1.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
2.
Queen's Park F.C.
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Queens Park Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Queens Park is the oldest association football club in Scotland, having founded in 1867. Queens Park is also the only Scottish football club to have played in the FA Cup Final, the clubs home is a Category 4 stadium, the all-seated Hampden Park in South East Glasgow, which is also the home of the Scottish national team. With 10 titles, Queens Park has won the Scottish Cup the third most times of any club, behind Rangers and Celtic, gentlemen from the local YMCA took part in football matches in the local Glasgow area which gave the club its name. During the inaugural meeting, debate raged over the clubs name, proposals included, The Celts, The Northern and Morayshire. Perhaps such choice of names suggest a Highland influence within the new club, after much deliberation, Queens Park was adopted and carried, but only by a majority of one vote. Although Queens was not the first club in Britain, that going to Edinburgh and John Hopes Football Club, formed in 1824. Opposition first came in the form of a now defunct Glaswegian side called Thistle F. C. on 30 November 1872, Scotland faced England at the West of Scotland Cricket Club ground at Hamilton Crescent. For the one and only time all eleven Scots players were from Queens Park and they wore blue jerseys,4,000 spectators watched Scotland play with a 2–2–6 formation and England with a 1–1–8 line-up. Queens Park formed the Scottish Football Association on 13 March 1873, the match against Dumbreck on 25 October was the first match to be played at Hampden Park. It was also the first match which saw Queens Park players wear their black and white hooped jerseys. David Wotherspoon, a Queens Park player and committee member, has credited with the introduction of the black. Most importantly, it was the first Scottish Cup tie and Scottish competitive match for the club, in the final, Queens defeated Clydesdale 2–0 at Hampden. Success in the Scottish Cup followed in the two years with final victories over Renton and Third Lanark. In drawing 2–2 with Clydesdale in the 1875 semi-final, Queens conceded their first ever goals, defeat for the club was first experienced with a 2–1 defeat to Vale of Leven in the 5th round in December 1876. Third Lanark and Rangers eliminated the Spiders before Queens reclaimed the cup in 1880 with a win over Thornliebank, Dumbarton were beaten in the final in successive years. In 1881, Queens had to them twice after Dumbarton successfully appealed that the crowd at Kinning Park had encroached following a 2–1 defeat. Dumbarton got revenge in 1883 but Queens won again in 1884 without even having to play the final after Vale of Leven refused to play on the date stipulated by the SFA, in the early days of Englands FA Cup, Scottish clubs were often invited to compete
3.
Third Lanark A.C.
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Third Lanark Athletic Club was a football club that existed for 95 years between 1872 and 1967, in Glasgow, Scotland. Third Lanark was known as Thirds, the Warriors, the Redcoats, the fans invariably started to sing Hi Hi Hi. as a battle cry to encourage the team to victory during the clubs matches. There was a house called The Hi Hi Bar at the southern end of Crown Street in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. One of the successful clubs in early Scottish Football, Third Lanark was not the first major club to be compulsorily liquidated and dissolved. Former Scottish Cup winners Renton and near neighbours Vale of Leven suffered similar fates and it was refounded in 1996 with forming Under-18s were formed by Jim Weir. Finally Third Lanark fielded a team, in 2007, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Third Lanark’s withdrawal from Senior Scottish football. Third Lanark started as the team of the Third Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers. The team was founded on 12 December 1872 at a meeting of the Third Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers in the Regimental Orderly Room in Howard Street. The soldiers, inspired by the first ever international friendly which had taken two weeks previously, decided to form their own team. Several of the Scotland team in match, made up solely of Queens Park players, had been part of the regiment, including Billy Dickson, Billy MacKinnon. A later meeting decided that the kit should be, A cowl – one end blue, the other yellow. Blue trousers or knickerbockers with blue stockings, the players used an old drill field on Victoria Road to train. The club was a member of the Scottish Football League. The name was changed to Third Lanark AC in 1903, when links with the military were severed. The club won the Scottish League championship in 1903–04, as well as the Scottish Cup in 1889 and 1905, the last day of the 1960–61 season saw Third Lanark reach a historic landmark. The club beat Hibernian 6–1 at Cathkin Park to reach 100 goals for the season, the following season saw Thirds take part in European competition for the first and only time when they faced Rouen of France home and away in the Anglo-Franco-Scottish Friendship Cup. Rouen won 4–0 at Cathkin on 7 November 1961 and 2–1 in France on 9 May 1962, only four years after that successful 1960–61 season, the clubs terminal agony began. There followed another two seasons of mediocrity and discontent, Third Lanark recorded their lowest-ever home League attendance of 297 spectators on 15 April 1967 for the visit of Clydebank
4.
