Farewell East Stirlingshire

[Aten]

Founded in 1880 as Bainsford Britannia becoming East Stirlingshire a year later. Scottish Cup participants since 1882 and League members since 1900. Sadly they did to themselves what the Steedmans could not do in 1964 nor a Rangers led court case in 1965 and that is lose their status as senior league club. Be interesting to see if they can ever return. Full senior record as follows.

League, Top Tier P 72 W 12 D 5 L 55 F 92 F 206 W 17% D 7% L 76% GD -114
League, Second Tier P 1712 W 584 D 350 L 788 F 2933 A 3490 W 34% D 20% L 45% GD -557
League, Third Tier P 680 W 208 D 175 L 297 F 866 A 1101 W 31% D 26% L 44% GD -235
League, Fourth Tier P 792 W 223 D 130 L 439 F 921 A 1539 W 28% D 16% L 55% GD -618

League Overall P 3256 W 1027 D 660 L 1569 F 4812 A 6336 W 32% D 20% L 48% GD -1524

Scottish Cup P 225 W 76 D 40 L 109 F 398 A 472 W 34% D 18% L 48% GD -74
League Cup P 182 W 43 D 33 L 106 F 222 A 385 W 24% D 18% L 58% GD -164
Challenge Cup P 35 W 10 D 3 L 22 F 45 A 86 W 29% D 9% L 63% GD -41
Spring Cup P 6 W 1 D 2 L 3 F 4 A 8 W 17% D 33% L 50% GD -4
Victory Cups P 8 W 4 D 3 L 1 F 30 A 19 W 50% D 38% L 13% GD 11
Texaco/Anglo Scottish Cup P 2 W 1 D 0 L 1 F 3 A 4 W 50% D 0% L 50% GD -1

Overall Total P 3714 W 1162 D 741 L 1811 F 5514 A 7311 W 31% D 20% L 49% GD -1797

[sam peckinpah]

I was at Ochilview on Saturday and I felt heart sorry for the 'Shire fans at the end. Being an Airdrie fan, I know what this sort of loss feels like. I hope they don't fold. Their survival up to now is a tribute to perseverance. Like so many of us however, they found out that the loss of your ground sounds the death-knell. Ironic in that regard that Firs Park still lies derelict. IMO, it was a nice trim wee ground back in the day.

It'll be odd seeing them in the strange Lowland League, with all its new made-up clubs like Cumbernauld Colts and BSC Sports. Looking forward to their clash at East Kilbride, my local ground, already.

[BMCCOLL]

Clubs that move into groundsharing schemes are really living on borrowed time, they are stripped of most of their identity.

[Rob R]

In Atens summing up of their fixtures over the years did his 3rd tier league matches include their C Division games ?

[Aten]

My bad Rob. I should have made it clear that the table did not include the '50's C Division results. I tend to regard these fixtures akin to non league matches given the bulk of the games were against reserve opposition.

[Alan McCabe]

I also attended the last SFL game, for the time being at least, against Edinburgh City and it was a particularly poor effort from the League 2 club.
Knowing many followers of The Shire, they appear stoic in their determination to support the club in the LL in the hope that a return could be achieved quickly. For most, supporting the club is as much a day out as it is anything else. How can you ever be a glory-hunter if glory never comes your way?
Undoubtedly, the biggest worry for the club is the groundsharing issue with Stenhousemuir. They are locked in a medium-term contract which, I understand, has no flexibility for accommodating such unseen outcomes as Shire dropping out of the SFL. Stenhousemuir absolutely benefit from the situation but how would anyone expect it to ever be anything else? The age-old rivalry between these small local rivals obviously doesn't help, indeed at Shire home matches in the SFL the tannoy announcers regularly welcomes the crowd to "Lesser Firs Park".
Firs Park, ironically, is still sitting undeveloped in a potentially lucrative part of the town centre. Alan Mackin has failed on a number of occasions to either get planning permission for housing or sell the site for potential housing development. Falkirk Council have the ground designated as recreation space in its project plan so it's become a bit of a white elephant. A walk across what was the pitch is a sobering affair as all around lies in a state of decay with no actual structures left intact.
Talk of moving to Grangemouth Stadium, Little Kerse or even sharing with Camelon Juniors at Carmuirs Park appear irrelevant given the contract agreement at Stenhousemuir. With a parachute payment only coming at the end of this upcoming season, there is no guarantee of a quick return. Away support is likely to be poor although many SFL clubs will have brought negligible numbers too. Admission fees will undoubtedly tumble though, and while the loyal supporters appear happy to maintain ST prices, the lack of pools income, advertising revenue and, most importantly, media coverage will surely harm the club's finances.
As previously stated, the loss of a ground with no apparent path to remedy the situation leaves the club in a perilous state. Who knows, as one of the 'big clubs' next term, something The Shire can't have claimed since the 1890s!, there may indeed be that reinvigoration that the club has sought for some time.
Up The Shirey Pirey!