Kilbirnie Ladeside F.C.

Kilbirnie Ladeside Football Club are a Scottish football club, from Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire. Based at Valefield Park, they 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] However, a more likely reason for the nickname is the proximity of the club to the nearby blast furnaces of the former Glengarnock Steelworks.

Kilbirnie Ladeside

Full name	Kilbirnie Ladeside Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Blasties
Founded	1901
Ground	Valefield Park, Kilbirnie
Capacity	1,000
Manager	Colin Spence
League	West of Scotland League First Division
2024–25	West of Scotland League First Division, 10th of 16

History

Kilbirnie won their first Scottish Junior Cup title in 1952 with a 1–0 victory over Camelon Juniors at Hampden Park, with over 69,000 fans in attendance. The team's Goalkeeper on the day was Tom McQueen, father of future Scotland international Gordon McQueen.^[2]

In 2020, Kilbirnie moved from the SJFA, to join the pyramid system in Scottish football as one of the inaugural members of the West of Scotland Football League.^[3]

On 10 October 2020, the club announced they would not be participating in the inaugural season of the West of Scotland League due to concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing the inability of fans to be able to attend games as a huge issue for the club.^[4][5][6]

Valefield Park

Valefield Park

Location	Kilbirnie, North Ayrshire, Scotland
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).^{[citation needed]}

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. The name 'Ladeside' derives from the lade that runs near the ground from the old Nether Mill at Knoxsville Road near the Miller's Knowe.

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.^{[citation needed]}

Current squad

As of 1 July 2023

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  SCO Jamie McGowan — GK  SCO Calum Robertson — DF  SCO James Ballantyne — DF  SCO Lewis Crawford — DF  SCO Mickey Wilson — DF  SCO Paul Doyle — DF  SCO Jamie Ballantyne — DF  SCO Jack Wilson — MF  SCO Danny Bamford — MF  SCO Ryan Connelly — DF  SCO Ruairidh Clark

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  SCO Chris Black — MF  SCO CJ Johnston — FW  SCO Scott Lewis — MF  SCO Ryan McCubbin — FW  SCO Alex Bell — FW  SCO Aaron Robertson — FW  SCO Sam McLoy — FW  SCO Jon Scullion — FW  SCO Alan Frizzell — FW  SCO Aiden Gilmartin

Club staff

Position	Name
Manager	Colin Spence
Assistant manager	Willie Lyle
Goalkeeping Coach
Physio

Honours

Scottish Junior Cup

• 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, 2016–17

Notable former players

See also: Category:Kilbirnie Ladeside F.C. players

• George Stevenson, Motherwell and Scotland.^[7]
• Ernie McGarr, Aberdeen and Scotland.^[8]