Brechin City are the form team in the SPFL, having extended their unbeaten run to 16 matches with a 1-1 draw against Dunfermline on Tuesday night.
The Glebe Park side are closing in on a club record, having gone 17 games without losing in season 1980/81. Here are 10 facts about the League 1 promotion hopefuls, who boast a famous hedge that forms the perimeter to one side of their ground.
1 Brechin City were formed in 1906 by officials and players from Junior sides Brechin Harp and Brechin Hearts, who met with representatives of the Forfarshire Football Association in the Temperance Hall in the town. They started off in light blue strips before moving to dark blue and then black and white, with the present day choice of red and white first seen in 1955.
2 The club’s first honour came in 1910 when they won the Forfarshire Cup with a side that featured nine players from Brechin. Arbroath were seen off 4-1 in the final, with the success seeing the team met by the Brechin City Band when they arrived home.
3 Brechin joined the Scottish Football League in 1923 in the old-style Third Division, only to leave in 1926 and return in 1930.
4 Season 1937/38 was a disappointing one for Brechin as, not only did they finish bottom of the Scottish Football League, they suffered three 10-0 defeats. Cowdenbeath, Albion Rovers and Airdrie all hit double figures against a side that lost 139 goals in 34 games.
5 Brechin blossomed under the Chairmanship of David Will in the 1980s and in 1982/83 they won the Second Division title. Will was chairman for two decades and also held the posts of President of the Scottish Football Association and Vice-President of FIFA before passing away in 2009. The all-seater stand behind one of the goals at Glebe Park is named the David Will Stand in his honour.
6 In 1989/90, Brechin City won the Second Division again when they saw off the challenge of Kilmarnock by one point. The following six seasons saw three relegations and three promotions across three divisions.
7 Former manager Dick Campbell led Brechin to the Third Division title in 2001/02, and promotion to the First Division the next season, before heading for Partick Thistle. He was replaced at Brechin by his identical twin brother Ian.
8 Ian Campbell, who goes by the nickname of Pink, is the club’s all-time record goalscorer with 131 goals.
9 Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill began his management career at Brechin City before heading for Shamrock Rovers in December 2008.
10 Defender Harry Cairney was awarded a testimonial by Brechin in 2001, against Rangers, to mark 10 years of service at the club. He had also been granted a testimonial by Stenhousemuir a decade earlier.
Craig Stewart
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