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| Full name | Brechin City Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | The City,The Hedgemen | ||
| Founded | 1906; 119 years ago (1906) | ||
| Ground | Glebe Park,Brechin | ||
| Capacity | 4,123 (1,519 seated) | ||
| Chairman | Kevin Mackie | ||
| Manager | Ray McKinnon | ||
| League | Highland League | ||
| 2024–25 | Highland League, 2nd of 18 | ||
| Website | www | ||
Brechin City Football Club is aScottishfootballclub based in the town[note 1] ofBrechin inAngus. The club was founded in 1906 by players and officials of two local clubs, Brechin Harp and Brechin Hearts. The club currently competes in theHighland League after suffering three relegations in four seasons: from theChampionship in2018,League One in2019, andLeague Two in2021 following a 3–1 aggregate play-off defeat byKelty Hearts.
The club's highest achievements include winning thethird tier of Scottish football three times, most recently in2004–05 as champions of the Second Division. The club has also reached the final of theScottish Challenge Cup on one occasion, losing 2–0 toQueen of the South in2002. Brechin's home ground isGlebe Park which can seat around 1,500 spectators in its capacity of 4,123.[1] The ground opened in 1919.
The club was founded in 1906 by players and officials from two comparatively successful local junior sides –Brechin Harp andBrechin Hearts. A deputation from the Forfarshire Football Association had met with representatives of the local game at the Temperance Hall in City Road and managed to persuade them that Brechin would benefit from having a single senior club. Although Brechin Harp folded with the establishment of the senior side, Brechin Hearts continued as a viable and successful Junior side until the years of the Great War.
The club won its first important local honour, theForfarshire Cup, in the1909–10 season with a side that featured nine players from the town.[2] The club moved to their Glebe Park home in 1919, a stadium which currently has a capacity of 4,123 (1,519 seated) and is famous for thehedge that runs alongside one side of the pitch.
The team was admitted to the Scottish league in1923 with the formation of theoriginal Third Division. However, City struggled, finishing bottom of the League in that first season.[3] The club failed to make any headway in the doomed division and disappeared from the Scottish League at the end of the1925–26 season along with most of the other teams in the division.[4]
The club was not away long, as it returned to the League for the1929–30 season following the departure ofBathgate andArthurlie the previous season. Once again the club finished rock bottom.[5] The club continued to struggle in the bottom half of the Second Division throughout the 1930s before going into hibernation during theSecond World War. Indeed, so poor was the club at times that during the1937–38 season the club were beaten 10–0 byCowdenbeath,Albion Rovers andAirdrieonians.[6]
Brechin City returned to action in the1946–47 season in the C Division, a competition which did not have full membership of the Scottish Football League and which contained a mix of first teams and reserve sides. The club remained in this set-up until its success in the North-East section (the division having been restructured into two separate competitions) in the1953–54 season saw it return to full League membership. Their first season back however resulted in another bottom placed finish,[7] although it was not relegated. Despite this shaky return the club enjoyed a halcyon period of sorts in the late 1950s, securing four consecutive top half finishes (without managing to clinch promotion) as well as reaching the semi-finals of the1957–58Scottish League Cup.[8]
The 1960s, however, saw the club struggling again, with yet another bottom place its fate for the1961–62 season[9] and again thefollowing season with a further two wooden spoon efforts before the end of the decade. The unwanted feat of finishing bottom two years in a row was repeated in1972–73 and1973–74 as Brechin City continued to be one of the weakest sides in Scottish League football.
The club finished 17th out of 20 in the1974–75 season and as such was placed in the new Division Two, which was the third tier of the restructured League.[10] The new set-up suited the club little better as they remained in and around the bottom. However a mid-table1979–80 season[11] ushered in something of a change in fortune as the club began to challenge for its first promotion as full League members. With both a new stand andfloodlighting added to Glebe Park,[12] the club played with a new ambition until finally breaking its duck with a title win in the1982–83 season. Under the chairmanship of David Will, the thenScottish Football Association vice-president and a future vice-president ofFIFA, and the player-management of ex-Dundee stalwartIan Fleming, the club pippedMeadowbank Thistle to the title by one point.[13]
Under Will's progressive leadership City found its feet in the First Division and challenged near the top in the1983–84 season before finishing in a creditable fifth place.[13] However1986–87 season saw the club narrowly relegated ahead ofQueen of the South[14] although undaunted it challenged at the top of the Second Division before winning the title for the second time in1989–90 season again by one point, this time ahead ofKilmarnock.[15]
Brechin's return to the First Division was to prove somewhat inauspicious as it was immediately relegated, although1992–93 season saw it promoted again, this time as runners-up.[16] Again, however, it was relegated immediately and worse was to follow as it suffered consecutive demotions, dropping into the newly created Third Division, the fourth tier of League football. However once again there was an immediate change as the club finished second in this division for the1995–96 season, ensuring promotion and five changes of division in five frantic seasons. The club was relegated again after two seasons and finished the decade back in the bottom division.
