 | |||
| Full name | Fort William Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Fort | ||
| Founded | 1974 | ||
| Ground | Claggan Park,Fort William | ||
| Capacity | 1,800 (200 Seated) | ||
| Chairman | Robert Coull | ||
| Manager | Kyle Redpath | ||
| League | North Caledonian League | ||
| 2024–25 | North Caledonian League, 8th of 12 | ||
Fort William Football Club is a seniorfootball team fromFort William,Lochaber,Scotland. They play in theNorth Caledonian Football League, having been relegated from theHighland Football League in 2022 after 37 seasons.
The club was founded in 1974 by then chairman Colin Neilson and started out playing mainly friendlies and cup competitions, such as theScottish Qualifying Cup, theNorth of Scotland Cup and theInverness Cup.
In the late 1970s, their most famous player to date,John McGinlay made his senior debut for Fort William at the age of 14, coming on as a substitute in a North of Scotland Cup tie with nowScottish Professional Football League sideElgin City (formerly of the Highland League). At the age of 17, he moved toNairn County, and would later go on to play in thePremier League withBolton Wanderers and eventually representScotland.[1] He was childhood friends with another, now former, professional footballerDuncan Shearer, who also hailed from Fort William.[2]
Ever since forming in 1974, the club campaigned for entry into theHighland League, but were rejected many times. In 1983, Fort William were admitted to the North Caledonian League. The club enjoyed wins in the two-year spell in the North Caledonian League. They won both theChic Allan Cup andMorris Newton / SWL Cup in successive seasons, while also winning theFootball Times Cup and finishing as runners-up in the league in the 1983–84 season.
In the 1984–85 season, the club won the division outright, making it their only league championship victory to date.[3]
In the 1985–86 season, the club was admitted to theHighland League. Fort William played their first Highland League match against their nearest league teamClachnacuddin, with striker Gordon MacIntyre scoring the goal in a 1–0 home win. In that season, they recorded their highest-ever attendance of 1,500, against theScottish Football League sideStirling Albion in theScottish Cup 2nd round, with a 0–0 draw,[4] before losing 6–0 in thereplay atAnnfield a week later.[4][5]
The club was unable to build upon their relatively competitive start to life in the Highland League, and gradually, season-by-season, began to struggle to the point where they had finished bottom in 14 of the 18 seasons between1996–97 and2013–14. Their struggles included a record 17–0 away defeat in1998, to nowScottish League One sidePeterhead.[6][7] Despite this,The Fort did not finish bottom that season, with thewooden spoon going toNairn County. In the2008–09 season, they accumulated only a solitary point from 28 matches, making it theHighland League's record lowest points total since its inception.[7][8]
During the2008–09 season, an exciting future appeared forthcoming, when television producer and formerLochaber resident, Paul MacDonald, unveiled his vision for the football team. In conjunction with his American Entertainment company,PMAC Tonight, he planned to create areality TV series based around the toiling team. The premise was to import some of the best young American talent from college campuses across theUSA, in an attempt to take Fort William"From Worst to First", in what was envisaged to be the ultimate underdog story. However, after much initial media hype, the project failed to materialise.
The club formerly fielded a reserve side in theNorth Caledonian Football League, but were forced to disband this team prior to the2011–12 season due to a lack of playable pitches in the Fort William area – something that has always plagued the club.[9] They were, however, able to set up an Under 19s team, which was formed with the sole purpose of participating in theScottish Youth Cup.
