League 2 leaders Albion Rovers travel to Arbroath this evening, looking to boost their title hopes with a win over their promotion rivals.
Here are 10 things you may not know about the Coatbridge club, who were formed in 1882 by the merger of merger of Albion FC and Rovers FC.
1 Cliftonhill has been home for nearly 100 years. It first opened its doors on Christmas Day 1919, with St Mirren winning 2-0. Rovers’ first league victory was a 6-2 success over Hearts in April 1920. The floodlights at the ground were re-housed from Cardiff Arms Park, replacing the original set of lights erected in 1968, which had been purchased from the remnants of Third Lanark's Cathkin Park.
2 Albion Rovers reached the Scottish Cup Final of 1920, defeating Rangers 2-0 in the semi-final after a 1-1 draw. The final was won 3-2 by Kilmarnock at Celtic Park in front of a 95,000 crowd and it remains the club’s only Scottish Cup Final appearance.
3 A further Scottish Cup semi-final was reached in 1921 but Rangers gained revenge with a 4-1 success. That was the club’s most recent last-four appearance until a Challenge Cup semi-final meeting with Ross County, that the Dingwall side won 4-1 in September 2006.
4 A total of 27,831 fans squeezed into the ground in 1936 for a Scottish Cup tie against Rangers. The current capacity is around 1,200, although there are plans to increase that.
5 Albion Rovers sported three central defenders in the 1970s called Bill Currie, Sid Sage and Albert Rice. The players were given the nickname of the ‘spicy trio’ by Coatbridge fans.
6 The career of striker Bernie Slaven blossomed at the Rovers in the early 1980s. After unproductive spells at Airdrie and Queen of the South, Slaven had two goal-laden seasons with the Cliftonhill men before moving on to Middlesbrough and international fame with the Republic of Ireland.
7 In 1983, Albion Rovers had a unique sponsorship deal with well-known biscuit makers Tunnock’s. The red and yellow striped shirts not only boasted the Tunnock’s name, they matched the stripes on their famous caramel wafers.
8 Jock Stein played for Albion Rovers and Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell had two spells as manager in seasons 1986/87 and 1993/94. One-time Hibernian, Torino and England striker Joe Baker also managed the Rovers, as did Sir Alex Ferguson’s brother Martin.
9 Despite being third bottom the previous season, Albion Rovers won the 1988/89 Second Division title, finishing five points clear of Alloa, under the management of former Rangers player David Provan.
10 The 2011/12 season was memorable for Rovers fans as it included a 7-2 win over Lanarkshire neighbours Airdrie. The end of the season was positive, too, as Paul Martin’s side kept their Second Division status when Ciaran Donnelly netted a winning penalty in the play-off shoot-out against Stranraer.
Craig Stewart
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