Peebles Rovers F.C.

Peebles Rovers

Full name

Peebles Rovers Football Club

Founded

1893

Ground

Whitestone Park, Peebles

Capacity

2,250

Chairman

Gerry Rossi

Manager

John O'Hara

League

East of Scotland Football League

2014–15

East of Scotland Football League Division One, 1st

Website

Club home page

Home colours

Peebles Rovers Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Peebles, Scottish Borders. The club name was resurrected in 2010, after playing since 2006 as Peebles Football Club. They currently play in the East of Scotland Football League First Division. Founded in 1893, they play their home matches at Whitestone Park.

History

Peebles Rovers were members of the Scottish Football League Third Division between 1923 and 1926, and had only a modest record – finishing 14th and 8th in the two full seasons played, and were 14th in the unfinished 1925–26 season. All told, Peebles Rovers played 86 Scottish Football League matches, winning 28, drawing 15 and losing 43. They scored 159 goals and conceded 190. Their record victory at their Whitestone Park home was 7–1 against Beith on 18 April 1925. Their best away win was 5–2 away against Galston, seven days previously on 11 April 1925. In 1937 Peebles Rovers moved from their traditional home in Victoria Park to Whitestone park, after a local businessman successfully managed to acquire planning rights to the eastern end of Victoria Park, intending substantial development that was subsequently curtailed due to the start of World War II.

Peebles Rovers themselves were active long before the Third Division, being formed in 1893, and have played in the Scottish Cup proper over twenty times. Their first appearance was back in 1907–08, when they lost 4–0 away to Celtic. In their first 11 appearances, they were drawn away from home on each and every occasion, spanning 19 ties in all. They managed to win three of these and draw two, including holding Hibernian to a 0–0 draw at Easter Road in 1923 – easily their best result in the competition. In this season, Paddy McBoyle starred as top scorer with a total of 27 league goals.

Other than a replay win over St Cuthbert's Wanderers, they did not have a home tie until beating Keith 7–3 in 1926. They drew away to Albion Rovers in the next round, before losing the replay. They also drew with their Coatbridge namesakes in 1957, and again lost the replay.

The season before that, they were involved in a marathon tie with Brechin City. There was a 1–1 draw away, 4–4 at home after extra time, 0–0 in a second replay at Easter Road, again after extra time and finally losing 6–2 in a third replay, at Tannadice.

After that they took some serious hammerings, losing 10–0 away to St Mirren in 1959, 6–1 at home against Ayr United the next year, and then a 15–1 slaughter away to Hibernian in 1961. Joe Baker scored nine that day and his brother Gerry grabbed four in the earlier debacle at Love Street. During the 1959–1960 season, there was a record 23–2 defeat at the hands of Partick Thistle.

Their final appearance was better though, in 1965–66, they drew 2–2 at Dumbarton and took the Sons to extra time in the replay before losing 3–2. After the match both sides celebrated the match as an exemplar of what football could be.

Their greatest moment in the Qualifying Cup (South) came in the 1953–54 competition, when they defeated Shawfield Amateurs 6–1, Burntisland Shipyard 7–0, Selkirk 4–2 (all at home) and Coldstream 4–1 after a 1–1 draw away to reach the final. After this run of successful, a number of local businessmen in the town attempted to purchase the club and rebrand it "Peebles Armadillos", but were unsuccessful after players protested in a candlelit vigil in front of the local Parish church. Latterly the club was only an associate member of the Scottish Football Association due to the inadequate facilities at Whitestone Park, thus becoming ineligible to compete in the Qualifying Cup and Scottish Cup.

While Peebles Rovers won many minor and local competitions, the highest level they played at, the Third Division apart, is the East of Scotland League, which they won on six occasions – 1928–29, 1932–33, 1933–34, 1934–35, 1935–36 and 1945–46.

In the 1966–67, Rovers joined the junior grade of football and entered a period of decline, until they rejoined the senior ranks in the East of Scotland League in the 1980–81. When that set-up was altered to two divisions in the late-1980s, they found themselves in the (lower) First Division, and during this period endured a prolonged period of financial hardship resulting in several members of the squad volunteering in the local town to make ends meet. Although they won promotion several times, their stays in the Premier were of short duration. In the 2007–08 season, Peebles won promotion to the East of Scotland Premier Division, but were relegated to the First in the 2010–11 season.

