Alloa Athletic F.C.

Alloa Athletic

Full name	Alloa Athletic Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Wasps / The Hornets
Founded	1878 (as Clackmannan County)
Ground	Recreation Park, Alloa, Scotland (Capacity: 3,412 (919 seated)
Chairman	Mike Mulraney
Manager	Paul Hartley
League	Scottish Third Division
2010–11	Scottish Second Division, 9th (Relegated via play-offs)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Alloa Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football team based in Alloa, Clackmannanshire. They are members of the Scottish Football League and currently play in the Third Division.

They are nicknamed 'The Wasps' for their kit's distinctive black and gold hoops and 'The Hornets' after the club adopted a cartoon Hornet for their club badge in 2010. Their home ground is currently Recreation Park, also known as The Recs. The ground has recently undergone a number of changes with the removal of the Hilton Road Terrace and the laying of a new artificial playing surface in the summer of 2007. A new perimeter wall was then built at the Clackmannan Road end of the ground and a new 519 seater stand for away supporters was opened in October 2008.

History

Alloa playing at Berwick in their 1997–98 title-winning season

The club were formed in 1878 as Clackmannan County, becoming Alloa a year later and finally adopting the present-day name Alloa Athletic in 1883. Admitted to the Scottish Football Association in the same year, the club had to wait until 1921 to elected to the Scottish Football League, although they had enjoyed success prior to this. In 1906–07, the club were Scottish Football Union champions and won the Central Football League six years later, with two runners-up finishes in-between.

Alloa won the Scottish Football League Division Two title in their first season but were immediately relegated from the top flight the following season. Promotion was achieved again in 1938–39 but the onset of the Second World War saw the new season curtailed after just five games. When the leagues were re-organised after the war, Alloa were placed back in Division Two.

Stirling Albion shooting against the Alloa goal and missing in August 2006

The 1950s and 60s were not overly successful for the Wasps although the club did provide the game with John White who went on to play for Scotland and Tottenham Hotspur (where he was part of their famous Double winning side of the 1960–61 season). Promotion was finally achieved again from the new Second Division in 1976–77 under the managership of Hugh Wilson. Relegation soon followed but the Wasps went back up 1981–82 under Alex Totten and managed an excellent 6th place finish in the First Division the following season. Unfortunately the team was relegated again a year later and a similar pattern followed after further promotions in 1984–85 and 1988–89.

Following further league reconstruction, Alloa found themselves as founder members of the new Third Division in 1995. Under Tom Hendrie, Alloa won this league in 1997–98, the club's first championship win since 1921–22. The following season saw the team consolidate in the Second Division and also enjoy a famous 7–0 derby win over local rivals Stirling Albion. Following the departure of Tom Hendrie to St. Mirren, Terry Christie took over at Alloa and led the club to the Scottish Challenge Cup in 1999 followed by promotion to the First Division a few months later. The team was relegated at the first attempt but bounced back up in 2001–02. Relegation followed once more, this time on goal difference.

Since 2003 Alloa have been playing in the Second Division. In the 2009–2010 season, Alloa looked certain to gain promotion to the Scottish First Division, but they lost out to Stirling by Goal Difference. In the 2010–2011 season, Alloa were relegated to the Third Division after finishing 9th in the Second Division league table, and failing to negotiate the end-of-season play-offs, losing 2–1 on aggregate to Annan.

Days after, however, Alloa pulled off a massive coup, appointing former Aberdeen and Scotland midfielder Paul Hartley as player-manager.

Notable former players

• Tommy Hutchison
• Neil Martin
• Peter Smith
• Willie Crilley
• John White
• Peter Lamont
• Steve Ramsay
• Alan Paterson
• Willie Irvine
• James 'Peem' Docherty

Colours and badge

Alloa play in gold and black hoops, with black shorts and socks, and a change strip of dark blue with a yellow trim. The current strip is similar to the first strip worn – black and orange hooped jersey and stockings – which led to the club's nickname of The Wasps. The club have rarely strayed from a hooped design with an occasional stray to all-orange or all-gold. In the 1897–98 season, however, the jersey was navy blue and white stripes – the only departure from orange or gold.

The club have carried shirt sponsorship since 1984, using six different companies.

Stadium

Main article: Recreation Park, Alloa

Recreation Park has a capacity of 3,100 and has been home to Alloa for much of their existence, with the club using the ground since 1895. Prior to that, Alloa had short stays at a number of grounds, as illustrated below:

• 1878: West End Public Park (Still used for local welfare football matches)
• 1883: Gaberston Park
• 1890: Bellevue Park
• 1895: Recreation Park

Hotel and restaurant

In September 2010, it was announced that Alloa Athletic had applied for planning permission to build a hotel and restaurant complex on land adjacent to Recreation park which had previously been used for car parking. The Announcement was made by club chairman Mike Mulraney and he stressed that the club would not be at risk of any losses, should the venture not be successful.

