Wishaw Football Club (previously known as Wishaw Juniors) is a Scottish football club based in the town of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire. The club currently competes in the .
History
The club was founded in 1903 as Wishaw Amateurs, itself formed after the collapse of Wishaw United F.C., a club made from the remnants of the town's senior clubs Wishaw Thistle F.C. and Wishaw F.C., both of which were wound up in 1900.
The club originally played in the Midland League and changed its name to Wishaw Thistle in 1906. The club replaced Stenhousemuir F.C. in the Scottish Football Union in 1907, and entered the Scottish Cup on a number of occasions, but never made the tournament proper. The club however won the Scottish Consolation Cup (for clubs eliminated from the qualifying rounds) in 1909.
The First World War had a dramatic effect on football but the club managed to continue to operate for a time, sometimes fielding 'guest players', i.e. service personnel who had been players with top English sides such as Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, but were stationed locally. Wishaw Thistle's Club Captain, William Angus of Carluke who had also turned out for Glasgow Celtic, was to see action in France very early on in the war and was awarded the Victoria Cross for what was described as the most heroic deed ever by a British soldier in rescuing his officer, Lt William Martin (also from Carluke) on 12 June 1915 at Givenchy-lès-la-Bassée. William Angus was badly injured in the course of the rescue and although retaining a keen interest in football throughout his life – later being president of Carluke Rovers – he was unable to resume playing. After being presented with his medal by King George V, the injured Angus returned to Scotland a National Hero and was presented to packed attendances at Parkhead (Glasgow Celtic) and Ibrox Park (Glasgow Rangers) receiving standing ovations at each stadium.
When football re-commenced at the end of World War I Wishaw Thistle attempted unsuccessfully to restart as a senior club then appears to have re-invented itself as a Junior club in the form of Wishaw YMCA Juniors bringing to an end over 30 years of Senior football in the town.
During its Senior years, Wishaw Thistle won a number of trophies and played host to visiting English Clubs Liverpool, Everton, Stoke, Sunderland and Notts County in friendly matches. It also took part in the Invitation Football Tournament at the 'International Exhibition' held by Edinburgh City Council to commemorate the opening of the world-famous Forth Railway Bridge and also played against many of today's current senior Scottish clubs in the S.F.A. Scottish Cup including, on one occasion hosting Glasgow Celtic in Wishaw. A number of the club's players went on to play for more illustrious clubs. One player, David Calderhead, was later to become manager of Chelsea F C, a position he held for about 25 years; he is credited with turning the London side from being a relatively small club into a major force in the English game.
Wishaw Thistle was a well-supported club in an era when football was growing rapidly as a spectator pastime and high four- and even five- figure crowds were not uncommon for major matches.
Wishaw Juniors Wishaw's football club started its second 'incarnation' as a 'Junior' Club under the name of Wishaw YMCA Juniors in 1919–20 as members of the Scottish Junior League, enjoying early success in winning the Scottish Junior League Victory Cup and also the Hozier Cup (named after Lady Hozier, wife of Sir Winston Churchill). A second Hozier Cup was added the following season. The name was then shortened to Wishaw Juniors in 1924 and the club switched to the Lanarkshire Junior Football League.
The club were then one of a large number of rebel clubs which broke away from the Scottish Junior FA in the bitter player contract based 'Intermediate dispute' in the late 1920s – playing for several seasons in the East Division of the Western Intermediate League before returning to the Junior fold once again after the dispute was resolved in 1930–31 as members of the Lanarkshire Junior League where the club remained until World War II.
The war had a major impact on football across the country with many clubs and Leagues closing down – many never to return However, Wishaw managed to continue in operation, competing in the short-lived Lanark and Lothians League which lasted during the War years with a number of Lanarkshire teams joining with their counterparts in West Lothian. During this period Wishaw reached the final of the East of Scotland Cup and have the unusual claim to be the only team to have played in the Scottish, West and East Cup finals. The club also won the St Michael's Cup one of the most prestigious trophies played for by East Junior Clubs. After the end of the War, Wishaw returned to the Lanarkshire Junior League when it reformed.
Re-organisation of Scottish Junior football in 1968 saw the end of the Lanarkshire Junior League which had been losing clubs as junior football declined with the remaining Lanarkshire clubs joining with those from the greater Glasgow area to form the Central Junior Football League. Although Wishaw did start out in the top 'A' Division of the new Central Junior League, being one of the stronger Lanarkshire sides – for various reasons the club was unable to sustain its position and dropped to the bottom 'C' division where it remained for a number of years.
Further re-organisation of Junior football saw the Central League amalgamate with the Ayrshire Junior Football League to form the SJFA West Region in 2002. The club once again found itself stranded in the bottom tier of an expanded 'Regional' structure playing in the Central District Division 2. After struggling for most of the next dozen seasons, Wishaw finally achieved promotion out of the bottom Division in 2013/14 under then manager John McKeown. McKeown was to leave shortly thereafter to take over as manager of top Ayrshire side Cumnock Juniors.
