Kilmarnock F.C.
Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish professional football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire that currently plays in the. The club has achieved several honours since its formation in 1869, most recently the 2011–12 Scottish League Cup after a 1–0 win over Celtic at Hampden Park and the Scottish Championship title in 2022. The club nickname, Killie, is the Scottish term for the town of Kilmarnock.
The club have qualified for European competitions on nine occasions, their best performance coming in the 1966–67 Fairs Cup when they progressed to the semi-finals, eventually being eliminated by Leeds United. The club is also one of only a few Scottish clubs to have played in three European competitions. Additionally, the club have played in the International Soccer League four times – 1960, 1961, 1963 and 1965, as well as competing in the 1995 Korea Cup. Their most recent appearance in European competition football was during the 2024–25 UEFA Europa League and 2024–25 UEFA Conference League.
Kilmarnock Football Club is currently the oldest football club in the Scottish Premiership, and also the second-oldest professional club in Scotland. Home matches are played at Rugby Park, a 15,003 capacity all-seater stadium situated in the town itself. Kilmarnock took part in the first-ever official match in the Scottish Cup against the now-defunct Renton in 1873. With a long-standing football rivalry with fellow Ayrshire side Ayr United, both teams play frequently in the Ayrshire derby, first meeting in September 1910.
History
Formation and early years
The club's foundation dates back to the very earliest days of organised football in Scotland, with speculation over the club's beginnings being in 1868, 1869 or 1872 often disputed. The club was founded by a collection of men and boys who were sporting enthusiasts, with a few of them playing cricket during the summer months, as well as playing bowls, quoits, running and golf. During the winter period, the group lacked active sporting opportunities, and in the Autumn of 1868, the younger members of the sporting enthusiasts who attended Kilmarnock Academy first played football in the Barbadoes Green area of Kilmarnock. Football in Scotland at this time was considered "rough" and "disorderly", and, while it was popular, it had never been played in an organised manner before. The group of sporting enthusiasts later became known as the club's "founding fathers", and began playing football with their own set of rules which were more similar to that of Rugby league, rather than association rules, which had become the rules used for a similar game, also known as football, in England in the late 1850s. A committee was formed with the intention of the game becoming more organised, and after raising money, had placed an advertisement in the 2 January 1869 issue of the Kilmarnock Standard for a general meeting of the "Kilmarnock Foot-ball Club" to be held in Robertson's Temperance Hotel on Portland Road in Kilmarnock on Tuesday 5 January 1869. The advert read: "Parties wishing to become members may do so at the meeting, or at the Secretary's, 55 King Street". No official recorded minutes or outcomes of the meeting are known to have existed.With no recorded minutes of the meeting having taken place in January 1869, it is assumed that the members continued to play amongst themselves and with their own set of rugby-inspired rules. On 25 October 1872, a meeting was held by the committee at the George Hotel, Kilmarnock. Recorded minutes from the meeting highlighted that interest in the game had increased as had the membership, leading to the decision being made to officially constitute the club as "Kilmarnock Football Club", with a set of rules to play the game of football properly to be purchased, as no other clubs were playing "football" in the same style that the club had been playing up until that point. A meeting held by the committee on 29 October 1872 saw the agreement between the club and a gentleman, Mr. Wright, to rent his field nearby for £3, which they did until March 1873. A game was agreed to be played on the field on 2 November 1872, but no result or opponent to Kilmarnock Football Club were ever recorded. In November 1872, the club decided to formally adopt the rugby union rules they had purchased for use in the game. On 7 December 1872, Kilmarnock Football Club played their first known competitive game using the rugby union rules. The game was an 11-a-side game against Kilmarnock Cricket Club Xl which ended in a 0–0 draw.
During a club meeting on 3 March 1873, a letter from Queen's Park asked Kilmarnock F.C. if they were interested in attending a meeting at the Dewar Hotel in Glasgow on 13 March 1873 to discuss the formation of a Scottish Football Association playing to football association rules, with the possibility of purchasing a cup for the winner of a knock out competition to take place later in 1873. Kilmarnock had long previously turned Queen's Park's requests down in the past, however, a favourable letter was returned to the team, informing the club that Kilmarnock were unable to send a representative to the meeting in Glasgow on 13 March 1873 due to having a committee meeting on the scheduled date, but advised that they were willing to join the Scottish Football Association, pledging to pay the 5 shillings membership fee and donate £1 towards the purchase of a cup for the knock-out competition. The first game played by Kilmarnock under football association rules was in the 1873–74 season. The club suffered a drastic decline in membership numbers following a fall out with their landlord at Holm Quarry, after the club wished to move back to Dundonald Road. Kilmarnock Football Club were one of the founding members of the Ayrshire Football Association which formed in May 1877. By the 1880s, Kilmarnock Football Club had established themselves as the premier club in Ayrshire.
