 | |||
| Full name | Leith Athletic Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Leithers | ||
| Founded | 1887; reformed 1996 | ||
| Ground | Meadowbank Stadium,Edinburgh | ||
| Capacity | 500 | ||
| Chairman | Leighton Jones | ||
| Manager | John Robertson | ||
| League | East of Scotland League First Division | ||
| 2024–25 | East of Scotland League First Division, 13th of 16 | ||
Leith Athletic Football Club is afootball club based in theLeith area ofEdinburgh, Scotland. They compete in theEast of Scotland Football League, First Division. First team matches are played at Meadowbank Stadium.
The present club considers itself to be a continuation of the original Leith Athletic F.C., which was founded in 1887. They played in theScottish Football League in four different spells between 1897 and 1953, but went out of business in 1955. The name was revived at local youth level in 1996. In 2008, Leith Athletic returned to senior football when they amalgamated withEdinburgh Athletic and took the latter's place in the East of Scotland League.
Leith Athletic were founded in 1887 in thePort of Leith. In 1891, Leith replacedGlasgow sideCowlairs in theScottish Football League. After a reasonable start (fourth out of 12 in1892), Leith had to apply for re-election in1894 and1895. They received only three votes in the latter year and were relegated to theSecond Division. Leith fared rather better in the second flight, finishing second in1896,1897 and 1899, but they could not muster enough votes to be elected back into theFirst Division. In 1905, having failed again in the end of1905 season voting, Leith Athletic were wound up and a new limited company formed to take over the old club's assets.
In 1891,Robert Clements andMatt McQueen played forScotland againstIreland in Glasgow, McQueen having played a year earlier againstWales at Underwood Park inPaisley.Geordie Anderson,James Blessington andRobert Laing would represent theScottish Football League against the Scottish Alliance League and theIrish League in the1892–93 season. Blessington was transferred toCeltic in June 1893 for £20, and would gain fourcaps for Scotland againstEngland and Ireland.
Now playing as Leith F.C., the team comfortably won the Scottish Second Division championship in1906.[1] Despite this triumph, they failed to be elected to the First Division,[1] as runners-upClyde and fourth placedHamilton Academical were preferred. Leith andRaith Rovers finished level on points and were declared joint champions in1910.[1] Raith were promoted, but it appears that Leith did not contest the elections. The1912–13 season saw Leith finish in last position and won re-election to stay in the league. They survived until the competition was suspended in1915 and they joined theEastern League.
Leith closed down for the duration of theFirst World War in 1916. When the club was reformed in 1919, the old name of Leith Athletic was revived and the club joined the Western League. After playing for one season (1923–24) in theScottish Alliance, Leith were admitted to theThird Division in 1924. Leith won the Third Division championship in1926, but failed to win election to the Second Division.[1] The club were eliminated on the chairman's casting vote in the third ballot. It was becoming apparent that the two most prominentEdinburgh clubs,Heart of Midlothian andHibernian were blocking attempts by Leith to progress.[1]
The abolition of the Third Division meant that Leith had to rejoin the Scottish Alliance, but in 1927 they were admitted into the Scottish League, replacingNithsdale Wanderers. The club's fortunes improved and they won the Second Division championship in1930 and promotion to the First Division. Leith survived in the top division in1931, but were relegated in1932.[1] The club were a middle-ranking Second Division side until the league was suspended in1939–40.
An attempt in 1945 to reviveSt Bernard's, who had lost their ground in 1943 through a merger with Leith Athletic came to nothing.[2] In 1946, Leith became founder members of the newDivision C (third tier). The Second Division was expanded from 14 to 16 clubs in 1947, and Leith were elected to one of the vacancies. They were relegated in1948, however, when the third tier was split, Leith joined Division C (North & East).
The C Divisions were made up largely ofreserve teams and Leith campaigned for the non-reserve teams to be included in the Second Division. They were not successful and were expelled in August 1953, when they refused to play any more fixtures in Division C.[1] It was too late for the club to join another competition and the club went out of business in 1955. In a supreme irony, the two C Divisions were abandoned that summer and, just as Leith had wanted, the non-reserve sides were admitted to the Second Division.[1]
A new Leith Athletic was formed in 1996, primarily as a club for boys football, with teams at various age groups between the ages of 5 and 21, whilst the club's adult side joined theCentral Scottish Amateur Football League. In 2005, they attained their first Scottish amateur international, when Paul Lee played in a 2–1 win against Leinster. In the same year,Danny Swanson, Douglas Thom and Shaun Woodburn were capped for the Scottish Youth Football Association under-19 team, playing against Mid Ulster and Wales.
Leith Athletic amalgamated withEdinburgh Athletic in 2008 and took its place in theEast of Scotland Football League.[3] Leith were promoted to the East of Scotland Premier Division in 2011 but were relegated after one season.[4] They regained their Premier Division place in2013 and later won the league when it became a single division in2015–16.
At the time of their election to the Scottish Football League in 1891, Leith played at Bank Park, which was renamedBeechwood Park in 1895. After the end of the1898–99 season the club moved toSt Bernard's'New Logie Green, where they played two league matches before moving toHawkhill for the remainder of the1899–1900 season.
Between 1900 and 1904 Leith played atChancelot Park, before moving toOld Logie Green. After the SFL was suspended duringWorld War I the club played some matches at Chancelot Park and Wardie Park. When the club returned to the SFL in 1924 they returned to Old Logie Green. At the end of the1925–26 season the club moved again, this time toNew Powderhall.
After only a season at New Powderhall, the club moved toMarine Gardens, where they remained until moving toMeadowbank in 1936. AfterWorld War II the ground required rebuilding, and Leith spent the1946–47 season at the adjacentNew Meadowbank. When the original Meadowbank was reopened, it was renamedOld Meadowbank. In the early 1950s an experimental floodlit match was played against an invitation XI including the then leading Arsenal player, Jimmy Logie.
The reformed club played atLeith Links and Muirhouse Playing Fields before moving to the Meadowbank 3G pitch adjacent toMeadowbank Stadium in 2013. When Meadowbank closed for redevelopment in December 2017, matches were relocated to Peffermill 3G.[5]
Two players from the original Leith Athletic werecapped byScotland:Matt McQueen, who made two appearances, in 1890 and 1891; andRobert Clements, capped once in 1891.
East of Scotland Football League
East of Scotland Qualifying Cup
East of Scotland League Cup
King Cup
Alex Jack Cup
Scottish Football League Division Two
Scottish Football League Division Three
King Cup