It has been many years since Wishaw tasted success but despite the club's current lower league status it has nevertheless managed to reach the Sectional League Cup Semi-finals in each of seasons 2014–15, 2015–16 and 2016–17 and the Semi-final of the prestigious West of Scotland Junior Cup in 2015–16.Scottish Football Historical Archive – Lanarkshire Junior League, Brian McColl In season 2017–18 Wishaw belied their third tier status by reaching the semi-final of the Scottish Junior Cup losing by a single goal in a two-leg tie against Ayrshire side Hurlford United.
Recent history Beginning in the late 1960s, Wishaw suffered a prolonged period in the junior football 'wilderness' during which the club not only lost its home ground and most of its support base but also came close to folding completely on several occasions. The club's home town suffered significantly from the 1970s onwards with very high rates of unemployment following the demise of traditional industries locally particularly that of steel making and heavy engineering. Eventually a small group of enthusiastic volunteers took over the running of the club in the early part of the current century and despite very restricted budgets, slow but steady progress was made in rebuilding the club on and off the pitch.
After relocating to The Beltane in Wishaw, the club secured promotion from the bottom tier of the Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) West Region during the 2013–14 season under manager John McKeown. Following the season, McKeown left to become manager of Cumnock Juniors. In October 2014, former Dunfermline Athletic midfielder Chris McGroarty was appointed as his successor.
Despite the departure of several key players, McGroarty guided the club to safety in the First Division during his first season. In the 2015–16 season, Wishaw narrowly missed promotion, finishing one point short of the promotion places. During the 2016–17 season, the club recorded a 2–0 victory over Premier League side Cumnock Juniors in the first round of the Scottish Junior Cup. However, Wishaw again failed to secure promotion at the end of the season.
In August 2017 Chris McGroarty and his assistant Glen Weir and coach Mark Daly left the club to join Kilsyth Rangers. Wishaw again moved quickly to appoint former professional footballer John Brogan as their new manager. Brogan played for Scottish senior clubs St Johnstone (where he was that club's record goal scorer), Hibernian and Hamilton Academicals and also had extensive appropriate managerial experience having managed several other Junior Football clubs. Brogan resigned in February 2018 and was replaced by former Hearts striker, Derek Holmes. Wishaw were then managed by Kieran McGuinness, assisted by Barry Fraser and Paul Finnigan until resigning in Dec 2019 citing other commitments. The club then moved quickly bringing back the former McGroarty, Daly, & Weir management team with Mark Daly taking the manager role.
Stadia Wishaw has had a number of home grounds down the years and has played at Stewarton Street, at the Old Public Park (off Main Street) and at the original Belhaven Park (better known as the site of the former Wishaw Dog Track and originally the home of the Town's long defunct cycling club) but for most of its existence the club was based at Recreation Park at Kirk Road, Wishaw. The ground, which had banked terracing, a grandstand and a covered spectator area and Social Club was lost to the club in the early 1990s and thereafter Wishaw became homeless sharing with Coltness United at Victoria Park, Newmains for a number of years until 1999 when they secured tenancy at Wishaw Sports Centre. This agreement did not work out though and they returned to sharing with Coltness. Wishaw then secured a second deal to play at the Sports Centre, before moving into the nearby Beltane Park for the beginning of the 2011–12 season.
Beltane Park
The Beltane, as it is known locally, is likely to be the team's home for the foreseeable future. Originally just an open public pitch, the club's enthusiastic small committee has managed to develop The Beltane into a mini stadium despite only having a very modest budget. The ground is fully fenced off and offers a mixture of hard and grassed standing accommodation for c1,000 persons with Ladies and Gents toilets, Snack Bar, Hospitality Facility, a covered wheelchair viewing platform and a small covered enclosure for 50/60 persons. The Beltane was opened on 28 July 2012 with a match against a Motherwell F.C XI. For a number of years the record attendance was 300 set in a West of Scotland Cup tie against Ayrshire junior giants Auchinleck Talbot which was won 3–2 by the home team despite a three-division gap between the two clubs. However, this was surpassed by an attendance of c650 persons who attended a first leg semi-final of the Scottish Junior Cup on Saturday 14 April 2018.
In 2010, Wishaw Juniors secured a 10-year lease to use Beltane Park as the home ground. Since then, the once open-grassed area has been transformed into a football ground, with terracing along the east side of the ground, and fencing around the whole pitch. Also recently installed at the venue are toilets, a snack bar, a players lounge and dressing rooms, with each of them based in portacabins.
The ground had a capacity of around 500 spectators when officially opened on 28 July 2012, when Wishaw played the under-17's of the local senior side Motherwell.
Associated teams The club had an under-19 side (now disbanded) and a women's team, which was originally formed in 1995 and has had its name changed several times. It was originally Wishaw Ladies then Lanarkshire Ladies and then Motherwell Ladies Football Club until it was changed to, Wishaw Juniors Ladies.Wishaw Juniors Ladies team section Wishaw Juniors Unofficial Website. The ladies team folded midway through 2011.
Honours
Scottish Consolation Cup 1908–09
Lanarkshire Cup 1915–16, 1916–17