Thirty years ago today, Stirling Albion notched up a record-breaking 20-0 win over Selkirk in the Scottish Cup first round at Annfield.
Here are 10 things you may, or may not know, about the League 1 club, who are now owned by the Supporters Trust following the sale of the club by former chairman Peter McKenzie in 2010:
1 Stirling Albion were formed in 1945 by local coal merchant Tom Fergusson, who went on to serve the club with distinction in a number of different roles, and other businessmen. There had been senior football in the city before but King’s Park’s Forthbank home (on a different site to the current Forthbank) was hit by a bomb during World War II.
2 In the summer of 1966, Albion accepted an invitation to go on a tour to Japan. Rumour has it that Sheffield Wednesday were lined up but pulled out and the organisers selected another team that began with ‘S’! Stirling played in front of huge crowds in the Far East and also played games in Greece and Iran en route.
3 The goals in the 20-0 win over Selkirk on December 8,1984 were scored by Davie Thompson (7), Willie Irvine (5), Keith Walker (2), Neil Watt (2), Scott Maxwell, Rab Dawson, Jimmy Ormond and Gerry McTeague. Alex Smith was the manager at the time. In round two Albion lost 2-1 to Cowdenbeath at Central Park.
4 Albion have never gone beyond the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup, a stage they last reached in 1989/90 when they lost 1-0 to Clydebank in a replay. The Binos reached the semi-final of the League Cup in 1961/62 but went down 2-1 to Hearts after extra time at Easter Road.
5 In season 1980/81, the team created an unwanted British record by failing to score in 14 consecutive games from February until the end of the season. Unsurprisingly, they were relegated to Division Two.
6 Albion provided the opposition for Billy Bremner’s testimonial match in October 1973, with a crowd of 6,090 seeing a full-strength Leeds United team win 3-2 at Annfield. Frank Beattie, who had succeeded Bob Shankly, was Stirling manager at the time.
7 The club’s most successful season in terms of league placing was 1958/59, when they finished 12th in the top flight. They also reached the last eight of the Scottish Cup before losing 3-1 to Celtic in front of a crowd of 28,600 at Annfield.
8 Stirling Albion were the first Scottish club to install an artificial pitch. Ayr United were the visitors for the first game – a 1-1 draw at Annfield on September 5, 1987. Albion moved to Forthbank in April 1993 after spending most of the 1992/93 season as tenants at Ochilview. Their opening match was a 3-2 defeat to Clydebank, who ironically were the last team they faced at Annfield in May 1992.
9 European football has never come to Stirling but in March 1970 the Binos played Metalist Kharkiv in an Annfield friendly, winning 1-0 against the team from the then USSR, who also played Queen of the South as part of a short British tour.
10 Albion suffered their record league defeat when they lost 9-0 to Dundee United at Tannadice in December 1967 and they also crashed 9-0 to Ross County in the 2009/10 Scottish Cup but recovered quickly and went on to win the Second Division title under Allan Moore that season. Their record league win is 9-1 against East Stirlingshire, set in March 2013.
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