Extreme Football Tourism: SCOTLAND: Stenhousemuir FC (1890-) / Stenhousemuir Juniors FC (1909-1910) / Stirling Albion FC (1992-1993) / Falkirk FC (2003-2004) / East Stirlingshire FC (2008-2018, 2025-) / Syngenta FC (2021-2023) / Queen's Park FC (2022-2023)

Ochilview Park, Stenhousemuir (Stenhousemuir FC & East Stirlingshire FC, formerly Stenhousemuir Juniors FC / Stirling Albion FC / Falkirk FC / Syngenta FC / Queen's Park FC)

Scotland, county: Stirlingshire

14 II 2026 / Stenhousemuir FC - Montrose FC 2-2 / League 1 (= SCO level 3)

Timeline

1881 / A first Stenhousemuir FC sees the daylight. The early history of football in the Stirlingshire town is muddled, with four other clubs being recorded as having existed in the first half of the 1880s; Stenhousemuir Thistle Cricket Club XI, 2nd Stenhousemuir (Windsor), Stenhousemuir FC (Larbert), and Stenhousemuir Thistle FC.
1883 / Stenhousemuir FC (I) is granted membership of the Scottish Football Association (SFA).
1884 / According to the annals of the club, Stenhousemuir FC (II) is founded in 1884 as a breakaway from a local team called Heather Rangers FC. However, given that Heather Rangers FC does not seem to have existed prior to 1890, and another club already bearing the name Stenhousemuir FC, this version of events seems highly unlikely.
1885 / After being struck from the SFA membership list due to non-payment of subscription, Stenhousemuir FC (I) folds, ceasing all activities.
1886 / First press reports about the new Stenhousemuir FC can be traced. This makes 1886 the best guess at the foundation year of the current club. Stenhousemuir FC (II) initially played its football at Tryst Park, moving on to Goschen Park after one or two years.
1890 / Moving away from Goschen Park, Stenhousemuir FC settles at Ochilview Park. The new ground is named after the nearby Ochil Hills, which are visible from the ground.
1901 / Stenhousemuir FC, nicknamed The Warriors, wins the Scottish Qualifying Cup, a non-league tournament and the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the regular Scottish Cup.
1902 / Winning the Scottish Qualifying Cup for the second time in a row, Stenhousemuir FC goes on to have an excellent run in the Scottish Cup, eliminating Inverness Caledonian FC, Douglas Wanderers FC, and Partick Thistle along the way, eventually suffering elimination in the semifinal against Rangers FC (1-4).
1909 / Stenhousemuir FC is joined at Ochilview Park by Stenhousemuir Juniors FC in a groundsharing agreement that would last one season (1909-10).
1921 / Stenhousemuir FC is admitted to the Scottish professional leagues, being placed in the newly-reformed Division 2 – the second and lowest tier of the professional league pyramid.
1924 / In the club’s best pre-war season, Stenhousemuir FC finishes in fourth place in Division 2 – although it should be pointed out that the club equalled this performance in 1932, 1933, and 1934.
1926 / Stenhousemuir FC striker Robert Taylor scores 32 goals in the 1925-26 season, making him the club’s all-time record holder in terms of number of goals scored in one season. Also in 1926, Stenhousemuir goalkeeper Joe Shortt is offered a £50 bribe to throw a match against Broxburn United FC, but he rejects the offer, as the Warriors go on to win the match 6-2. A bookmaker from the Bainsford district of Falkirk is subsequently jailed for attempted match fixing.
1928 / The wooden grandstand at Ochilview Park burns down in a fire, which leads to a new stand being built in its place on the northern side of the ground, although staircases reputedly had to be added later due to planning errors. The covered stand offers bench seating for 310 spectators.
1930 / Stenhousemuir FC suffers its most comprehensive league defeat, a 2-11 home drubbing at the hands of Dunfermline Athletic FC.
1937 / Stenhousemuir FC registers a record victory – a 9-2 home win against Dundee United FC.
1949 / Stenhousemuir FC reaches the quarterfinal of the Scottish Cup, bowing out against Clyde FC (0-1).
1950 / Stenhousemuir FC reaches the last eight of the Scottish Cup for the second year running. The quarterfinal tie against East Fife FC (0-3) draws a record crowd of 12,525 to Ochilview Park, the highest ever recorded at the ground.