Scottish Cup
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The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for mens football clubs in Scotland. The competition was first held in 1873–74, entry is open to all clubs with full or associate membership of the Scottish Football Association. The competition is called the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons and it was first presented to Queens Park, who won the final match of the inaugural tournament in March 1874. The current holder is Hibernian, who won the tournament for the time by defeating Rangers 3–2 in the 2016 final. The tournament starts at the beginning of the Scottish football season in August or September, the Scottish Cup Final is usually the last game of the season, taking place at the end of May. Participating teams enter the tournament at different stages depending on their league ranking, the lowest ranked clubs enter the tournament at the first round whilst the highest ranked, those that compete in the Scottish Premiership, enter at the fourth round stage. The competition is a knock-out tournament, in each round of games the teams are paired at random, with the first team drawn listed as the home team. Every game lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time, the winner of each game advances to the next round, whilst the loser is eliminated from the tournament. If a game ends in a draw, the fixture is replayed at the ground of the other team at a later date. If the replay also ends in a draw,30 minutes of time is played followed by a penalty shoot-out if there is still no clear winner. In the semi-final and final rounds, if the ends in a draw there is no replay. The competition has a staggered entry system, Scottish League One and six Scottish Championship clubs started in the third round, while the remaining four Championship clubs and all 12 Scottish Premiership clubs entered in the fourth round. Any club that is a full or associate member of the Scottish Football Association is entitled to compete in the tournament, every team that plays in the Scottish Professional Football League is therefore eligible. Between 1895 and 2007, clubs that were SFA members but not competitors in the professional football leagues could only qualify for the tournament by winning the Scottish Qualifying Cup. Clubs that are not members of the SFA may still qualify for the tournament by winning the Highland League, Lowland League, three junior clubs, Banks O Dee, Girvan and Linlithgow Rose are also SFA members and therefore qualify automatically. From 2015, the winners of the Scottish Amateur Cup are also eligible to qualify, players that are registered with a competing club are eligible to play. However, players are not entitled to play for more than one club during the same tournament, each club names eleven players and up to five substitutes before every match. In order to play in the match, a player must have also been registered to compete in the semi-final round for the same club
5.
Football (soccer)
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
6.
Glasgow
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Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland, and third largest in the United Kingdom. Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is now one of the 32 council areas of Scotland and it is situated on the River Clyde in the countrys West Central Lowlands. Inhabitants of the city are referred to as Glaswegians, Glasgow grew from a small rural settlement on the River Clyde to become the largest seaport in Britain. From the 18th century the city grew as one of Great Britains main hubs of transatlantic trade with North America. Glasgow was the Second City of the British Empire for much of the Victorian era and Edwardian period, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Glasgow grew in population, reaching a peak of 1,128,473 in 1939. The entire region surrounding the conurbation covers about 2.3 million people, at the 2011 census, Glasgow had a population density of 8, 790/sq mi, the highest of any Scottish city. Glasgow hosted the 2014 Commonwealth Games and is well known in the sporting world for the football rivalry of the Old Firm between Celtic and Rangers. Glasgow is also known for Glasgow patter, a dialect that is noted for being difficult to understand by those from outside the city. Glasgow is the form of the ancient Cumbric name Glas Cau. Possibly referring to the area of Molendinar Burn where Glasgow Cathedral now stands, the later Gaelic name Baile Glas Chu, town of the grey dog, is purely a folk-etymology. The present site of Glasgow has been settled since prehistoric times, it is for settlement, being the furthest downstream fording point of the River Clyde, the origins of Glasgow as an established city derive ultimately from its medieval position as Scotlands second largest bishopric. Glasgow increased in importance during the 10th and 11th centuries as the site of this bishopric, reorganised by King David I of Scotland and John, there had been an earlier religious site established by Saint Mungo in the 6th century. The bishopric became one of the largest and wealthiest in the Kingdom of Scotland, bringing wealth, sometime between 1189 and 1195 this status was supplemented by an annual fair, which survives as the Glasgow Fair. Glasgow grew over the following centuries, the first bridge over the River Clyde at Glasgow was recorded from around 1285, giving its name to the Briggait area of the city, forming the main North-South route over the river via Glasgow Cross. The founding of the University of Glasgow in 1451 and elevation of the bishopric to become the Archdiocese of Glasgow in 1492 increased the towns religious and educational status and landed wealth. Its early trade was in agriculture, brewing and fishing, with cured salmon and herring being exported to Europe, Glasgow was subsequently raised to the status of Royal Burgh in 1611. The citys Tobacco Lords created a water port at Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde. By the late 18th century more than half of the British tobacco trade was concentrated on Glasgows River Clyde, at the time, Glasgow held a commercial importance as the city participated in the trade of sugar, tobacco and later cotton
7.
