Fraserburgh Football Club History
Fraserburgh Football Club was formed in 1910 have always played at Bellslea Park. Prior to 1910 they played as a select side made up of the best players from the local amateur league. In 1909 there was a campaign in the town to form a team to play as Fraserburgh Football Club. The campaign was successful and they decided to play on the ground used by a team called Bellsleys FC. The name was changed to Bellslea to coincide with a hotel across the road called The Bellslea Hotel which is now a car showroom. Fraserburgh's first ever match was an away tie in the Qualifying Cup against deadly rivals Peterhead. Fraserburgh were victorious by 3 goals to 1. In their very first season they went on to win the Aberdeenshire Cup, defeating Buckie Thistle at Pittodrie Stadium.
The Club were granted admission into the Highland League in 1921 and up until that time they competed in the Aberdeenshire Cup and Scottish Cup. They play in the Highland League, which is comprised of 15 teams.
Click Here to View Fraserburgh F.C. Major Honours Page
The town of Fraserburgh, known locally as "the Broch", has a population of roughly 15,000 "Brochers".
The team colours are Black and White Stripes and this is because in the late 1890's a local Fish Merchant had connections in Newcastle and the kit for the select side was borrowed from Newcastle United FC and the tradition was kept. This was further enhanced when after the Second World War when clothes were rationed the Broch found themselves without a strip. Newcastle United were approached and Fraserburgh were kitted out in the strips worn by Newcastle United the previous season.
Probably the most famous game in the history of the club came on January 31st 1959 when "Broch " defeated Dundee 1-0 at the Bellslea Park in the Scottish Cup. Dundee at the time were one of the top teams in the country and it is still regarded as one of the biggest shocks in the Scottish game. Click herefor a link to the official scottish cup 'Giant killers' webpage.
On the 21st January 1970, five crew members of the Fraserburgh lifeboat, 'The Duchess of Kent', were tragically lost when she was turned over by a freak wave 36 miles off Kinnaird Head, while escorting Danish fishing vessel 'Opal' to safety. In a fundraising game after the disaster, Jock Stein brought his Glasgow Celtic team to the Bellslea (Final score 0-7). The game was recorded by the BBC and was used, in part, for a tribute programme to Jock Stein shown on the 11th September 1985: 'The Big Man - A Tribute to Jock Stein'. In this short clip Jock reflects, over clips of the memorable match, on the important work people do in relation to playing full time football. Thanks to the hard work of lifelong FFC follower, Hazel Deans, the BBC granted permission for Bweb to show the clip.
To view the Jock Stein clip, click here
However, the game most fondly remembered by Broch fans was the 10-0 victory away to Peterhead in the Highland League Cup on August 14th 1974. Many an argument between the rival supporters has been ended with two simple words "ten nil".
2002 saw Fraserburgh win the highland league for the first time in 60 years. STV North were there to preview the season climax and report on the season finale.
To view 2001 - 2002 season climax preview, click here
To view 2001 - 2002 season climax report, click here
In 2005, the manager Charlie Duncan celebrated 21 years in charge of Fraserburgh FC. To commemorate the milestone in December, North Tonight came to Fraserburgh to speak to Charlie, Finlay Noble (Secretary) and one of the Burries biggest fans. STV North have generously given permission to show the clip on BWeb.
To view the North Tonight clip, click here
In 2007, the Scottish Cup was to be changed. In the past, teams from the lower divisions in Scotland played for the presigious 'Qualifying Cups' (North and South), where teams getting to the semi-final of the trophy were entered into the Scottish cup. Round 1 of the Scottish cup now includes all highland league teams, therefore the final Qualifying Cup was contested in 2006. Fraserburgh played their way into the history books by winning the trophy on Princess Royal Park (Deveronvale) against the eventual league winners, Keith F.C. Scoreline 2-1. We now have the claim of being the Qualifying Cup holders, which we will hold permanently !
Click Here to view Fraserbrugh F.C. Scottish Cup results pre 2007
Finlay Noble spent countless hours over many years collating a spreadsheet containing the complete history of Fraserburgh Football Club. He now maintains the spreadsheet for generations to come. The link below takes you to the Excel spreadsheet, which is up to date to the end of season 2006 - 2007. It has many filters, which allow searches to be completed in seconds. If you're into stats, this is the only history of Fraserburgh Football Club for you ! We've left the file as an excel spreadsheet for you to get the maximum from the information, however this will take time to download. As an alternative, you can save the file to your PC and browse from there. Please note, the only controlled copy of the spreadsheet will be held here.
Click Here to view the history of Fraserburgh F.C.