Largest crowds to watch them have been 14,000 and 10,453, both at Easter Road in the Scottish Cup in 1923 and 1961. The record gate at Whitestone Park is recorded as 1,750 for the 4–2 first round Scottish Cup win over Gala Fairydean in 1961.

External links

Official website

East of Scotland Football League

Burntisland Shipyard Civil Service Strollers Coldstream Craigroyston Duns Eyemouth United Hawick Royal Albert Heriot-Watt University Leith Athletic Lothian Thistle Hutchison Vale Ormiston Peebles Rovers Spartans Reserves Stirling University Reserves Tynecastle

Defunct and former Scottish football clubs

Former Scottish Football League members	Abercorn Airdrieonians (1878) Armadale Arthurlie Ayr Ayr Parkhouse Bathgate Beith Bo'ness Broxburn United Cambuslang Clackmannan Clydebank Cowlairs Dumbarton Harp Dundee Wanderers Dykehead Edinburgh City Galston Gretna Helensburgh Johnstone King's Park Leith Athletic Linthouse Lochgelly United Mid-Annandale Nithsdale Wanderers Northern Peebles Rovers Port Glasgow Athletic Renton Royal Albert Solway Star St Bernard's Third Lanark Thistle Vale of Leven

Former Highland League members	Caledonian Elgin Caledonian Inverness Celtic Inverness Citadel Inverness Thistle Inverness Union

Former East of Scotland League members	Edinburgh Athletic Tollcross United

Former South of Scotland League members	5th Kirkcudbrightshire RV Cronberry Eglinton Lanemark Mauchline Springbank Stranraer Athletic Tarff Rovers Whithorn

Other senior clubs	23rd Renfrew RV Aberdeen (1881) Airdrie Alexandra Athletic Ayr Academicals Ayr Thistle Barholm Rovers Barrhead Bellstane Birds Blythswood Bon Accord Bridge of Allan Bute Rangers Callander Campsie Clifton & Strathfillan Clydesdale Coylton Coila Crown Dumbreck Dundee East End Dundee Harp Dundee Our Boys Eastern Gairdoch Grahamston Grangemouth Granville Grasshoppers Inveraray Kilsyth Wanderers Kirkcaldy United Laurieston Lochgilphead Orion Oxford Redding Athletic Rovers Shawfield Amateurs Slamannan Southern Strathmore (Arbroath) Strathmore (Dundee) Thornliebank Vale of Bannock Vale of Leven Rovers (Alexandria) Vale of Leven Rovers (Glasgow) Victoria United West End Western

Other junior clubs	Arbroath SC Baillieston Juniors Bankfoot Athletic Blackburn Athletic Blantyre Celtic Burnbank Athletic Duntocher Hibernian Glenbuck Cherrypickers Maryhill Hibernians Parkhead Port Glasgow Athletic Juniors Shawfield Strathclyde

Scottish Football League (1890–2013)

≫ Scottish Professional Football League (2013–present)

Divisions	Premier Division (1975–1998) First Division (1975–2013) Second Division (1975–2013) Third Division (1994–2013)

Cup competitions	League Cup Challenge Cup

Clubs	Aberdeen Abercorn Airdrieonians (1878) Airdrieonians (2002) Albion Rovers Alloa Athletic Annan Athletic Arbroath Armadale Arthurlie Ayr Ayr Parkhouse Ayr United Bathgate Beith Berwick Rangers Bo'ness Brechin City Broxburn United Cambuslang Celtic Clackmannan Clyde Clydebank Cowdenbeath Cowlairs Dumbarton Dumbarton Harp Dundee Dundee United Dundee Wanderers Dunfermline Athletic Dykehead East Fife East Stirlingshire Edinburgh City Elgin City Falkirk Forfar Athletic Galston Greenock Morton Gretna Hamilton Academical Heart of Midlothian Helensburgh Hibernian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Johnstone Kilmarnock King's Park Leith Athletic Linthouse Livingston Lochgelly United Meadowbank Thistle Mid-Annandale Montrose Motherwell Nithsdale Wanderers Northern Partick Thistle Peebles Rovers Peterhead Port Glasgow Athletic Queen of the South Queen's Park Raith Rovers Rangers Renton Ross County Royal Albert Solway Star St Bernard's St Johnstone St Mirren Stenhousemuir Stirling Albion Stranraer Third Lanark Thistle Vale of Leven

Seasons	1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13

Clubs Stadia Monthly awards Representative team

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