Scottish Cup format
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The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is an annual association football knock-out cup competition for mens football clubs in Scotland. The competition was first held in 1873–74, entry is open to all clubs with full or associate membership of the Scottish Football Association. The competition is called the William Hill Scottish Cup for sponsorship reasons and it was first presented to Queens Park, who won the final match of the inaugural tournament in March 1874. The current holder is Hibernian, who won the tournament for the time by defeating Rangers 3–2 in the 2016 final. The tournament starts at the beginning of the Scottish football season in August or September, the Scottish Cup Final is usually the last game of the season, taking place at the end of May. Participating teams enter the tournament at different stages depending on their league ranking, the lowest ranked clubs enter the tournament at the first round whilst the highest ranked, those that compete in the Scottish Premiership, enter at the fourth round stage. The competition is a knock-out tournament, in each round of games the teams are paired at random, with the first team drawn listed as the home team. Every game lasts 90 minutes plus any additional stoppage time, the winner of each game advances to the next round, whilst the loser is eliminated from the tournament. If a game ends in a draw, the fixture is replayed at the ground of the other team at a later date. If the replay also ends in a draw,30 minutes of time is played followed by a penalty shoot-out if there is still no clear winner. In the semi-final and final rounds, if the ends in a draw there is no replay. The competition has a staggered entry system, Scottish League One and six Scottish Championship clubs started in the third round, while the remaining four Championship clubs and all 12 Scottish Premiership clubs entered in the fourth round. Any club that is a full or associate member of the Scottish Football Association is entitled to compete in the tournament, every team that plays in the Scottish Professional Football League is therefore eligible. Between 1895 and 2007, clubs that were SFA members but not competitors in the professional football leagues could only qualify for the tournament by winning the Scottish Qualifying Cup. Clubs that are not members of the SFA may still qualify for the tournament by winning the Highland League, Lowland League, three junior clubs, Banks O Dee, Girvan and Linlithgow Rose are also SFA members and therefore qualify automatically. From 2015, the winners of the Scottish Amateur Cup are also eligible to qualify, players that are registered with a competing club are eligible to play. However, players are not entitled to play for more than one club during the same tournament, each club names eleven players and up to five substitutes before every match. In order to play in the match, a player must have also been registered to compete in the semi-final round for the same club
8.
Arthurlie F.C.
