Albion Rovers - Cliftonhill Stadium

Albion Rovers FC

Cliftonhill Stadium

Main Street 

Coatbridge 

ML5 3RB

01236 606334

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Ground Number: 1402
Saturday 15th Match 2025
Albion Rovers 0-0 Bo'ness United
Scottish Lowland League

ALBION ROVERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

Albion Rovers were formed in 1882 as a merger of two Coatbridge sides Albion FC and Rovers FC. The club would gain it's first title in 1901, winning the Lanarkshire League. They joined the Scottish   League Division 2 in 1903 and an early success was finishing as runners-up to Cowdenbeath. A year later, war broke out and when football resumed, the league was reduced to a single division. When more clubs returned in 1921, Albion Rovers would enjoy their best finish of 11th in Division 1 that season but were relegated in 1923. They would remain in Division 2 until winning the title in 1934. Three seasons of struggle would follow with the team relegated in 1937 but winning promotion back as runners-up behind Raith Rovers in 1938. When war broke out again, Albion Rovers were in the top tier but when football returned after the battles, they were placed in the second tier. They would win promotion as runners-up behind East Fife in 1948 but they would only stay for one season, the last time in their history they would play on the top flight.

In 1975, a reshuffle of Scottish Football occurred and Division 2 became the third tier of Scottish Football. In 1989, Albion Rovers would win the Division 2 title and spend a single season in Division 1 back in the second tier. They'd only last a single season though and in what was a bad few years for the club, they suffered relegation to Division 3 in 1993. The next two seasons brought little relief as the team finished rock bottom of the Scottish League for two seasons in succession. Finally salvation arrived in 2011 when they finished 2nd and won promotion through the playoffs by beating Queens Park and Annan Athletic. Two seasons of struggle would follow in the third tier before relegation in 2013. Albion Rovers were League 2 champions in 2015 and this time would last three seasons in Division 1 before relegation in 2018. They did not bounce back this time. Following some near misses, they lost out to The Spartans in the 2022/23 relegation playoffs and were out of the Scottish League for the first time in 120 years. They've been in the Lowland League ever since, but like many times before, financial issues have beset the club but the strength of the community has kept the club alive.

The 2013/14 season saw Albion Rovers have their best Scottish Cup run in years. They started out in the 2nd Round, beating Spatarns and Deveronvale to set up a plum tie with local giants Motherwell. They won 1-0 and then beat Stenhousemuir to reach the Quarter Final against Rangers. After a controversial late equaliser at Ibrox, Rovers were held to a 1–1 draw but lost 2–0 in the replay. It was a far cry from 2010 when they lost 1-0 to Junior side Sunnybank. They had previously reached the final in 1920, losing to Kilmarnock. They have also won the Lanarkshire Cup eight times and the Scottish Qualifying Cup in 2014. On 14 October 2020, Rovers set a Scottish record for consecutive penalties scored in a shootout, beating Stranraer 15–14 in a League Cup group match. The teams between them set a record of 28 consecutive penalties scored to take the score to 14–14 before Stranraer missed their 15th kick and Rovers scored theirs. Albion Rovers from Newport, Wales, playing in the Gwent County League, were named after the Coatbridge side by expats. There are also clubs of the same name in Australia and the Republic of Ireland.

The club is based in Coatbridge, around 8.5 miles east of Glasgow and has a population of around 44,000. Coatbridge owes its name to a bridge that carried the old Edinburgh-Glasgow road over the Gartsherrie Burn, at what is now Coatbridge Cross. This first appears on Roy's survey of 1755 as Cottbrig, one of several places on the wider Coats estate. The name Coats most likely comes from the Scots word cot(t), meaning "cottage", although an alternative theory links it to the name of the Colt family, who owned land here as early as the 13th century. The last of the blast furnaces, William Baird's famous Gartsherrie works, closed in 1967. Since the 1970s, there have been various initiatives to attempt to regenerate Coatbridge. Urban Aid grants, European Union grants and, more recently, Social Inclusion Partnerships have attempted to breathe new life into Coatbridge. Despite these efforts the town's population has continued to fall and, in recent years, the town has been dubbed the "most dismal in Scotland". Famous people from the area include Thomas McAleese (alias Dean Ford) was the lead singer of The Marmalade who had a UK number one single in 1969 with a cover of The Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" and co-wrote "Reflections of My Life", Marmalade's biggest worldwide success.

