East Stirlingshire F.C.

East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Falkirk. They are members of the Scottish Football League and currently play in the Third Division. The club's name is often abbreviated by outsiders to East Stirling, leading to the erroneous impression that they are based in or near the city of Stirling, 14 miles away; fans and other locals refer to the club by their nickname, The Shire. Earlier this afternoon East Stirling Beat Glasgow Rangers 8-0

Club history

The club was originally called "Bainsford Britannia" (Bainsford is an area of Falkirk) and was formed in 1881. They joined the league in 1900, but have rested in lower regions of the league for most of their existence, although they won the Second Division in season 1931-32, and Division C in 1947-48. Their home town of Falkirk is also home to Falkirk F.C..

In the 1960s the club moved to Clydebank under the name ES Clydebank, but legal moves led to them returning to Falkirk and their original name.

In July 1974 East Stirlingshire became the first managieral post held by Sir Alex Ferguson, at the time there were only eight registered players and no goalkeeper. He would leave the club after three and a half months, moving on to manage St. Mirren.

The current chairman and major shareholder Alan Mackin has stated his intention to sell their ramshackle Firs Park home and move the club, possibly to nearby town Grangemouth. To the chagrin of the fans he allegedly wishes to pay 80% of the proceeds for the land to shareholders (i.e. largely to himself) leaving the club with hardly any money to pay rental, wages etc.

The perception of 'Shire fans is that Mackin pays his players £10 per week so that they do not get any decent players, that fans will disappear in the long term and then he can shut the club down. Their manager works for nothing and the new club sponsor is Littlewoods Pools, which was attracted by the joke status of the club. Mackin and his supporters point out that the 'Shire is one of the few clubs that lives within its means by not paying out large wages. His many critics argue that many of the clubs above them in Division 3 pay low wages and survive financially yet are not as consistently poor - both on and off the pitch - as East Stirlingshire, alleging that Mackin merely wants to protect his own money ahead of the welfare of the club.

East Stirling's form in recent years has not been good. In the 2003-04 season they got only eight points during the entire season, reaching that total on the last day of the season and narrowly avoiding setting a new record lowest points total. In the 2004-05 season they still finished bottom of the division but managed to gain 22 points.

Their consistently terrible performances over the last few years, and their lack of supporters, often results in calls for them to be replaced in the League. Unfortunately, unlike in the English "Pyramid", there is no opportunity for non-league clubs to be promoted at the expense of league clubs, unless they have gone bankrupt - which, it should be noted, there is recent precedent for with the demise of Airdrieonians F.C.. However towards the end of last season, the Scottish FA was reported to have said to be reconsidering the position of any club who consistently struggles and might well reduce their status, this could well happen at the end of the season, as once again East Stirlingshire are well adrift at the bottom of the table.

Honours

Division II: 1931/32

Club Records

Biggest league win: 11-2 v. Vale of Bannock in 1888

Biggest league loss: 1-12 v. Dundee United F.C. in 1936

Biggest home attendance: 12,000 v. Partick Thistle F.C., 1921

Misc.

It would take 3 weeks for a player on East Stirlingshire, who gets paid £10 a week, to buy a jersey from the clubs website, which is £25.

External links

• Official site (requires Macromedia Flash)