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Arthurlie Football Club are a Junior football team based in Barrhead, East Renfrewshire in Scotland. Based at Dunterlie Park, they play in the West of Scotland Super League Premier Division, the club played in the Scottish Football League in two spells,1901 to 1915 and 1923 to 1929. The club was founded in 1874 and played as a league side until 1929. Notable early results include the 4–2 defeat of Celtic in the 1897 Scottish Cup, the club became a founder member of the Scottish Federation League in 1892 and played in the Scottish Football League between 1901 and 1915, achieving modest results in the Second Division. That division ceased operations in 1915, during the First World War and they instead waited until 1923 to apply for membership of the newly created Third Division. Arthurlie immediately won the Third Division championship, and four successful seasons in the Second Division followed. Financial problems forced the club to resign its membership of the league with six games of the 1928–29 season to play, as the club had played all the promotion-chasing clubs, their results were allowed to stand. A club of the same name joined the ranks during the early 1930s. They found success quickly with a Scottish Junior Cup win in 1937 – defeating Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 5–1 in the final, while the criminal courts found midfielder Mark Ross to be innocent of criminal assault, the SJFA punished the club for not co-operating with the enquiry. The club were also fined £3,000, in March 2006 the entire management team resigned and were replaced by former Larkhall Thistle manager Gary Faulds. Faulds re-appointed his Thistle assistant Stevie Moore in the same position, in June 2006 the entire playing staff of Arthurlie left the club, following the management staff out of the door. The most notable departures saw goalkeeper Kris Robertson, defender Gary Wilson, midfielder Zander Ryan and strikers Alan Waddell, the captain of the 2006–07 season was to be former St Mirren, Kilwinning Rangers and Pollok defender Roland Fabiani. Season 2007–08 saw Gary Faulds and his coaching staff resign their position after a string of results in the first half of the season. Mark Cameron and Roland Fabiani were temporarily placed in charge, jimmy McQuade was handed a coaching role at the club with whom he won the Scottish Junior Cup as manager in 1998, thus adding experience to the management team. Roland Fabiani decided to return to playing football, hence the relinquishment of his role as assistant manager to Mark Cameron and he was succeeded by Sammy Johnston. In 2011 Arthurlie won the Evening Times Cup and they also came in second in the league that season behind Irvine Meadow. The team were managed between October 2014 and January 2015 by former Clyde and Raith Rovers defender Craig McEwan, McEwan subsequently left for Glenafton Athletic, and Arthurlie moved to replace him with Bellshills Robert Downs, a former Arthurlie player. Downs was succeeded in January 2016 by Steve Kerrigan, following Kerrigans resignation in December 2016, Chris Mackie was appointed as manager in an interim role until the end of the season
9.
Barrhead
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Barrhead is a town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland,13 kilometres south-west of Glasgow on the edge of the Gleniffer Braes. At the 2001 census its population was 19,813, historically, most of what is now Barrhead lay within the parish of Neilston, in the county of Renfrew. The name Barrhead comes from the agricultural term Barr meaning long ploughed furrows for cultivation of crops, the original homestead or hamlet lay at the head of barrs and became known as Barrhead. In 2007, Readers Digest magazine voted East Renfrewshire the second best place in the United Kingdom to raise a family, the magazine visited and cited Barrhead in their decision. Barrhead was formed when a series of small textile-producing villages gradually grew into one another to form one contiguous town, according to local historian James McWhirter, the name Barrhead first appeared in 1750. Glanderston House, to the south, at one time belonged to the Stewart Kings of Scotland, in 1851 an explosion at the Victoria Pit colliery in nearby Nitshill occurred, killing 63 men and boys who worked in the mine, many of whom lived in Barrhead. In 1890, with an expanding population approaching 10,000. The status of police burgh was granted in 1894 and William Shanks, in the latter 20th century, the decline and closure of nearly all of these industries caused a fall in local population and employment. In recent years, Barrhead has found new life as a residential commuter town for nearby Paisley. During World War II, a handful of bombs fell on Barrhead from German planes headed towards Clydebank, in 1894 Barrhead became a Burgh of Barony, meaning that it had its own town Council. This status was withdrawn in 1975 at the time of the institution of Strathclyde Regional Council, subsequent reorganisation to a single tier local authority in 1996 placed Barrhead under the auspices of East Renfrewshire Council. Barrhead is a council ward, electing 4 members to serve as part of East Renfrewshire Council. Barrhead is part of the county constituency of East Renfrewshire, electing one MP to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom Parliament, kirsten Oswald of the SNP was elected as MP for East Renfrewshire in the 2015 General Election. For purposes of the Scottish Parliament, Barrhead forms part of the Renfrewshire South Constituency, in addition to this Barrhead is represented by seven regional MSPs from the West of Scotland electoral region. Barrhead forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, areas within the town include, Arthurlie, Auchenback, Gateside and Grahamston. Major businesses within the town include Barrhead Travel, Kelburn Brewing Company, the towns largest employer remains East Renfrewshire Council and the public sector. In 2002, part of the administration of East Renfrewshire Council relocated from Eastwood Park to Barrhead Main Street. There is a range of goods available within Barrhead, although some residents still rely on Paisley
10.
