| Full name | Edinburgh City Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | The Lilywhites, The Citizens | |
| Founded | 1928 | |
| Dissolved | 1955 | |
Edinburgh City Football Club was an amateur Scottishfootball club which played in theScottish Football League in the 1930s and 1940s, but went out of business in the 1950s. A new club adopted theEdinburgh City name in 1986.
Edinburgh City were founded in 1928 and joined theScottish Football League as an amateur club in 1931.[1] The club won election to the league, where they replacedClydebank, ahead ofNithsdale Wanderers by 25 votes to 7.[2]
The club was very unsuccessful in the league, as on average they won fewer than one game in six.[3] This record led to the club finishing bottom of the league table in six of the eight seasons between 1931 and 1939.[3] It also conceded more than 110 goals in seven of those seasons.[4] They achieved a famousScottish Cup upset victory when they defeated Hibernian 3–2 atEaster Road in the first round of the1937–38 competition.[4] Hibernian'sArthur Milne missed apenalty kick with five minutes left to play. In the next round, Edinburgh City lost 9–2 atRaith Rovers on 9 February 1938.
The club played in the Lothian Amateur League during the Second World War and were only admitted to theC Division in 1946.[3][5] After three more years of struggle, the club left the Scottish Football League in 1949.[3][5] It switched tojunior status and played in theEdinburgh & District Junior League.[3][5] The club stopped playing football in 1955.[3] The city council had not renewed the lease on its home ground,City Park.[5]
A new club called Postal United was founded in 1966. The Edinburgh City Football Club Ltd.,[6] which had continued trading as a social club since the football club stopped playing, approved an application from Postal United in 1986 to adopt theEdinburgh City name.[5] The new Edinburgh City gained promotion to theScottish Professional Football League in 2016.
When the club was formed in 1928, they played at theMarine Gardens.[7] When they first joined theScottish Football League in 1931, it played its home matches atPowderhall Stadium.[4] The pitch was only just wider than the minimum width of 50 yards due to the presence of asprint track.[4] Edinburgh City also played atCity Park during the club's time in the SFL.
The club colours were white and black.[5]
