Kilbirnie Ladeside F.C.
Kilbirnie Ladeside Football Club are a Scottish football club, from Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire. Based at Valefield Park, they are members of the Scottish Junior Football Association and currently play in the West of Scotland Football League. Their main rivals are Beith Juniors. The club nickname, The Blasties, derives from a Robert Burns poem, The Inventory, written in 1786.[1]
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Full name | Kilbirnie Ladeside Football Club | ||
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Nickname(s) | The Blasties | ||
Founded | 1901 | ||
Ground | Valefield Park Kirkland Road Kilbirnie | ||
Capacity | 1,000 | ||
Manager | Martin Ferry | ||
League | West of Scotland League Premier Division | ||
2019–20 | SJFA West Premiership, 8th of 16 | ||
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Valefield Park
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Location | Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire, Scotland |
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Coordinates | 55°44′43″N 4°40′58″W |
Capacity | 1,000 |
Surface | Grass |
Tenants | |
Kilbirnie Ladeside |
Valefield Park is home to Kilbirnie Ladeside. The average attendance is around two hundred (varying for cup games).
History
The Blasties (the nickname of Kilbirnie Ladeside) original home of Ladeside Park on Mill Road was partly built on by the army during World War II and the club relocated to Valefield, the home of Glengarnock Vale, another local side. Vale did not re-appear after the war and Valefield Park became Ladeside's permanent ground.
Structure
Although the ground is small it can comfortably hold up to six hundred spectators. On the north-west side there are two main stands which were both constructed at the start of the new millennium. The ground has around four main turnstiles, two of which are located on Kirkland Road. There is a small snack bar offering a wide range of hot and cold food and a licensed bar located on the south east corner welcoming both home and away support.
Honours
- Winners: 1951–52, 1976–77
- Runners-up: 1986–87
Other honours
- West of Scotland Cup winners: 2007–08
- Scottish Junior League winners: 1903–04
- Ayrshire League champions: 1975–76
- Western League champions: 1947–48, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1967–68
- Ayrshire Cup: 1912–13, 1923–24, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1986–87
- Western/Ayrshire League Cup winners: 1923–24, 1931–32, 1938–39, 1988–89, 1994–95, 2009–10
- Ardagh Glass Cup Winners 2009, 2016.
Notable former players
- George Stevenson, Motherwell and Scotland.[2]
- Ernie McGarr, Aberdeen and Scotland.[3]
References
- The Inventory, robertburns.org
- True Steelmen - George Stevenson motherwell-mad.co.uk
- Dark Blue Dons - Ernie McGarr Archived 1 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine afc.co.uk, 13 February 2007, Retrieved 24 June 2011