| Full name | Kilmarnock Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Killie | ||
| Founded | 1869 | ||
| Ground | Rugby Park Kilmarnock Ayrshire (Capacity: 18,128) |
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| Chairman | Michael Johnston | ||
| Manager | Kenny Shiels | ||
| League | Scottish Premier League | ||
| 2010–11 | Scottish Premier League, 7th | ||
| Website | Club home page | ||
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| Current season | |||
Kilmarnock Football Club is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. Founded in 1869, "Killie" is the oldest club currently in the Scottish Premier League. Home matches are played at Rugby Park. Kilmarnock took part in the first ever official match in Scottish football against the now defunct Renton in 1873.
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The club's foundation dates back to the very earliest days of organised football in Scotland, when a group of local cricketers looking for a sporting pursuit to occupy them outwith the cricket season formed a football club in 1869. Originally they played rugby rules, but the difficulty in organising fixtures and the growing influence of Queen's Park soon persuaded them to adopt the association code instead. These origins are reflected to this day by the name of the club's home ground – Rugby Park.
Although not amongst the founder members of the Scottish Football Association in 1873, Kilmarnock did join in time to compete in the inaugural Scottish Cup tournament in 1873–74. Their 2–0 defeat against Renton in the First Round on 18 October 1873 is thought to have been the first match ever played in the competition.
Kilmarnock joined the Scottish League in 1895 and after winning consecutive Second Division titles were elected to the top flight for the first time in 1899. For much of their history they have been one of the most successful clubs based outwith Scotland's major cities. This is in part due to their loyal support, who are mostly Ayrshire-based fans. They have reached the Scottish Cup final eight times, winning the trophy on three occasions. Despite five appearances in the final , they have yet to lift the Scottish League Cup.
The club's greatest success was in 1965 under the management of Willie Waddell. On the final day of the season, they travelled to face Hearts at Tynecastle requiring a victory by two goals to nil (due to the competition being decided by goal average at that period if teams were equal on points) to win the league at their opponents' expense. A memorable 2–0 win saw Kilmarnock crowned Scottish League champions for the first, and to date only, time.[1] This capped a period of tremendous consistency which had seen them occupy runners-up spot in four of the previous five seasons.
After a period of decline in the 1980s which saw the club relegated to the Second Division, Killie have returned to prominence, holding top division status since being promoted in 1993 and lifting the Scottish Cup for the third time in 1997 thanks to a 1–0 victory over Falkirk in the final.
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 all three European competitions (European Cup, Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup).
Killie finished the 2005–06 season in 5th position, after a season which at several points they seemed to be challenging for 3rd place. However, after selling Kris Boyd to Rangers in January 2006, Killie had to rely on goals from young attacking midfielder Steven Naismith, striker Colin Nish and winger Danny Invincibile. After taking only 1 point in the first four post-split games, Killie beat Hibernian 3–1 to leapfrog Aberdeen into 5th place.
Kilmarnock started the 2006–07 season brightly despite losing 4–1 away to Celtic on the opening day.[1] Young striker Steven Naismith scored a contender for goal of the season against Hibernian in August before going to Arsenal for a trial. [2] Rangers dropped their first points to Killie in four years after a last-minute Naismith penalty earned a draw for Kilmarnock.[3] In September Jefferies suffered his worst defeat as Killie manager after a 5–0 loss at Motherwell.[4] Killie is ensured of a top 6 finish for the 2nd season in a row, whilst a tremendous run in the League Cup ensured a place in the final[5]. Unfortunately for Killie fans, their team was comprehensively beaten 5–1 in the final by Hibernian.
Season 2007–08 is probably best forgotton. After selling Naismith to Rangers for a club-record fee, Killie struggled, finishing in 11th place and just 40 points. Fortunately for them, they avoided being drawn into a relegation battle due to Gretna collecting only 23 points, 10 of which were lost when they entered administration. The 2008–09 season got off to a good start, but a mid season slump that included a 12 game run without a win found them at the wrong end of the table come Spring. They finally finished in 8th place thanks to crucial victories over their relegation rivals during the run in. Striker Kevin Kyle's goals in these games were the deciding factor.
