| Full name | Lochgelly Albert Junior Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Berts |
| Founded | 1926 |
| Ground | Gardiners Park South Street Lochgelly |
| Chairman | Jock Kinnell |
| Manager | Ross Kinnell |
| League | SJFA East Region Central Division |
| 2010–11 | 5th |
Lochgelly Albert J.F.C. are a Scottish football club based in Lochgelly, Fife. Their home ground is Gardiners Park. Founded in 1926 as an amateur side, the club stepped up to the Junior grade in 1933. Club colours are gold and black.
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There are a couple of theories of how Lochgelly Albert started the use of 'Albert'.
The first theory is that the club was named after Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert. The people who believe this theory point to the fact that the clubs original team colours of gold and black are the same as the Royal Livery was at the time of Prince Albert's death. However, the length of time between Prince Albert's death and the setting up of the club in 1926 as an amateur club makes this theory unlikely.
The second theory, and probably the most respected, is that the club took its name from a town that was unlucky enough to be on the Somme front during the Great War of 1914-1918. It is well known that more than a few young men from Lochgelly not only fought, but perished, at the front line of the Somme. It is reported that most of the soldiers were at some time stationed in a town called Albert in northern France and a few not only played football before the war, but after hostilities had ceased, set about founding a local team in Lochgelly. This may have been done to try to replace the local senior team Lochgelly United who disbanded for the duration of the war.
Lochgelly Albert's first football game within the Junior ranks was on the 29th July 1933, away to Kirkford Juniors at Beathview Park, Cowdenbeath and resulted in a 1-0 victory to Lochgelly Albert. The goal was scored in the 88th minute by Pat Finnerty.
Lochgelly Albert's first trophy arrived in the season 1934-35. This was the Fife Cup and the Albert were victorious over Rosslyn Juniors at Stark's Park, Kirkcaldy, the current home of Raith Rovers, the final score being Lochgelly Albert 2 Rosslyn Juniors 0.
The Albert were followed into the Junior ranks by another team in 1935. This team were called Lochgelly Violet, and their first game on the 29th July 1935 was away to Lochgelly Albert at Gardiner's Park. The outcome of this game was a 2-0 victory for the Albert and was watched by 2,000 local spectators.
The record crowd for Lochgelly Albert was for a Scottish Junior Cup 6th round tie against Bo'ness United on 13 March 1948. The spectators arrived in droves, so that at the kick-off there were 11,645 fans within Gardiner's Park.[1]
This is still a record for a Fife Junior League Ground!
The SJFA restructured prior to the 2006–07 season, and Albert found themselves in the twelve-team East Region, Central Division. They finished fourth in their first season in the division.
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