Stirling Albion
Formed 1945
Elected to Division “C” 1946
Kit History
1945-1946 a
1946-1947 a
1947-1948 a
1948-1950 a
1950-1953 a
1953-1954 a
1954-1955 a
1955-1957 a b
1959-1961 a
1961-1964 a
1964-1965 a
1965-1967 a
1967-1968 a
1968-1970 a
1971-1973 a
1974-1977 a c
1977-1980 a b
1980-1981 b
1983-1984 g
1985-1987 b
1987-1988 b
1988-1991 d
1992-1993 e
1993-1994 d
1995-1996 d
1996-1997 d
2001-2002 d
2002-2004 d
2004-2005 d
2005-2006 d
2006-2007 d
2007-2008 f
Background
Prior to World War Two, the town of Stirling was represented in the Scottish League by King’s Park FC. The club had been closed down for the duration and in June 1940, their ground was damaged by the only German bomb to fall on the town. In the spring of 1945 discussions were held with a view to restarting the club. A local coal magnate, Thomas Ferguson, offered to reinstate King’s Park in the new stadium he planned to build at Annfield but the board decided to wait for war compensation. Ferguson went his own way and formed Stirling Albion to play in his brand new stadium. Meanwhile King’s Park remained closed and when the Scottish League was reinstated in 1946, Albion took King’s Park’s place.
Albion won their divisional championship and were promoted to Division “B” (second tier) in 1947. From then until the 1960s, their exploits gave rise to the phrase “going up and down like Stirling Albion” and they became known as “The Yo-Yos.”
In the late 1960s, Albion languished in the Second Division until reconstruction in 1975 placed them in the new Division Two, now the third tier. In 1977 they won promotion but their career in the second tier came to an end in 1981 when, with the club on the brink of bankruptcy, they failed to score a single goal in eight months and were relegated back to the Second Division.
To raise funds, Albion (now known as “The Binos”) sold their Annfield ground and leased it back from the district council, who acquired a prime city centre site, ripe for redevelopment at a knock-down price. In 1986, having demolished the main stand for reasons of safety, the council decided to install an artificial pitch in order to enable greater use of the stadium and generate more revenue. In September 1987 a large crowd turned out to watch the first game in Scotland to be played on artificial turf. SFA rules allowed clubs in cup competitions to refuse to play on plastic pitches so for the next five years, all of Stirling Albion’s cup ties were played away from home.
In April 1991, Albion ended ten years in the lowest league with the Second Division championship. They also quit Annfield and moved into the new Forthbank Stadium overlooking the River Forth and in 1996 they won promotion to Division One (second level). After one respectable mid-table finish, they went into serious decline and by 2002 they finished second-bottom in the Third Division (fourth and lowest tier).
In 2007, the Binos gained promotion via the play-offs to Scottish Division One (second tier).
Sources
- (a) Alick Milne
- (b) Ralph Pomeroy
- (c) London Hearts
- (d) SNS Pix
- (e) Raith Rovers FC 1991/92 - 1995/96 Images of Sport (Tony Finister 2002)
- (f) Partick Thistle FC Match Gallery
- (g) The Guardian 8 December 2007