| Full name | Kilwinning Eglinton Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | the Furnacemen | |
| Founded | 1893 | |
| Dissolved | 1936 | |
| Ground | Blacklands Park | |
Kilwinning Eglinton Football Club was afootball club which existed before World War 2, from the town ofKilwinning,Ayrshire, Scotland.
There is one record of an Eglinton club from Kilwinning dating from 1884,[1] but the first evidence for the Kilwinning Eglinton club is from 1893. The club's secretary worked at the Eglinton Iron Works and the ground was built by the ironworks owner William Baird & Company.[2]
The Furnacemen scratched from its firstAyrshire Cup entry in 1893–94, and finished 6th out of 9 in the short-livedAyrshire League in the same season. The club also lost toGalston F.C. in the first preliminary round of theScottish Cup.
The club enjoyed some local success, winning theNorth Ayrshire Cup in 1897–98 and 1899–1900. In 1900–01, the club won the Ayrshire Consolation Cup (for clubs eliminated from the Ayrshire Cup before the final), and also reached the first round proper of theScottish Cup for the first time. The club beatAyr Parkhouse F.C. en route to the fourth round of the Qualifying Cup; in the main draw the club lost 10–0 atSt Mirren.[3]
In 1901–02, the club scored a remarkable triple; retaining the Consolation Cup and winning the North Ayrshire Cup, and enjoying its best Scottish Cup run, by reaching the fifth round of the Qualifying Cup. The club beatAyr F.C. 3–1 in the first round of the Qualifying[4] and lost 1–0 atMaxwelltown Volunteers F.C. in the fifth.[5] In the Cup itself, the club ranArbroath close, taking the lead after ten minutes before conceding a penalty, and only losing 3–2.[6]
The last time the club made the first round proper was in1903–04, again via reaching the fourth round of the Qualifying Cup. In the first round of the Cup the club lost 2–1 atAlbion Rovers, after selling the right to home advantage.[7]
The club entered the Ayrshire and Renfrewshire Football League in the 1903–04 and 1904–05 seasons, but did not take part in the first season, and the second season was abandoned as incomplete.
In the 1907–08 season, the club became aJunior club, and moved to the Irvine & District League; the club's loss of senior status meant it had to abandon its entries to the Scottish and Ayrshire Cups for 1908–09. The last records of the club playing date from May 1936.[8]
The club's colours were as follows:[9]
The club played at Blacklands Park.[10]
The club was nicknamed the Furnacemen, after its proximity to the ironworks in Kilwinning.[11]
