Vale of Leven F.C. facts for kids
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| Full name | Vale of Leven Football & Athletic Club | |
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| Nickname(s) | The Vale | |
| Founded | 1872 (original club) 1939 (current club) |
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| Dissolved | 1929 | |
| Ground | Millburn Park, Alexandria | |
| Capacity | 3,000 | |
| Chairman | Angus Wallace | |
| Manager | Brian Brown | |
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Vale of Leven Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Alexandria, in the Vale of Leven area of West Dunbartonshire. Nicknamed the Vale and formed in 1939, they play at Millburn Park. They play in the , the ninth tier of Scottish football.
Contents
History
Original club
In the early days of Scottish football, Vale of Leven (based in Alexandria) and their neighbours Renton were real powers in the land, thanks to significant backing from local factories; Vale was backed by Archibald Orr-Ewing's dye works, which meant that Vale could recruit players as factory workers but allow them the time and facilities to play football.
One early controversy over this veiled professionalism came in the 1874–75 Scottish Cup. The club was drawn against Clydesdale F.C. in the first round; the Glaswegian club protested the presence in the Vale side of John Ferguson, who, as a former professional athlete, was barred from playing in the competition at the time, even though Ferguson was described as an amateur who "usually wrought in the Vale of Leven from year to year, and no objection was made to him in the international match"; the tie was played under protest, and, after a goalless draw, Vale withdrew rather than re-play.
The rule was changed for the next season and Vale promptly reached the semi-final, and then won the Cup three times in succession (1877, 1878 and 1879). In 1878 they travelled down to England and beat the FA Cup winners, The Wanderers, 3–1 at Kennington Oval. The Wanderers had the advantage that the game was played under the English throw-in rule, but the Vale's Scottish passing game proved superior to the English game of individual dribbling. The club also won the Celtic Society Cup in shinty in 1879.
Vale of Leven was a founder member of the Scottish Football League when it was formed in 1890. By this time, the club was being eclipsed by the rising stars of well-supported clubs based in Glasgow, and local rivals Dumbarton. In their second season, they failed to win a single game and finished last, being the last senior Scottish club to suffer this ignominy until Brechin in 2018. Rather than face re-election for the second time, the club withdrew and joined the rival Scottish Alliance where they played for a single season.
Between 1893 and 1902, the Vale played only friendly matches and in cup competition before joining the Scottish Football Combination. In 1905, they applied successfully for readmission to the Scottish League when Division Two was expanded for two additional teams. They finished as runners-up in 1907 and in 1909, but did not receive the votes they needed to be elected to Division One. As the following decade wore on, Vale of Leven struggled and regularly finished near the foot of the table. When Division Two was suspended in 1915, Vale joined the Western League.
After World War I ended, Vale of Leven returned to the Scottish League for the third time as members of the reformed Division Two. After a decent fourth-place finish in their first season, the club was relegated to the new Division Three in 1924, but this ill-fated competition was shut down in 1926 and that year's championship withheld after it became clear that the costs of meeting match guarantees and travel and other expenses were beyond the capacity of its member clubs to pay.
After a season playing in the Scottish Alliance, financial constraints forced the club into a local district league before being discontinued in 1929, victims of the Great Depression which had proven so disastrous for many small Scottish football clubs at professional and amateur level. There was every intention of reviving the club once local economics made it viable; however, unlike previous occasions, they were struck off the SFA club roll after withdrawing from their Scottish Qualifying Cup match against Dykehead.
Vale Ocoba
In the meantime, Millburn Park continued to be used by a new amateur side, Vale of Leven Old Church Old Boys Association (usually known as "Vale Ocoba"), who took part in the Scottish Cup from 1931 until 1938, and who enjoyed success in first the West of Scotland Amateur League and then the Scottish Combinations. The club also won the Scottish Qualifying Cup (North) in 1936–37; in the first round of the Cup proper, the club lost against 8–0 against Clyde F.C..
Revival of Vale of Leven
Vale Of Leven OCOBA were invited to be part of a reconstituted Scottish Football Alliance, along with Babcock & Wilcox (a works team), fellow former Scottish League and Alliance member Galston, Girvan Athletic, another former Scottish League member Nithsdale Wanderers, Queen's Park Strollers (Queen's Park third team), and Stranraer, which they duly did, but as Vale of Leven Football & Athletic Club - "Vale Ocoba" promptly vanishing from the face of the earth.
Disaster struck however when the start of World War II obliged the league to be suspended due to restrictions on travel by December 1939. In order to survive, Vale Of Leven promptly joined the ranks of the Scottish Junior Football Association - suffering an abrupt vacancy in their Central League due to the bankruptcy of Springfield Athletic - and thus bringing to a final end 67 years of membership of the Scottish Football Association the club had helped to create. The first junior match was against Vale of Clyde F.C. at Milburn Park in 1940 and the Vale's proudest junior moment was winning the Scottish Junior Cup in 1953.
In 2020 Vale, along with other members of the Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region moved back into senior football - as members of the newly formed West of Scotland Football League.
Colours
The club's original colours were red and blue. By 1875–76 the club was wearing dark blue, with red stockings. The club changed to all dark blue in 1900, and in 1912 changed its shorts to white, which remained the club's scheme, with a red V in 1915–16.
The Vale OCOBA side wore black and white hooped shirts.
Notable former players
15 Vale of Leven players were chosen to represent Scotland between 1879 and 1890. The club's international players were as follows:
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Former professionals that played for the modern club include:
- Danny O'Donnell
- Drew Busby
- Columb McKinley
- Bob McNicol
Honours
Senior
- Scottish Cup
- Winners 1877, 1878, 1879
- Runners-up 1883, 1884, 1885, 1890
- Scottish Qualifying Cup
- Winners 1909, 1937
- Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup
- Winners 1882
- Dumbartonshire Cup
- Winners 11 times
Junior
- Scottish Junior Cup
- Winners 1953
- Central Junior Football League
- A Division winners 1946–47
- B Division winners / overall champions 1969–70
- C Division winners 1978–79
- Central District Third Division Winners 2007-08
- Evening Times Cup Winners Cup
- Winners 1947, 1970
- Kirkwood Shield
- Winners 1951, 1954, 1958, 1965
- Dunbartonshire Junior Cup
- Winners 1940, 1965
- Dunbartonshire Junior Charity Cup
- Winners 1943, 1946, 1947, 1953, 1954
- Erskine Hospital Charity Cup
- Winners 1970
Shinty
- Celtic Society Cup (shinty)
- Winners 1879
See also
In Spanish: Vale of Leven Football Club para niños