Supporters

Most record books list Alloa's record attendance as 13,000 for a match against Dunfermline Athletic on 22 February 1939 in a Scottish Cup third round replay. However the recent book The Roar of the Crowd by David Ross shows the record attendance to actually be 15,467 for a Scottish Cup 5th round match against Celtic on 5 February 1955. Celtic won the game 4–2. In recent times, the record figure is a more modest 5,050 for a Second Division match against Cowdenbeath in May 1992. With the current capacity just over 3,000, the figure looks unlikely to be beaten.

Some of the Alloa fans have now adopted the nickname 'The Hornets' (as opposed to The Wasps) for the team, after the club adopted a redesigned badge. The badge depicts a 'muscle bound' cartoon hornet on a shield with the words Alloa Athletic fc below. Some fans stated in 'The Duffle' and 'Pie and Bovril' forums that they would not purchase replica Alloa tops due to the cartoon like nature of the badge.

A group of young fans ranging from 14 to 17 years old have banded together to create a supporters group in 2011. They are often heard singing passionately from the south stand affectionately known as 'the shed'. The group have been under constant scrutiny from fellow fans who deem the group a negative influence, especially after an unfortunate incident in Glasgow's Buchanan Street when playing Queen's Park. However the group have since improved behaviour at home and away games.

Current squad

As of 8 March 2012

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Scott Bain GK Craig McDowall DF Mark Docherty DF Michael Doyle DF Ben Gordon DF Ryan Harding DF Mark McCullagh DF Ross McKinnon (on loan from Motherwell) DF Ross Philp DF Allan Ramsey MF Paul Hartley (Player Manager) MF Graeme Holmes

No. Position Player MF Nicholas Locke MF Ross McCord MF Ryan McCord MF Darren Young (Captain) MF Steven Masterton FW Craig Campbell FW Kevin Cawley FW Kenny O'Brien FW Max Wright FW Robbie Winters FW Stevie May (on loan from St. Johnstone)

For recent transfers, see Alloa Athletic transfers in 2011–12 season.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Grant Sandison (on loan to Oakley United)

Managers

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Jimmy Crapnell (1946)
• Tommy Lipton (1946–1947)
• Jimmy Simpson (1947–1948)
• Bobby Hogg (1948–1949)
• Tommy Lipton (1949–1951)
• Davie McCulloch (1951–1952)
• Webber Lees (1952–1955)
• Jerry Kerr (1955–1959)
• Archie McPherson (1959–1969)
• Duncan McCallum (1969–1971)
• Ian Crawford (1971–1972)
• Dan McLindon (1972–1974)
• Hugh Wilson (1974–1980)

• Alex Totten (1980–1982)
• Willie Garner (1982–1984)
• Jimmy Thomson (1984–1986)
• Dom Sullivan (1986–1987)
• Gregor Abel (1987–1990)
• Billy Little (1990)
• Hugh McCann (1990–93)
• Billy Lamont (1993–1995)
• Pat McAuley (1995–1996)
• Tom Hendrie (1996–1998)
• Terry Christie (1999–2003)
• Tom Hendrie (2003–2006)
• Allan Maitland (2006–2011)
• Paul Hartley (2011–)

Honours

A complete list of honours is available on the 'Honours' section of Alloa's official website

• Scottish First Division:
  • Winners (1): 1921–22
  • Runners-up (1): 1938–39

• Scottish Second Division:
  • Runners-up (7): 1976–77, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1988–89, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2009–10

• Scottish Third Division:
  • Winners (1): 1997–98

• Scottish Challenge Cup:
  • Winners (1): 1999–00
  • Runners-up (1): 2001–02

• Stirlingshire Cup:
  • Winners (14): 1904–05, 1907–08, 1908–09, 1912–13, 1920–21, 1924–25, 1933–34, 1946–47, 1955–56, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1965–66, 1981–82, 1996–97
  • Runners-up (12): 1905–06, 1906–07, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1921–22, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1983–84, 1993–94, 1997–98, 1999–00, 2000–01

• Fife Cup:
  • Winners (3): 1885–86, 1895–96, 1897–98
  • Runners-up (1): 1883–84

• Central Football League:
  • Winners (1): 1912–13
  • Runners-up (2): 1909–10, 1911–12

• Scottish Football Union:
  • Champions (1): 1906–07

Records

• Biggest win: 9–0 v Selkirk, Scottish Cup 1st round, 28 November 2005

• Worst defeat: 0–10 v Dundee, Scottish League B Division, 8 March 1947 (home match); 0–10 v Third Lanark, Scottish League Cup Division 2 Section A, 8 August 1953 (home match); 2–11 v Hibernian, Scottish League Cup Quarter Final 2nd leg, 22 September 1965

• Highest home attendance: 15,467 v Celtic, Scottish Cup 5th round, 5 February 1955

• Most capped player: Jock Hepburn (1 for Scotland)

• Most league goals in a season: Willie Crilley (49 in 1921–22)

• Transfer fee paid: £26,000 for Ross Hamilton from Stenhousemuir, July 2000

• Transfer fee received: £100,000 for [[Greig Spence](footballer) to Celtic F.C, August 2010]

External links

• Official site