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| Full name | Hamilton Academical Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | The Accies | |||
| Founded | 1874 | |||
| Ground | New Douglas Park, Hamilton (Capacity: 6,078) |
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| Chairman |  Ronnie MacDonald |
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| Manager | Billy Reid |
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| League | Scottish Premier League | |||
| 2008–09 | Scottish Premier League, 9th | |||
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 Current season |
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Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, are a football club from Hamilton in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. They were established in 1874 from the school football team atHamilton Academy. They remain the only professional club in British football to have originated from a school team.
The team won promotion from Scottish Football League Division 2 to SFL Division 1 in the 2003–04 season; this was followed up by promotion to the Scottish Premier League in the 2007–08 season. The club have played at New Douglas Park since 2001, having previously played at Douglas Park.
Hamilton Academical should not be confused with Hamilton Football Club (1874–1878), who were connected to Hamilton Cricket Club, and competed in the early Scottish Cup seasons.[1]
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Club history
Hamilton Academical were formed in late 1874 by the Rector and pupils of the local school, Hamilton Academy. Membership of the Scottish Football League came in November 1897 when Renton were forced to resign.
In the 1905–06 season they were promoted into the old First Division, despite finishing 4th place (although they had won the championship two years before, they had not been promoted due to the ballot-promotion system in place then). The club reached the Scottish Cup Final twice during this period, losing to Celtic and Rangers in 1911 and 1935, respectively, but never made much of an impact in the League, often hovering at mid-table or below. They were finally relegated in the 1946–47 season. Returns for the 1953–54 and 1965–66 seasons proved ephemeral and they were relegated after one season each time.
In 1971 Accies became the first football club in the United Kingdom to recruit players from behind the Iron Curtain when three Polish players were signed to the club amid great publicity.
Another era of success came in the late 1980s when Hamilton were promoted to the Premier Division twice (in 1986 and 1988), but, again, both spells in the top division lasted for one season only. In 1991 and 1992 the club won the Scottish League Challenge Cup. In 1994 new ground regulations saw the club vacate Douglas Park, their home since 1888, and sell the land to make way for a retail park. The club shared a ground with Albion Rovers and Partick Thistle (2 spells) for the next seven years.
In 1996, Hamilton were relegated to the third tier (Second Division) for the first time in their history, and although they won promotion the next season, they were relegated again two years later. Hamilton also endured a much publicised forced relegation to the Third at the end of the 1999–2000 season. This was because of a 15-point deduction imposed on them by the league for failing to turn up to a match at Stenhousemuir on 1 April; at the time, the players were on strike over a pay dispute.[2]
The club's fortunes have since turned: in the 2001–02 season the club finally returned to Hamilton, to a stadium just yards from the old site, and also secured a place in Division One for the 2004–05 season. Hamilton remained in the First Division over the next few seasons and achieved a 4th place position in the 2006–07 season. The 2007–08 season saw the Accies gain promotion to the Scottish Premier League. On 19 April Hamilton secured the championship and promotion to the Scottish Premier League, for a sixth stint in the Scottish top flight. In the league 2008–09 Accies signed a few new players like Lucas Akins, Mark Corcoran, Derek Lyle, Sean Murdoch, Sebastian Sorsa, Brian Carrigan and Kenny Deuchar.
On 16 May 2009, despite a 3–0 defeat to local rivals Motherwell, other results confirmed Hamilton's SPL survival, ensuring more than one year in a top flight stint for the first time in 70 years.
Honours
- Scottish Third Division:
- Winners (1): 2000–01
- Lanarkshire Cup:
- Winners (10): 1901–02, 1904–05, 1905–06, 1909–10, 1919–20, 1923–24, 1933–34, 1938–39, 1951–52, 1985–86
Minor honours
- Reserve League Cup:
- Winners (1): 1983–84
- Runners-up (1): 1992–93 and 2000-01
- Reserve League West:
- Winners (1):1978-79, 1979-80 and 1997–98
- Second XI Cup:
- Winners (1): 1933–34
Player honours
- 1985–86 First Division Player of the Year: John Brogan
- 1987–88 First Division Player of the Year: Alex Taylor
- 1996–97 Second Division Player of the Year: Paul Ritchie
- 2007–08 First Division Player of the Year: Richard Offiong
- 2007–08 SFL Young Player of the Year: James McCarthy
2008-09 PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year - James McCarthy
Club records
- Record Attendances:
- 28,690 v Heart of Midlothian, 1937 (Douglas Park)
- 5,895 v Rangers, 28 February 2009 (New Douglas Park)[1]
- Record Victory: 11–1 v Chryston, 1885
- Record Defeat: 1–11 v Hibernian, 1965
- Most League Goals in a Season: 35, David Wilson, 1936–37
- Most International Caps: 29, Colin Miller, (Canada)
Players
Current squad
- As of 1 December 2009.[4]
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Former players
- The following players have represented their respective nations at international level
Colin Miller- Robert Howe
- James King
Staff
Non-playing staff
- Manager: Billy Reid
- Assistant Manager:
- First Team Coach: Stuart Taylor
- Chief Executive: George Paterson
- Secretary: Scott Struthers
- Sports Therapist: Avril Downs
- Physiotherapist: Alan Rankin
- Sports Scientist: Ross Hughes
- Kit Man: Danny Cunning
- Academy Director: Frankie MacAvoy
- Academy Manager: George Cairns
- Club Development Officer: Andy Goldie
- Chief Scout: Denis McDaid
Previous managers
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References
- ^ Scottish Football Directory
- ^ (BBC Sport report) Retrieved on 11 August 2008
- ^ Known as second division prior to 1975
- ^ "Hamilton Football Club Squad List". Scottish Premier League. http://www.scotprem.com/content/default.asp?page=s23_2_3. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
External links
Official
Unofficial
- Hoops Apocalypse
- Net Natter
- Peter McLeish (1997). Hamilton Academical Who's Who: 1946–47-1996–97. Soccerdata. ISBN 1-899468-80-3.
- BBC Sport page
- Scotsman page
- icLanarkshire - Hamilton Accies Football Club News
- Statistics from Football365
- soccerbase
- Hamilton Accies Saver
- Hamilton Academical - Historical Football Kits
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Hamilton Academical F.C.
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