The club had not been considered eligible for the Scottish Football League when it was formed in 1890, nor was it deemed eligible to be included in a second division. Kilmarnock Football Club was finally elected to the Scottish League in 1895, and finished their first season in the Scottish League in fourth place out of ten teams. In 1920 Kilmarnock won the Scottish Cup for the first time, beating Albion Rovers at Hampden Park. This was followed by their second success in 1929 where they beat massive favourites Rangers 2–0 at the national stadium in front of a crowd of 114,708 people. They soon reached another final against the same opposition in 1932 but this time were beaten after a replay, and the same outcome followed in the 1938 final against East Fife, Killie this time the team on the receiving end of an upset.
North American and European tournaments
After finishing as runners-up during the 1959–60 season, Kilmarnock could have been put forward as one of Scotland's entrants for the following season's European Fairs Cup. Instead, the Scottish Football Association sent the team to North America to play in the International Soccer League, serving as Scotland's representative. Kilmarnock remained unbeaten during their group matches in both New York and Jersey City, with wins over Bayern Munich and English league champions, Burnley. Kilmarnock returned to North America to play in the International Soccer League final, losing 2–0 to Brazilian club Bangu Atlético Clube.During the 1960–61 season, Kilmarnock reached the Scottish League Cup final for the second time, where they lost to Rangers 2–0 and finished as the season's runners-up. After years of being sidelined by the Scottish Football Association, Kilmarnock were put forward for the 1964–65 European Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, losing their first match. The team made it to the second round, losing to Everton 1–4 and exiting the competition.
Scottish League Champions
Kilmarnock performed strong during the 1964–65 season, winning their first six matches in the season and remaining unbeaten in the league until December 1964. In 1964–65 Heart of Midlothian fought out a championship title race with Willie Waddell's Kilmarnock. In the era of two points for a win Hearts were three points clear with two games remaining. Hearts drew with Dundee United meaning the last game of the season with the two title challengers playing each other at Tynecastle would be a league decider. Kilmarnock needed to win by a two-goal margin to take the title. Hearts entered the game as favourites with both a statistical and home advantage.They also had a solid pedigree of trophy-winning under Tommy Walker. Waddell's Kilmarnock in contrast had been nearly men. Four times in the previous five seasons they had finished league runners-up including Hearts' triumph in 1960. Killie had also lost three domestic cup finals during the same period including the 1962 League Cup Final defeat to Hearts. Hearts had won five of the six senior cup finals they played in under Walker. Even the final they had lost was in a replay after drawing the first game. Hearts' Roald Jensen hit the post after six minutes. Kilmarnock then scored twice through Davie Sneddon and Brian McIlroy after 27 and 29 minutes. Alan Gordon had an excellent chance to clinch the title for Hearts in second half injury time but was denied by a Bobby Ferguson diving save pushing the ball past the post. The 2–0 defeat meant Hearts lost the title by an average of 0.042 goals. Subsequently, Hearts were instrumental in pushing through a change to use goal difference to separate teams level on points. Ironically this rule change later denied Hearts the title in 1985–86. This is the only time to date Killie have been Scottish champions.
Korean Cup and Scottish Cup victory
Decline in the 1980s brought relegation to the Second Division, returning to the top division with promotion in 1993. In the summer of 1995, Kilmarnock were invited to South Korea to play in the Korea Cup. Kilmarnock played the Costa Rica national football team, finishing the game with a draw between both teams.By the commencement of the 1996–97 season, optimism within the club remained low, with little to suggest that the season would see Kilmarnock win the Scottish Cup again, having previously done so 68 years prior. With inconsistent league results, and a home defeat to Raith Rovers in December 1996, Bobby Williamson became the new manager of Kilmarnock and began introducing new players to the team. Players such as David Bagan and Alex Burke were credited with improving the team's performance, along with Williamson's managerial style and approach. With relegation still a possibility, Kilmarnock climbed out of the relegation zone following a 1–1 home draw in the final league match of the season between Aberdeen. During the same period, Kilmarnock had been making good progress in the Scottish Cup, progressing to the 1997 Scottish Cup final with Falkirk held at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow on 24 May 1997. 25,000 Kilmarnock fans attended with final, with Paul Wright scoring for Kilmarnock, allowing for Kilmarnock to claim the Scottish Cup for the third time. Following their Scottish Cup victory, the team travelled back to Kilmarnock from Glasgow on an open topped bus, travelling up the town's John Finnie Street where they were met with a barrage of fans celebrating their victory.
Victory in the Scottish Cup secured a place for Kilmarnock in the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, meaning a return to European football for the club following an absence of 27 years.