Kilmarnock F.C.
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Kilmarnock Football Club, commonly known as Killie, is a Scottish football team based in the town of Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire. Lee McCulloch is the manager of the side, after Lee Clark left in February 2017. The club has won many honours since its formation in 1869, the club is also one of only a few Scottish clubs to have played in all three European competitions. Killie is the oldest football club in the Scottish Premiership, and are also the oldest professional club in the country, home matches are played at Rugby Park, an 17,889 capacity all seater stadium situated in the town itself. Kilmarnock took part in the first ever match in the Scottish Cup against the now defunct Renton in 1873. On 5 January 1869 the club was founded during a meeting at Robertsons Temperance Hotel on Portland Street. Originally they played a more similar to rugby and these origins are reflected to this day by the name of the clubs home ground – Rugby Park. The difficulty in organising fixtures under this code and the influence of Queens Park soon persuaded them to adopt the association code instead. At this time, the club played games in a number locations including Holm Quarry, the Grange on Irvine Road, furthermore, Kilmarnock sent a letter stating their willingness to form the Scottish Football Association. Kilmarnock also competed in the inaugural Scottish Cup tournament in 1873–74 and 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, in 1920 Kilmarnock won the Scottish Cup for the first time beating Albion Rovers at Hampden. This was followed soon by their success in 1929 where the beat massive favourites Rangers 2–0 at the national stadium in front of a crowd of 114,708 people. The clubs 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 to win the league at their opponents expense. A memorable 2–0 win saw Kilmarnock crowned Scottish League champions for the first and this capped a period of tremendous consistency which had seen them occupy runners-up spot in four of the previous five seasons. The club is one of only a few Scottish clubs to have played in all three European competitions. Kilmarnock reached the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final, but suffered a 5–1 defeat in the final by Hibernian, after selling Steven Naismith to Rangers for a club-record fee in August 2007, Killie struggled in the 2007–08 Scottish Premier League, finishing in 11th place with 40 points. In January 2010, Kilmarnock were second bottom of the 2009–10 Scottish Premier League, 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
11.
Kilmarnock
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Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland with a population of 46,350, making it the 15th most populated place in Scotland and the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, Kilmarnock is often shortened to Killie, especially when it is referenced in a footballing situation. The first collection of work by Scottish poet Robert Burns, Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect, was published here in 1786, the internationally distributed whisky brand Johnnie Walker originated in the town in the 19th century. Protest and backing from the Scottish Government took place in 2009, after Diageo, in recent years, Kilmarnock has been used for musical acts and film locations. Rock band Biffy Clyro were formed in the town in a school in the mid-1990s. The 2001 film, Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat was shot in the town as was Manhunt, the name Kilmarnock comes from the Gaelic cill, and the name of Saint Marnoch or Mernoc who is also remembered in the name of Portmarnock in Ireland and Inchmarnock. It may come from the three Gaelic elements mo, my, Ernán and the diminutive ag, giving Church of My Little Ernán, according to tradition, the saint founded a church there in the 7th century. There are 12 Church of Scotland congregations in the town, plus other denominations, in 2005, the Reverend David W. Lacy, minister of the towns Henderson Church, was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. In 1668 the town was destroyed by an accidental fire. About 120 families lost most of their possessions and were forced to live destitute in the surrounding the town. These tradespeople had no way of making a living and had already been driven to the edge of poverty by having troops stationed with them as part of the anti-Covenanter measures. Parish churches throughout Scotland collected money for the relief of these homeless citizens, added later was John Finnie Street, which is regarded as one of the finest Victorian planned streets in Scotland. The Sandbed Street Bridge is the oldest known surviving bridge in the area, the Member of Parliament for the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency area in the Westminster parliament is Kilmarnock-born Alan Brown. Brown defeated Labour candidate Cathy Jamieson with a majority with Brown receiving 30,000 votes with Jamieson only receiving 16,363. The member of the Scottish Parliament for Kilmarnock is Willie Coffey, Kilmarnock is the home of the East Ayrshire Council Chambers and offices situated on the London Road, thus making Kilmarnock the main town within East Ayrshire. In local council elections, Kilmarnock comprises four wards, Kilmarnock North, Kilmarnock East and Hurlford, Kilmarnock West and Crosshouse, the leader in East Ayrshire is Douglas Reid of the SNP party, who has been leader since 2007. The chief executive is Fiona Lees, following the East Ayrshire Council election,2012, the SNP and the Scottish Conservative parties formed a coalition government for East Ayrshire, following the result of a hung council. At present, the Scottish Labour party is the opposition in the East Ayrshire parliament with their leader, kilmarnocks traditional industries were based around textiles and heavy engineering such as locomotives from 1837, and valves, which are still in production
12.
