997-1998 a g
1998-1999 a
1999-2000 a i n
2000-2001 h
2001-2002 a i
2002-2003 h
2003-2004 d
2004-2005 f
2005-2006 e
2006-2007 e
2007-2008 a h
Background
The club was formed by members
of the local cricket club in 1879 with whom they shared a ground until
1898 when they moved into the Athletic Stadium and joined the Northern
League. In 1927 the club turned professional and joined the Midland League,
winning the championship in 1930. The following season they reached the
third round of the FA Cup for the first time, only to be eliminated by
Grimsby Town. Eight years later they reached the third round once again
and took Luton Town to a replay, which they lost 0-5. Legend has it that
the club's share of the gate money was spent by players and officials
on an extended pub crawl on the journey home.
The club adopted various colours throughout their career but since the early 1960s, red has been predominant.
In 1968 Scarborough became founder members of the Northern Premier League. While the Seadogs did not manage to win the championship, they established themselves as one of the country's leading non-league sides with three FA Trophy wins at Wembley in 1973, 1976 and 1977. In 1976 they reached the FA Cup third round once more and lost to Malcolm Allison's fancied Crystal Palace side. Two years later they beat Rochdale and Crewe to reach the third round yet again, losing 0-3 at Brighton in front of 23,748 spectators.
In 1979 the Alliance Premier League was formed and Scarborough were invited to become founder members. After seven seasons of solid but unspectacular mid-table performances, the club won the championship of what was now the GM Vauxhall Conference and became the first club to win automatic promotion to the Football League.
Boro' spent 12 years in the League, appearing twice in the promotion play-offs but mainly struggling near the foot of the table. They had some success in the League Cup, beating Chelsea 3-2 in a replay at the Athletic Ground in 1989 and reaching the fourth round in 1993 after defeating Bradford City, Coventry and Plymouth Argyle before narrowly losing 0-1 at home to Arsenal.
Following a sponsorship deal with a well-known manufacturer of frozen food, which involved the Athletic Stadium being renamed the McCain Stadium, fans dubbed their modest ground the "Theatre of Chips."
In 1999, Scarborough finished bottom of the League after a remarkable final day of the season that saw Carlisle United gain a miraculous reprieve when their on-loan goal-keeper headed home a goal deep in injury time to give the Cumbrian side a one point advantage. Relegation brought severe financial problems and a succession of new owners and boards who managed to drive the club deeper into crisis. In 2001-02 the club was brought to the verge of extinction but survived under new chairman Malcolm Reynolds. Financial problems continued to beset the club and in June 2006 they were relegated to Conference North with a ten point penalty for infringing the strict insolvency rules. Twelve months later, having suffered a another relegation to the seventh tier, Scarborough was wound up at Leeds High Court with debts of £2.5m.
Shortly afterwards the Seadog Trust, took the initiative to form a new club, Scarborough Athletic who were admitted to the North East Counties League for the 2007-08 season. The all-red kit, ordered by Scarborough FC for the new season and never used, is now worn by the new club.
Sources
- (a) Scarborough FC - Images of Sport (Paul Eade 2002)
- (b) James Freund
- (c) Crewe Alexandra FC - Images of Sport (Harold Finch 1999)
- (d) Port Vale FC Official Website
- (e) Scarborough Official Website
- (f) www.kipax.com
- (g) Paul Alterskye
- (h) The Seadog Bites Back was run by James Hunter who is now associated with Scarbrough Athletic
- (i) Alliance to Conference (John Harman 2005)
- (j) The Complete A to Z of Scarborough Football Club (Steve Adamson) provided by Derek Megginson
- (k) David King
- (l) Alick Milne
- (m) Roger Hopkin
- (n) James Taylor
- (o) Ralph Pomeroy