MY BLOG

Out of the whole of the Scottish weekend, this was the ground I was looking forward to the most by a long way. It was a classic old ground in imposing red and yellow colours, something that would be of interest to many hoppers. Albion Rovers had been my nemesis on my Championship Manager 97/98 game, beating me to the title in my first two seasons. I also had a rotten record against them, suffering a record 5-0 loss to them, amongst other defeats. It took me around sixteen attempts to beat them, but to quote Alan Partridge - Needless to say, I had the last laugh. In a Scottish Cup semi-final, I finally overcame my hoodoo, reaching the final against Celtic. Although I lost that final, I was able to qualify for the European Cup Winners Cup and run Inter Milan close before going out. In real life though, rather than playing in the top two tiers of Scottish Football, they were now playing in the Lowland League. In Albion Rovers' case, it was especially bad with finances in a parlous state. I was looking forward to visiting and supporting them through the purchase of food, drink and merchandise. Every little helps as they say.

From a decent game at Motherwell which had fourteen minutes of injury time we left and the Wycombe game was only just being restarted after a medical emergency. We ended up losing 1-0 in the restarted game but some things are bigger than football and it's easy to feel detached when you aren't there. Fellow hopper Daniel had witnessed his 'worst game of the season' as St Johnstone had drawn 0-0, much to the merriment of people on Twitter. We headed to Wetherspoons for food and drinks, the usual good value at number 396, The Brandon Works. The story of Motherwell and Steel began with David Colville, often referred to as the founding father of British Steel. His decision to convert the Dalzell Iron Works to open-hearth steel production laid the foundations for Motherwell’s period of industrial greatness. Others, such as the Brandon Iron Works, followed Colville’s lead. The Brandon Works (renamed Etna in 1887) opened in 1884 and covered a wide area immediately behind this pub. Colin accidentally ordered his meal twice but was refunded despite his error.

 

We walked to the bus stop to get the last bus of the day which was slightly late and a fiver fare. It turned out to be a long ride though and we were at the ground by 7. I popped across to the Home Bargains but it was woeful with barely any range. It was £11 to get in and I was looking forward to helping the club by buying a scarf. But most of the merch had sold well before kickoff. There was no bar either, so I settled for a programme and a 50/50. It was disappointing but I was running low on cash in any case. I met up with Dan and we had a chat. I did finally manage to spend a bit, getting Scotch Pie, mixed Pakora, sauce and Irn Bru for £8.

Albion Rovers sat 7th in the table and in great form. They had won four out of their last five and in their most recent game had won 3-1 at 3rd place Caledonian Braves. Bo'ness United were a place lower in 8th. They were on a run of six without a win and had drawn 0-0 against Tranent Juniors in their last game. The hosts dominated the first half but were unable to find a finish. The second half saw Bo'ness put ten men behind the ball which made for a dull watch like Wycombe Wanderers under our current under fire manager. As the game wore on, the visitors loosened up a bit and had a couple of attacks but it was always the hosts that looked the more likely.

THE GROUND

CLIFTONHILL is a classic old stadium although due to wear and tear and the club's financial state, only two sides are open. It's a shame in the case of the huge terrace on the far side although there is not much at the other end. A seated stand with a capacity of around 400 with terracing in front is along the side, along with an open terrace behind the goal. The food is plentiful and there was a range of merchandise that quickly sold out of the best items. The one big miss was no bar which cost them a fair bit from thirsty fans. Car parking is quite limited but Coatdyke station is under 15 minutes walk away with half-hourly connections to Glasgow.