Stranraer F.C. - History

History

They were founded in 1870 and play their football at Stair Park.

With the league reformation at the end of the 1993–94 season, Stranraer found themselves playing in the new First Division in season 1994–95. Unfortunately, they finished rock bottom with only 17 points from 36 games. Stranraer spent three seasons in the Second Division before winning promotion back to the First Division at the end of the 1997–98 season. Once again, they finished bottom of the league, with the same points total as before and a whopping 29 defeats.

The club then spent a further four years in the Second Division, with the most notable event being a good Scottish Cup run in season 2002–03, which saw them go all the way to the Quarter Finals, where they were beaten 4–0 by SPL side Motherwell. However, the team's good Cup run did not reflect their league form, as they finished 9th in the Second Division, and thus were relegated to the Third Division for season 2003–04. However, the team's fortunes improved from there, as they won the Third Division at the first attempt, gaining promotion back to the Second Division. In season 2004–05, the team shocked most people, as they stayed in the top two for most of the campaign. A 1–1 draw with closest promotion rivals Morton on 30 April 2005 saw them gain promotion to the First Division for the third time, although they were relegated to the Second Division the following season.

The team had a largely unsuccessful campaign in 2006–07, in particular with heavy defeats by relegation rivals Peterhead and Forfar Athletic. They eventually finished 9th, which resulted in a play-off with Division 3 promotion contenders East Fife. A 4–2 aggregate defeat (despite winning the second leg 1–0) saw them relegated to the Third Division.

On 21 January 2009 club chairman Nigel Redhead stated that Stranraer F.C. owed £250,000, and had a 50–50 chance of survival to the end of the season.

On 22 January 2009, in response to the above, a small consortium launched the Friends of Stranraer F.C. to try to secure the club's future through donations from the football community at www.savestranraerfc.com.

On 23 January 2009, as part of efforts to reduce costs to a manageable level, key player Gregory Tade transferred to Clyde.

On 24 January 2009, Stirling Albion defeated Stranraer 8–2. Shortly after the game, Stranraer and team manager Derek Ferguson parted company by mutual consent.

On 4 April 2009, after a 3–0 loss to Raith Rovers, Stranraer's relegation to Division 3 was confirmed and this means Stranraer will have played in a different division for each of the last 8 seasons.

On 23 July 2011 they lost 8–0 to Morton in a Ramsdens Challenge Cup game.

The 2012 liquidation of Scottish Premier League side Rangers and the subsequent decision amongst Scottish Football League members clubs that the newly-reformed Rangers should start in the Scottish Third Division meant that an additional team from each tier of Scottish football was promoted for the 2012–13 season. As Stranraer were runners up in the previous season's third division promotion play-offs, they were promoted to Scottish Second Division.

On 4 August 2012, they lost 8–0 to Livingston in a Scottish League Cup game – just over a year after they were beaten by Morton by the same scoreline.