1951 / On November 7th, 1951, the first floodlit game between two Scottish senior teams occurs at Ochilview Park, a friendly match between Stenhousemuir FC and Hibernian FC. The floodlights were paid for three years earlier by Tommy Douglas, a local butcher.
1959 / In its best season ever, Stenhousemuir FC finishes in third place in Division 2, 5 points short of runners-up Arbroath FC, who win promotion to the top flight of Scottish football.
1964 / Rangers FC presents a plan to the Scottish Football League to remove Stenhousemuir FC from the league, along with four other clubs, on the basis that they were poorest-supported clubs over the previous three seasons; Stenhousemuir, along with Albion Rovers FC, Berwick Rangers FC, Brechin City FC, and Stranraer FC, with support from a number of clubs (including, notably, Celtic FC, Hamilton Academical FC, and Airdrieonians FC), defeat the plan.
1972 / Stenhousemuir FC defeats Rangers FC, holders of the Cup Winners’ Cup at the time, 2-1 at Ibrox Stadium in a R2 Scottish League Cup tie; however, as Rangers FC won the first leg at Ochilview comprehensively (5-0), the Glasgow club progresses to R3.
1973 / Jimmy Richardson hangs up his boots after sixteen years at Stenhousemuir FC, in which he played 434 official matches – making him the club all-time record holder in terms of number of appearances.
1975 / As the Premier Division is introduced as the new top layer of the Scottish football pyramid, Stenhousemuir FC, finishing in eleventh place in Division 2 that season, fails to qualify for Division 1 – thus staying at the bottom ladder of the league pyramid, which became the third rather than the second level from this point on.
1992 / Stenhousemuir FC is joined at Ochilview Park by fellow Division 2 side Stirling Albion FC in a groundsharing agreement concluded in view of Stirling having to leave its Annfield Stadium, which was demolished.
1993 / Stirling Albion FC moves away from its temporary stay at Ochilview Park after one season, settling at the newly inaugurated Forthbank Stadium.
1994 / A Division 3 is added to the league system as the fourth and lowest level of the Scottish professional league pyramid; with Stenhousemuir FC staying up in Division 2, the club does not find itself in the bottom division of the professional leagues for the first time in history. Also in 1994, Stenhousemuir provisionally agrees to sell Ochilview Park to the Safeway supermarket chain. The scheme, however, is frustrated by planning regulations in the following months. Instead, the decision is taken to upgrade the existing stadium instead of relocating to a projected new ground.
1995 / Stenhousemuir FC defeats St Johnstone FC (4-0) and Aberdeen FC (2-0), both higher league opposition, to qualify for the Scottish Cup quarter finals, in which the club bows out against Hibernian FC (0-4). Also in 1995, in the first step towards upgrading Ochilview Park, the covered terracing on the south side of the ground is removed to make way for a new all-seater main stand (capacity 626).
1996 / Conquering its first major trophy in more than 90 years, Stenhousemuir FC wins the Scottish League Cup, defeating Dundee United FC 5-4 on penalties (0-0 A.E.T.) in the final at McDiarmid Park in Perth (att. 7,856). Also in 1996, 18-year-old goalkeeper James Alexander makes his league debut for Stenhousemuir. Alexander would stay with the club for two seasons, signing a deal with Livingston FC in 1998; Alexander would go on to have spells at Cardiff City FC, Ipswich Town FC, Rangers FC, Crystal Palace FC, Heart of Midlothian FC, Aberdeen FC, and Dunfermline Athletic FC, hanging up his boots in 2022; moreover, he also won 3 caps for Scotland in 2006. Moreover, still in 1996, the new all-seater main stand at the south side of Ochilview Park is inaugurated, with the construction being named the Norway Stand due to a sponsorship deal with the club’s Norwegian supporters’ club. For the time being, the old main stand, dating back to the late 1920s and situated on the north side of the pitch, is left in place.
1998 / Managed by Terry Christie, Stenhousemuir FC finishes in second-last place in Division 2, thus suffering its first-ever relegation since joining the professional leagues, descending into Division 3 along with bottom club Brechin City FC. Also in 1998, 19-year-old striker Kenny Miller joins Stenhousemuir FC on loan for the remainder of the 1998-99 season. Miller would go on to have a colourful career with spells at Rangers FC, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Celtic FC, Derby County FC, Bursaspor KD, Cardiff City FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Livingston FC, Dundee FC, and Partick Thistle FC, hanging up his boots in the summer of 2020. Making his international debut in 2001, Kenny Miller also won an impressive number of 69 caps for Scotland.
