| Full name | East Kilbride Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | TBC |
| Founded | May 2010 |
| Ground | K Park, Calderglen Country Park |
| Manager | TBC |
| League | TBC |
| Website | Club home page |
East Kilbride Football Club is a new football club that is based in the 'new town' of East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, the largest town in Scotland. They were formed on May 2010 after the merger of Jackton boys club and Stewartfield F.C.. As yet they have no permanent home, using the facilities at the training base, K Park, until a site is found for the new stadium.
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The club were launched officially by two former Old Firm players, John Hartson and John Brown, of Celtic and Rangers respectively.[1] The club was resurrected after folding in the 19th century after being launched in 1871. This happened in the hope that the club would be playing in the Scottish Football League in roughly 5 years time, thus meaning that East Kilbride would no longer be the largest town without a senior football team.
Two men, tycoon James Kean and Iain King, who is a sports journalist, spent many years in the hope that East Kilbride Thistle, the town's highest ranked football team, would become a senior sports team, so much so that they officially launched their youth development programme from under 21's right down to the under 5's. The dream never materialised and they had to admit defeat, and so their vision was to form a new club. John Hartson, the former Celtic striker, was appointed honorary president of the new club.[2] [3] On the 10th September 2010, the club held their inaugural fundraising dinner which was attended by around 250 people and raised about £9500.[4]
Currently, East Kilbride has 22 teams competing in age groups between 5 and 21 and over-21, and over 450 players.
The club stated a few days after formation that they intend to build a state-of-the-art training facility next to Calderglen Country Park, which would be where the club will train and the youth development would take place. Work on this ambitious project began on 16 August 2010, and was completed on June 2011. It is known as K Park, and East Kilbride will play their matches at the facility until a site for a new stadium is found[5], though in recent times the stadium could possibly become more of a reality.[6]The club have said that the stadium will be small at first, with an initial capacity of 1500, but as time goes by and the support gradually increases, the club have said that they will look to expand it.