In the new millennium the club experienced a revival in fortune underDick Campbell, winning the Third Division in2001–02 season after a narrow miss the previous season. The push continuedthe following season as the club finished runners-up to secure a second consecutive promotion withChris Templeman bagging 21 League goals for the club in a season in which it was also beatenScottish Challenge Cup finalists.[17] However theFirst Division proved too much for the part-timers as they were immediately relegated. However the topsy-turvy existence of Brechin City continued as the following season it again won theSecond Division title, although success was soured by the departure of Campbell toPartick Thistle. Without Campbell the team struggled even more than before in theFirst Division and managed only two wins all season on its way to relegation underIan Campbell, the twin brother of their previous manager. The mood was lifted somewhat by the club's centenary celebrations which included a 2–2 draw in a prestige friendly againstEnglish Championship sideIpswich Town at Glebe Park.
The club, led by the management ofMichael O'Neill and with the goal threat ofIain Russell, finished fourth in thefollowing season's Second Division and under new arrangements this entitled it to a place in promotion play-offs, although a 6–1 aggregate mauling at the hands ofAirdrie United put paid to any hopes of another immediate return to the second tier.2007–08 proved somewhat disappointing as City missed out on the play-offs by finishing sixth, and on 31 January 2008, was thrown out of the Scottish Cup after fielding two ineligible players in its 2–1 fourth round replay win overHamilton Academical. Hamilton Academical took their place in the fifth round.[18]2008–09 proved a season of upheaval as O'Neill left on 15 December 2008 to take charge of Republic of Ireland sideShamrock Rovers,[19] although the experiencedJim Duffy followed him into the hotseat on 9 January 2009[20] and led the club to third place and a play-off place. Once again however the play-offs did not prove rewarding asAyr United recorded a 5–2 aggregate win over the club to leave Brechin City in the Second Division for2009–10.[21] Under Duffy, Brechin made the play-offs again thefollowing season but Duffy resigned after Brechin were beaten 3–0 on aggregate byCowdenbeath.[22]
For the2010–11 season the club appointedJim Weir as manager, departingArbroath at short notice after leading them to relegation. That season, Brechin reached the quarter-finals of theScottish Cup, drawing 2–2 withSPL sideSt Johnstone atGlebe Park, resulting in a replay[23] which City eventually lost 1–0 after a valiant effort.[24]
On 14 May 2011, Brechin beat Cowdenbeath 4–2 on aggregate, in the 1st Division play-offs semi-final, to set up a final with Ayr United, in which the victors secured First Division football for season 2011–12. In the first leg at Somerset Park the match ended 1–1 however Ayr won the second leg at Glebe Park 2–1 meaning that Brechin stayed in the Second Division.
The club appointedForfar AthleticdefenderDarren Dods asplayer/manager in June 2015.[25] Dods' first season with the club saw Brechin remain rooted to the bottom ofLeague One for the majority of the2015–16 season, winning just four of their first twenty-six matches. However, a late burst of form saw the club win eight of the final ten games, pushing the side clear of the relegation and play-off positions to finish the season in seventh. Dods' second season was in stark contrast to the first, with Brechin remaining in the top four for most of theseason 2016–17. Finishing the season in fourth, the club then went on to win promotion to theScottish Championship for the first time in 11 years, defeatingRaith Rovers[26] andAlloa Athletic[27] in theChampionship play-offs.
Brechin's return to the second tier proved short lived; having not won a league match and with four points, the club were relegated on 24 March 2018 following a 2–0 loss toGreenock Morton.[28]
Brechin ended their Championship campaign with a 1–5 loss to Queen of the South at Glebe Park.[29] This meant the club became the first senior Scottish side in 126 years to fail to win a single game in a league season. Brechin ended the 2017–18 season with no wins, four draws, 32 defeats and no away points at all.[30]
Brechin went into the2018–2019 season as favourites for promotion; however they ended up in yet another relegation battle which resulted in the club finishing bottom of League One and back to back relegations.[31]
The2019–20 season again turned into a battle to stay off the foot of the table and dodge a play-off that could result in relegation to theHighland League. The club were at the bottom of League Two when the league was suspended due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, and avoided the play-offs due to the league eventually being curtailed.
On 23 May 2021, Brechin lost 3–1 on aggregate to Lowland League sideKelty Hearts in the relegation playoffs, dropping down to the Highland League,[32] the club's first spell out of the national leagues in 67 years. In June 2021, after the departure of player/managerMichael Paton, the club appointedAndy Kirk to the role of club manager. In the club's first season in the Highland League, they secured a respectable third-place finish.
The following season, they won the title after beating closest challengers,Buckie Thistle, 0–2 on the final day of the campaign.[33]
On 6 May 2023, Brechin were defeated 3–4 on penalties byLowland League outfitThe Spartans in the pyramid play-offs. They headed into the 2nd leg with a 1–0 deficit to turn around, despite winning the game 3–2 and making it 3–3 on aggregate; they fell short in the penalty shootout.[34]
The 2023-24 Season saw Brechin and Buckie Thistle the front runners for the title. The season came down to the final day for the 2nd year in a row. At the end of the campaign, Brechin were beaten to the title by rivals Buckie Thistle on goal difference, after both teams claimed 81 points for the season.[35] Buckie Thistle were due to compete in the pyramid play-offs but were ineligible due to licensing issues.[36]
Brechin share several rivalries with clubs fromAngus, such asArbroath,Forfar Athletic andMontrose, and contests between them are known asAngus derbies.
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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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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This list contains the players who have made at least 100 League appearances for Brechin City between the 1940s and the 2010s (figures indicate league appearances and goals scored, whilstbold type indicates a player still at the club).[44]
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