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| Full name | East Kilbride Thistle Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Jags | ||
| Founded | 1968 | ||
| Ground | Showpark,East Kilbride | ||
| Capacity | 2,300 | ||
| Director | Peter Kelsall | ||
| Manager | Mark Steele | ||
| League | West of Scotland League Fourth Division | ||
| 2024–25 | West of Scotland League Fourth Division, 12th of 16 | ||
| Website | http://www.ekthistlefc.com/ | ||
East Kilbride Thistle Football Club are a Scottishfootball club, based in the town ofEast Kilbride,South Lanarkshire nearGlasgow. NicknamedThe Jags, they were formed in 1968 and play at the Showpark, situated in theVillage area of the town. Currently playing in theWest of Scotland League Fourth Division. They wear all black; their change strips are all red, or white tops with red or black shorts.
There was a club with the same name that existed in the 1920s. The team won the Second Division of theScottish Junior League and the Lanarkshire Consolation Cup in1922–23.[1][2]
The original club disbanded so thatClyde could move to the town in to the early 1960s. After the move fell through, the junior team was reformed.[3]
After Thistle disbanded,Strathclyde Juniors who were homeless applied toSJFA for permission to use ground for season1965–66.[4]
The first trophy to be won was theWest of Scotland Junior Cup in 1974.Cambuslang Rangers were beaten 3–1 in the final. The team reached the final again two years later, but lost toArthurlie in a replay.[5]
The biggest success was theScottish Junior Cup win in May 1983, with victory overBo'ness United atIbrox Stadium. The final result was 2–0 to Thistle, with goals from skipper Joe Reilly and Kenny Gordon.[6][7]
Thistle's previous manager was formerSt Johnstone andHamilton Academical strikerJohn Brogan, who took charge along with Martin Clark on a co-manager basis in November 1999. Clark left to coach Celtic's youth players in 2002, but Brogan remained in sole charge and won the Sectional League Cup atPartick Thistle'sFirhill Stadium,Glasgow in 2002 with a 2–0 win overBellshill Athletic, thanks to goals from Martin McVey and Stephen Brogan.
Brogan later returned the club toFirhill for another Sectional League Cup Final in 2005 but were unfortunate to lose toNeilston 4–3 on penalties, after a 0–0 draw. However it wasn't all bad news when the club won promotion to Super League Division One, from Central District League Division One, with a 3–0 win overClydebank in the last game of the season on 1 May 2006.
John Brogan left the club in June 2008, and was replaced by former players Colin Mitchell and Ian Penman, as manager and assistant manager respectively. In 2008 Thistle also launched their own youth development structure, which sees coaching an teams from under 4s up to under 21s for both boys and girls.
In November 2010, Mitchell and Penman were replaced as team management byJimmy Kerr andTony Gallagher. In 2012 following relegation back to the Central District First Division, most of the playing staff, along with the management team left the club. After a season of turmoil on and off the pitch which resulted in relegation to the Central District Second Division, Thistle regrouped and started looking forwards to the future, the appointment of Alan Wardlaw as manager in late 2013 led to a change in fortunes for the club and they managed to win a few games, including a home league win for the first time in over 2 years. The team are managed from the end of the 2014–15 season by Billy Campbell.[8]
Aaron Connolly was appointed caretaker manager following the departure of Garry O'Hanlon.[9]
On 16 April 1972, Christie and Meechan played forScotland Juniors againstEngland in a 2–2 draw atSaracen Park (home ofAshfield), whilst playing for East Kilbride[10]
Willie Pettigrew was another playercapped at Junior level with Scotland. He would go on to gain full international honours withScotland later in his career.[11]
Current Squad Season 2024-25
Matt BorlandLiam Comaskey Adam EdgarAlex McKenzieRyan AndersonMatthew MullenDeclan MorrisonTyler FlynnConnor DunlopAlly McDonaldMark SteeleAedan DunnettRyan MenziesDino MolinariRyan KealyJude RodgerLewis GrayJordan McBrideJay ScottRoss DuncanCallum Jamieson
55°46′01″N4°10′20″W / 55.76682°N 4.172219°W /55.76682; -4.172219