1999 / Finishing as runner-up in Division 3, 13 points behind runaway champions Ross County FC, Stenhousemuir FC achieves its first-ever promotion since joining the professional leagues, managing an instant return to Division 2. The successful manager is Terry Christie. Also in that memorable 1998-99 season, Stenhousemuir’s 43-year-old utility player Graeme Armstrong, who had joined the club in 1992 following previous spells at Meadowbank Thistle FC, Stirling Albion FC, and Berwick Rangers FC, plays his 864th match as a professional league footballer – making him the UK’s all-time record holder in that respect, beating the previous record of Tommy Hutchison. Armstrong became player-manager for Stenhousemuir in the 1999-2000 season, leaving the club for one more season as a player at Alloa Athletic FC, eventually hanging up his boots at the age of 45, with 910 league matches to his credit (77 goals). Also in 1999, the old main stand at Ochilview Park is demolished after being refused a safety certificate. Since, the north side of the ground has been used mainly as a car park.
2003 / Stenhousemuir FC is joined at Ochilview Park by Division 1 side Falkirk FC in a temporary arrangement, with Falkirk’s Brockville Park being demolished – and the projected Falkirk Stadium not being ready for inauguration yet. In view of the larger numbers of spectators flocking to Ochilview Park for Falkirk home matches, marquee-type stands are erected to temporarily raise the capacity to 5,267.
2004 / Finishing bottom of the table in Division 2, Stenhousemuir FC drops back into Division 3, along with the club in second-last position, East Fife FC. In the course of the 2004-05 season, the Tryst Road End terrace at the western side of Ochilview Park is equipped with a new roof, constructed by club volunteers. Also in 2004, after one season as groundsharers at Ochilview Park, Falkirk FC moves into its newly inaugurated Falkirk Stadium.
2005 / Talented winger David Templeton makes his league debut for Stenhousemuir FC at the age of sixteen. Templeton would leave the club two years later to sign a contract with Heart of Midlothian FC, going on to have spells at Raith Rovers FC, Rangers FC, Hamilton Academical FC, and Burton Albion FC, bowing out into non-league in 2021.
2006 / Finishing in third place in Division 3, Stenhousemuir FC qualifies for the promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club is knocked out in the semis by Berwick Rangers FC (0-1).
2007 / The pitch at Ochilview Park is laid out anew with a synthetic surface, which would go on to become the first in the UK to pass the FIFA 2 Star category accreditation.
2008 / Stenhousemuir FC are joined at Ochilview Park by local rivals and fellow Division 3 side East Stirlingshire FC, who abandoned their old Firs Park in Falkirk, which was deemed beyond renovation due to the prohibitive costs of improving facilities to meet regulations set by the Scottish Football Association.
2009 / Finishing in third and fourth places in Division 3 respectively, East Stirlingshire FC and Stenhousemuir FC both qualify for the promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the former is eliminated by Cowdenbeath FC in the semis (3-2 aggr.). Stenhousemuir, on the other hand, knocks out Queen’s Park FC in the semis (2-1 aggr.), going on to edge past Cowdenbeath FC in the final (0-0 aggr. A.E.T. & penalty shoot-out). As such, the club wins promotion to Division 2 (renamed League 1 in 2013). The successful manager is John Coughlin.
2010 / Finishing in third place in Division 3, East Stirlingshire FC qualifies for the promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club is eliminated in the semifinal by Forfar Athletic FC (3-2 aggr.). Also in or around 2010, the grass banking at the eastern end of Ochilview Park is removed to make way for two small artificial pitches for community use. Since, a small prefab covered stand was put in place here, with the hard standing on this side of the ground being used occasionally at higher profile games. From this moment on, official capacity at Ochilview has been 3,746 (626 seated).
2011 / Stenhousemuir FC narrowly avoids relegation from Division 2 after spending most of the season in the bottom two positions. On the final day of the season, the club defeats Peterhead (3-0) to move above Alloa Athletic FC, thereby avoid the relegation play-offs.
2013 / Stenhousemuir FC reaches the semifinal of the Scottish League Cup by beating Dundee FC (1-1 after regular play), going on to bow out against Rangers FC (1-0).
2014 / In January 2014, after parting company with Martyn Corrigan, Stenhousemuir FC appoints Scott Booth as its new manager. Booth is a former Scottish international striker – 22 caps between 1993 and 2001, being part of his country’s squads in the 1996 European Championship and the 1998 World Cup – who had a fourteen-year long professional league career with spells at Aberdeen FC, Borussia Dortmund, FC Utrecht, SBV Vitesse, and FC Twente. The job at Stenhousemuir FC is his first managerial post.
