Annan Athletic F.C.: Difference between revisions

Annan Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football club based in the town of Annan, Dumfries and Galloway. The club was founded in 1942 and competes in Scottish League One as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League.

The club competed in Scottish junior football and English regional leagues before becoming a member of the Scottish Football Association in 1978 which made the club eligible to compete in the Scottish Cup for the first time. Annan Athletic won the South of Scotland League twice and the East of Scotland League four times before successfully applying to join the Scottish Football League (SFL) in 2008.^[3]

Annan Athletic’s best finish in the SPFL was second in League Two in 2013–14 whilst its best result in the Scottish Cup is reaching the fifth round in 2021–22. The club is managed by Peter Murphy and plays its home games at Galabank in the north of Annan.^[2]

History[edit]

Founded in December 1942 as Annan Air Training Corps, the club changed their name to Annan Athletic the following April. They entered the Dumfries and District Youth League, but this competition lasted only throughout the war years, and in 1945 they joined the Dumfries and District Junior League instead. They had a fairly successful time as a junior club, reaching the fifth round of the Scottish Junior Cup on one occasion (losing 2–1 to Perth side Jeanfield Swifts).

In 1950–51 the Dumfries and District Junior League had to be wound up due to lack of officials, and the following season (1951–52) the club had to go into abeyance as the Junior Association would not release them from their membership. For the following season (1952–1953) Annan Athletic joined the Carlisle and District League and the Cumberland Football Association. This proved an astute move when Annan Athletic won every competition they entered bar one in their first season in membership.

Annan remained members of the Carlisle and District League until they moved back to Scottish football in the 1977–78 season when they joined the South of Scotland Football League. This switch, along with some upgrade work to their Galabank ground also allowed the club to compete in the qualifying stages of the Scottish Cup as well.

The club proved very successful in the South League, winning every competition that was available to them. In an attempt to get more competitive football, they joined the East of Scotland Football League in season 1987–88, although they maintained their commitment to the South League by running a reserve side. They won promotion in their first season in the East League, and two years later won the Premier Division. They became one of the league’s top sides and qualified for the Scottish Cup’s early rounds on various occasions.

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Annan applied to join the Scottish Football League in 2000, when two new clubs were admitted, but lost out to Peterhead and Elgin City. Following the demise of local rivals Gretna in 2008, Annan applied along with four other clubs to replace them in the Third Division. They were the successful candidate, being chosen due to the standard of their facilities, ahead of Cove Rangers, Spartans, Preston Athletic and Edinburgh City.