The club started the 2009–10 season with the ever blackening cloud of financial difficulties hanging over their head. By January 2010, Kilmarnock were second bottom of the SPL, with last placed Falkirk just two points behind. On 11 January 2010, Jim Jefferies left the club by "mutual consent" and Jimmy Calderwood was appointed manager. Kilmarnock then achieved a first win in nine years against Celtic. Continued poor form, however, meant a final day showdown at Rugby Park with Falkirk for SPL survival. Kilmarnock began the game with a two point advantage over their rivals and a goalless draw on the day was good enough to secure top flight football for another year. They ended the season with just 33 points, their worst points finish in the SPL.
After Calderwood left the team at the end the season, Mixu Paatelainen was appointed manager for the next two years with an option for a third.[6] Despite being the favourites for relegation that season, Mixu's Kilmarnock team exceeded all expectations and comfortably made the top six split and finished the season in fifth position. Paatelainen left Kilmarnock in order to take the vacant position of Finland national manager and his assistant Kenny Shiels was caretaker manager for the final games of the SPL season. In the 2011-12 Scottish League Cup third round, they beat Queen of the South 5-0, thanks to goals from Gary Harkins, Paul Heffernan (3) and Ben Hutchinson. They met East Fife in the next round, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Mohamadou Sissoko and Harkins. It will be an Ayrshire derby in the semi-finals as Kilmarnock take on Ayr United.
The earliest known Kilmarnock kit from 1879 consisted of an all blue jersey with white trousers. The shirt bore a crest consisting of a ball with a hand of benadiction. There after, the club have predominantly played in blue and white striped or hooped shirts with either blue or white shorts. The club have also occasionally played in plain blue and plain white tops. The clubs away colours have varied greatly over time. Yellow is generally regarded as the club's main third colour; but white, red and purple away kits have also appeared in recent years.
Since 2008-09 season, the club have manufactured their kits under their own sportswear brand, 1869. The current shirt sponsors are the locally based Verve Motor Group.
The current club badge is an modernised version of previous club badges. It features a ball bearing a hand in a blessing position, flanked by two red squirrels. The club's latin motto, confidimus (we trust), is written above the badge. The club adopted the current badge in 1993 after The Lord Lyon decreed that the previous badge, based heavily upon the town crest, was in breach of ancient Scottish heraldic rules.
Kilmarnock first played football matches at the present Rugby Park site in 1899. Despite this, the venue is actually Kilmarnock’s fourth home ground. The Grange, Holm Quarry and Ward's Park all hosted matches, before the club moved to Rugby Park in 1877. This was not the present stadium, but one situated close by near South Hamilton Street. This ground was shared by cricket and rugby teams - sports which Kilmarnock had played previously - and the connection with rugby gave the ground its name. This name was taken with the club when they moved to their present stadium.
During 1994–95 season the stadium capacity was significantly reduced as three new stands were constructed; the Moffat Stand, the Chadwick Stand and the East Stand. Their completion brought the capacity of the stadium to 18,128. The stadium opened on August 6 1995, in a friendly match against English champions Blackburn Rovers. Alan Shearer hit a hat-trick as the home team lost 5–0.
Highest Home Attendance (SPL) : 18,076 v Celtic, 8 April 1998
Lowest Attendance (SPL) : 1,516 v Gretna, 15 September 2007 away at Fir Park.
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Name | Scottish League | Scottish Cup | Scottish League Cup | Promotion from First Division | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hugh Spence 1919–1937 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jimmy McGrory 1937–1945 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tom Smith 1945–1947 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tom Mather 1947–1948 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Alex Hastings 1948–1950 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Malky McDonald 1950–1957 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| William Waddell 1957–1965 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Malky McDonald 1965–1968 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Walter McCrae 1968–1973 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Willie Fernie 1973–1977 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Davie Sneddon 1977–1981 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Jim Clunie 1981–1984 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Eddie Morrison 1984–1988 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jim Fleeting 1988–1992 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tommy Burns 1992–1994 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Alex Totten 1994–1996 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Bobby Williamson 1996–2002 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jim Jefferies 2002–2010 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jimmy Calderwood 2010 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mixu Paatelainen 2010-2011 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kenny Shiels 2011- | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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