The Winton, as they're known locally, come from the
Ayrshire harbour town of
Ardrossan. They were formed in 1902, and moved to their spiritual home, the 3000 capacity Winton Park, in 1923, after they bought the land from Lord Eglinton for £160. The ground's main stand was built in 1923, although is currently not in use as despite looking glorious, it's currently deemed unsafe to house paying customers.
Indeed, over the years much of the ground had fallen into disrepair, until a new supporter- led committee was formed in 2001 with the express intention of improving the facilities, after the previous owners decided that they were no longer able to continue running the club. They finally managed to raise the funds to buy out the deeds to the ground in 2005.
They play in the
Scottish Junior League Western Region, the fifth tier of Scottish football, and have not been without some success. Perhaps their most notable achievement is having reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup on three occasions. And they weren't all in their early days, as they've spread these successes between 1912, 1934 and 1970. In total they've won over local titles and cup competitions, making them one of the most successful Junior teams in Scotland. Their most recent successes came in the last few years when they won the Airshire Cup three years in a row in 2007-2008.
Stripe spotters be warned though, because although they have played the bulk of their history in black and white stripes, they very occasionally turn those lines horizontal and change them to hoops. But we can forgive a club with such a long and proud history the odd eccentricity now and again.
All photos © lays with the owners
Videos from YouTube. Underlying © lays with the owners of the clips.
No comments:
Post a Comment