In January 2015, the club made history when it recorded four consecutive league victories for the first time since joining the Highland League, after a 2–1 success overClachnacuddin.[10]
The club's continuing presence in the Highland League was threatened in early 2018 as all six directors announced they would be stepping down at the end of the season.[11] However, despite apoor season (picking up just five points and conceding over 180 goals), it was announced that Fort William would continue its involvement for the2018–19 season.[12]
Five games into the 2018–19 season and still pointless, the club was deducted nine points by the Highland League after fielding an ineligible player on three occasions.[13] They finished the season with no wins and two draws from their 34 games, ending on −7 points.[14] This led to them being dubbed in 2019"The worst football team in Britain", by many news media publishers.[15][16][17][18][19]
In July 2019,Scottish Championship clubInverness Caledonian Thistle loaned nine players to Fort William to both prepare the youngsters for professional football and bolster the Fort William squad.[20]
On 31 July 2019, Fort William won their first competitive match in 707 days when they defeated Nairn County 5–2 in aNorth of Scotland Cup tie, ending a 69-game run without a victory.[21] This win came one day afterBBC Scotland broadcastThe Fort, a documentary on the club's winless run.[22] After another winless month, Fort William finally recorded their first league win in 882 days on 11 September, with a 1–0 home win againstClachnacuddin.
In the2021–22 season, Fort William finished bottom of the table and were relegated to theNorth Caledonian League after forfeiting theirplay-off match againstNorth Superleague sideBanks O' Dee F.C.
"Fort William became the first team to be relegated from the Highland League last season and were unable to play in the play-off final after being unable to raise a team." —Strathspey Herald[23] (January 2023)
In November 2024, it was announced that theSFA had rejected Fort William's re-application for an entry level SFA Licence, leaving the club ineligible for promotion back into theHighland League and ineligible to compete in theScottish Cup unless they win theNorth Caledonian League.[24]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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All final positions are from the Highland League.
| Season | Final position | Points Total |
|---|---|---|
| 1985–86 | 12/17 | 35 |
| 1986–87 | 11/18 | 33 |
| 1987–88 | 17/18 | 21 |
| 1988–89 | 18/18 | 13 |
| 1989–90 | 13/18 | 40 |
| 1990–91 | 12/18 | 43 |
| 1991–92 | 16/18 | 28 |
| 1992–93 | 16/18 | 19 |
| 1993–94 | 16/18 | 27 |
| 1994–95 | 12/16 | 37 |
| 1995–96 | 14/16 | 26 |
| 1996–97 | 16/16 | 9 |
| 1997–98 | 15/16 | 13 |
| 1998–99 | 16/16 | 4 |
| 1999–00 | 16/16 | 8 |
| 2000–01 | 14/14 | 14 |
| 2001–02 | 13/15 | 23 |
| 2002–03 | 15/15 | 13 |
| 2003–04 | 15/15 | 13 |
| 2004–05 | 13/15 | 16 |
| 2005–06 | 15/15 | 4 |
| 2006–07 | 15/15 | 9 |
| 2007–08 | 15/15 | 3 |
| 2008–09 | 15/15 | 1 |
| 2009–10 | 17/18 | 20 |
| 2010–11 | 18/18 | 9 |
| 2011–12 | 18/18 | 7 |
| 2012–13 | 18/18 | 6 |
| 2013–14 | 18/18 | 9 |
| 2014–15 | 13/18 | 27 |
| 2015–16 | 17/18 | 16 |
| 2016–17 | 17/18 | 11 |
| 2017–18 | 18/18 | 5 |
| 2018–19 | 18/18 | −7 |
| 2019–20 | 16/17 | 10 |
| 2020–21 | 15/16 | 0 |
| 2021–22 | 18/18 | 7 |
Their ground,Claggan Park, has a capacity of 1,800[citation needed] – and is sometimes regarded as one of the most picturesque grounds in theUnited Kingdom,[citation needed] mainly due to the views of the nearbyBen Nevis mountain range.
Claggan Park consists of standing areas on all sides of the pitch, with one 'rustic' stand that can seat 200 spectators.To date, the record attendance is 1,500 – recorded in a1985Scottish Cup 2nd round tie against Scottish League sideStirling Albion.
Often during the autumn and winter months, many home matches are postponed (usually due to a waterlogged pitch) – a consequence of the heavy rainfall the town experiences.