2015 / After just over one year in charge, Scott Booth is relieved of his managerial duties in February 2015 after winning just 12 from 42 games and failing to record any back-to-back victories. Booth never returned to professional league football as a manager in subsequent years. In the summer of 2015, Stenhousemuir FC is joined by 36-year-old Trinidadian striker Jason Scotland (41 caps), who had been part of his country’s squad in the 2006 World Cup as an unused sub. Scotland joins the club from Hamilton Academical FC, having had previous spells at Dundee United FC, St Johnstone FC, Swansea City FC, Wigan Athletic FC, Ipswich Town FC, and Barnsley FC.
2016 / Finishing bottom of the Division 3 table, East Stirlingshire FC goes on to suffer defeat in a promotion-relegation play-off against Lowland League winners Edinburgh City FC (2-1 aggr.); as such, the club suffers relegation into the Lowland League after a 116-year-spell as a professional league side. Also in 2016, after one season with Stenhousemuir FC, Trinidadian striker Jason Scotland hangs up his boots at the age of 37.
2017 / Managed by Brown Ferguson, Stenhousemuir FC finishes bottom of the table in League 1, thus descending into League 2 along with play-off losers Peterhead FC. Meanwhile, down in the Lowland League, East Stirlingshire FC finishes as runner-up, 7 points behind champions East Kilbride FC.
2018 / Finishing in fourth place in League 2, Stenhousemuir FC qualifies for the promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club knocks out Queen’s Park FC in the semis (3-2 aggr.), going on to edge past Peterhead FC in the final (2-1 aggr.). As such, the club manages an immediate return to League 1, the third level of the Scottish football pyramid. The successful manager is Brown Ferguson. Also in 2018, after ten seasons of groundsharing at Ochilview Park, East Stirlingshire FC leaves to settle at the Falkirk Stadium as groundsharers of Falkirk FC.
2019 / Managed by Colin McMenamin, Stenhousemuir FC finishes in second-last place in League 1, going on to suffer defeat in the promotion-relegation play-off semi against Annan Athletic FC (4-1 aggr.). As such, the club drops back into League 2 after just one season, along with bottom club Brechin City FC.
2021 / Stenhousemuir FC is joined at Ochilview Park by East of Scotland side Syngenta FC, which abandons Westfield Park in Dunipace in the wake of their groundsharing agreement with Stenhousemuir.
2022 / Syngenta FC wins promotion to the East of Scotland Second Division. Meanwhile, besides Stenhousemuir FC and Syngenta FC, a third club settles at Ochilview, as Scottish Championship side Queen’s Park FC, previously playing at Hampden Park, temporarily moves in as groundsharers while waiting for their new stadium of Lesser Hampden to be completed.
2023 / Into the second year of their groundsharing arrangement at Ochilview Park, Syngenta FC folds in March 2023, ceasing all activities. The other groundsharers in Stenhousemuir, Queen’s Park FC, are markedly more successful, finishing in third place in the Championship, qualifying for the promotion-relegation play-offs for a spot in the Scottish Premiership, in which the club is knocked out in the quarterfinal by Partick Thistle FC (8-3 aggr.). Meanwhile, in the summer of 2023, Stenhousemuir FC signs Gary Naysmith as its new manager. Naysmith is a former Scottish international player (46 caps, 2000-09) who had a twenty-year long professional league career with spells at Heart of Midlothian FC, Everton FC, Sheffield United FC, Huddersfield Town AFC, and Aberdeen FC (1996-2016).
2024 / After five seasons in League 2, Stenhousemuir FC wins the first league championship in its long history, finishing 8 points ahead of closest followers Peterhead FC. A 0-0 draw with East Fife FC, four matches before the end of the season, proves sufficient. As such, the club wins promotion to League 1. The successful manager is Gary Naysmith.
2025 / Finishing in a respectable fourth place in its first season back in League 1, Stenhousemuir FC qualifies for the promotion-relegation play-offs, in which the club bows out in the semifinal against Airdrieonians FC (5-2 aggr.). Also in 2025, after seven years of groundsharing with Falkirk FC at the Falkirk Stadium, Lowland League side East Stirlingshire FC renews its former groundsharing agreement with Stenhousemuir at Ochilview Park.