Kippen FC – A Short History
Original Text courtesy of the Forth and Endrick League updated April 2024. Please note that interviews will be conducted with various individuals throughout the season to expand this short history.
Although inter-village football was played throughout West Stirlingshire in the nineteenth century, organised competition was introduced only in 1910. In that year DE Cameron, Esq., merchant of Maryhill offered the clubs a trophy to be competed for annually. The eight local clubs were delighted to accept and formed themselves into the FORTH & ENDRICK FOOTALL ASSOCIATION. Kippen F.C. was one of the founding clubs, the others being Aberfoyle Rob Roy, Ballikinrain, Buchlyvie United, Drymen United, Gartmore, Killeam and Vale of Endrick (Balfron).
The rules of that first competition were that it should be a knock-out tournament, each game lasting 90 minutes with 20 minutes extra time if required. Kippen’s first match under the auspices of the new Association was played on Saturday 9th July 1910 at home to Drymen United who won that historic match by three goals to two. Drymen then beat Ballikinrain 1-0 but in the final on 13th August 1910 at Townhead, Balfron they lost 2-1 to Buchlyvie United who became the first Cameron Cup winners.
In the next year the competition was played on a “home and away” basis but Kippen failed to progress beyond Round 1, losing both games 2-1 to Vale of Endrick, the eventual winners.
George Watson, Kippen FC Club Captain, 1912
The format was changed again for 1912, the eight teams playing each other twice on a league basis. Kippen fared slightly better in this mode drawing four and losing five of their first nine matches. They made the papers in their tenth game on 6th July 1912 when, after they had lost 3-0 at Buchlyvie, one of the two horses pulling the team brake collapsed and died on the long haul up into Arnprior. They beat Killearn the following week.
The members continued with a league competition in 1913 with Vale of Endrick sweeping all before them but in 1914 it was decided to revert to the two-leg “home and away” knock out formula. Kippen started off well, winning 3-0 at borne to Drymen and then holding United to 2-0 in the return game. In the semi-final at home they drew 2-2 with Gartmore but produced their best win to date with a 6-1 victory in the away leg.
That took them to the Final against the mighty Vale. In the first leg at Balfron on 4th July 1914 they surprised their opponents with a 1-0 win and in the return leg at Kippen a week later clung to that one goal lead to take the Cameron Cup for the first time. It is a fact that Kippen FC held onto the trophy for the next 5 years was only due to the fact that The First World War deprived us not just of local football but also took the lives of many players in our league. It was to be some time before Forth & Endrick football was played again because terrible things were happening elsewhere.
The players of Kippen F.C. made an early gesture of support for Belgian war refugees, deciding to forego the usual winners’ silver medals, instructing that instead the money saved should go to the Refugees’ Fund. Each player received a simple card noting this gesture but of course far greater sacrifices were to be made before football was again restored to a place in local life in 1920.
The roaring Twenties might have brought excitement across the globe but they were not particularly rewarding for Kippen F.C. although from 1921 onwards both a league and a cup competition were played but brought no success for the club. In 1928 the Rev. George N. Leslie of Kincardine-in-Menteith Church presented a second cup to the Association and that has been awarded to the League Champions each year since then.
The prospect of two pieces of silver seemed to inspire Kippen. In 1929 they were runners-up in both competitions and next year they became the first Club to hold both trophies simultaneously. In that memorable year they won all their league matches except the last one which they lost 5-3 at Drymen. They quickly got revenge for that setback by beating Drymen in the semi-final before going on to beat Killeam 2-0 in the Cameron Cup Final at Balfron.
1932 Cameron Cup Winners and Forth & Endrick League Winners
Two years later they achieved their second double finishing just ahead of Balfron HSFPs in the League with Balfron Rovers and Gartmore some distance behind and the rest nowhere. They completed the double with a 2-1 Cameron Cup Final win over Gartmore. The early nineteen thirties really were the glory days for the club who boasted a strong, resolute settled side that were used to winning games.
Alas it was to be a long time before any success came back to the club. Nothing else was won in the Thirties or Forties and indeed the Club’s fortunes declined to such an extent that it disappeared from competition for four seasons between 1956 and 1959. The revived Club in the Sixties became a power in the league corning a close second to Drymen in 1964. They might even have improved on that in 1965 but nine points were deducted for playing a player who was still registered elsewhere. However they took some consolation by winning the Cameron Cup at Buchlyvie, beating Gargunnock 5-3 after a 2-2 draw.
That might have been the whole story but for the dramatic events of 1984. After the 1965 Cup win Kippen gradually slipped down the league and seldom looked like serious contenders for and honours. The 1984 season opened with the usual crop of occasional narrow wins, draws, defeats – some unlucky, some crushing. Then came the 1st Round of the Cup and a 2-1 home win against Blanefield the holders. Four weeks later Thornhill, the beaten finalists came to Kippen and were held to a goalless draw.
That should have been that but instead Kippen won the replay 1-0 at Thornhill. Back to Thornhill for a semi-final against Balfron Rovers and a 3-1 win set Kippen up for the Final at Balfron against Buchlyvie United. The huge support that day included the late Andrew Rennie who had watched his big brother Gibby play in Kippen’s first Cameron Cup success seventy years earlier. You would not expect a story like this to end on a losing note and Kippen’s heroes duly obliged notching up a 2-1 win for their seventh and most recent success.
Since that most recent victory in 1984 the club has had the occasional good run but has never again tasted the spoils of a cup victory or come close in the League competition. The club seemed to have some standout players in various positions but were unable to have a competitive team that could challenge for honours. Through the 1990’s we struggled to attracted players and when we did the better performers ended up playing for the more competitive teams. Despite this fact we did win the Garvie Cup for the club with the best behaviour in 1997 and again in 1999.
This theme continued and between 2002, 2008 and 2010 we continued to get the plaudits for our good behaviour and were rewarded with the Garvie Cup but the on-field trials and tribulations proved difficult. One of the highlights for the club around that time was the introduction of a 1999 and 2000 when a fresh faced youngster from Balfron High School Iain Turner played for The Grapes as a 15 year old. He was eventually sold by Stirling Albion to Everton and had a highly successful career including many appearance for Scotland at various levels. His Scotland short from the successful Kirin Cup competition in Japan hangs in the Pavilion at the Kippen Sports Field. We are unsure if any other player from the Forth and Endrick League has ever played in the Premier League in England or indeed been in a Scotland International Squad.
The early noughties proved difficult for the club and it once again folded before being revived again, The resurrection theme is one that has followed the Kippen side for many years as it seems to have failed to hold on to better players and to attract players that could keep them off the bottom places in the league.
There was always the distraction of some light relief from the troublesome league and cup business with visits from sides from America who came to Kippen to play us in friendlies and of course we had several visits from Scotland International stars who played for Dukla Pumpherston.
By the time 2018’s came around the McNichol family who had put a huge amount of effort into keeping the team going were struggling to attract players and the side sadly folded for the second time in its history. For five years Kippen failed to be part of the Forth and Endrick League until a spectacular rise again that was feature on the iconic BBC show A View from the Terrace who documented the rise of the club with a film called the Resurrection.
The Resurrection
The rebirth of the Club was instigated by former player Cameron Skinner who had noted that GSR Central Academy an Under 18 team who had based themselves at the Kippen FC ground would be finishing in the summer. The club was run by a local man Paul Goodwin with former Scotland internationalist David McPherson who were using the Academy to sent player to the USA on football scholarships. With several Forth and Endrick players available it seemed a good opportunity to use the connection to get the boys playing for Kippen FC. With some excellent support from Fraser Scott and his committee at the Forth and Endrick who changed the rules to allow youth players to play as trialists the Club was back after a 5 year absence.