Heart of Midlothian F.C.
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Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a Scottish professional football club based in Gorgie in the west of Edinburgh. It is currently the only Scottish Premiership club in the city, with Edinburgh derby rivals Hibernian playing in the Scottish Championship and Edinburgh City playing in Scottish League Two. Hearts is the oldest football club in the Scottish capital, having formed in 1874 by a group of friends from the Heart of Midlothian Quadrille Assembly Club. The modern club crest is based on the Heart of Midlothian mosaic on the citys Royal Mile, Hearts play at Tynecastle Stadium, where home matches have been played since 1886. Their current training facilities are at the nearby Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, the clubs most successful period was under Tommy Walker from the mid 1950s to mid 1960s. They won seven trophies in this period and were runners up for five others, Jimmy Wardhaugh, Willie Bauld and Alfie Conn, Sr. known affectionately as the Terrible Trio were famed forwards at the start of this period with wing half lynch pins Dave Mackay and John Cumming. Wardhaugh was part of another notable Hearts attacking trinity in the 1957–58 league winning side, along with Jimmy Murray and Alex Young they set the record for the number of goals scored in that league winning campaign. In doing so became the only side to finish a season with a goal difference exceeding 100. Hearts have won the Scottish Cup eight times, most recently in 2012 after a 5–1 win over city-rivals Hibernian, Hearts four Scottish League Cup triumphs were all under Walker, most recently a 1–01962 Scottish League Cup Final victory against Kilmarnock. The most recent Scottish League Cup Final appearance was in 2013 when they lost to St Mirren 3–2, in 1958, Heart of Midlothian became the third Scottish and fifth British team to compete in European competition at the time. The club reached the quarter-finals of the 1988–89 UEFA Cup, losing out to Bayern Munich 2–1 on aggregate, the club was formed by a group of friends from the Heart of Midlothian Quadrille Assembly Club. The group of friends bought a ball before playing local rules football at the Tron from where they were directed by a policeman to The Meadows to play. Local rules football was a mix of rugby and football as we know it, in December 1873 a match was held between XIs selected by Mr Thomson from Queens Park and Mr Gardner from Clydesdale at Raimes Park in Bonnington. This was the first time that Association rules had seen in Edinburgh. Members from the dance club viewed the match and in 1874 decided to adopt the association rules, the new side was Heart of Mid-Lothian Football Club. The earliest mention of Heart of Midlothian in a context is a report in The Scotsman newspaper from 20 July 1864 of The Scotsman vs Heart of Mid-Lothian at cricket. It is not known if this was the club who went on to form the football club. The club took its name from the Heart of Midlothian jail, by becoming members of the Scottish Association Hearts were able to play in the Scottish Cup for the first time
13.
Edinburgh
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Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 local government council areas. Located in Lothian on the Firth of Forths southern shore, it is Scotlands second most populous city and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The 2014 official population estimates are 464,990 for the city of Edinburgh,492,680 for the authority area. Recognised as the capital of Scotland since at least the 15th century, Edinburgh is home to the Scottish Parliament and it is the largest financial centre in the UK after London. Historically part of Midlothian, the city has long been a centre of education, particularly in the fields of medicine, Scots law, literature, the sciences and engineering. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582 and now one of four in the city, was placed 17th in the QS World University Rankings in 2013 and 2014. The city is famous for the Edinburgh International Festival and the Fringe. The citys historical and cultural attractions have made it the United Kingdoms second most popular tourist destination after London, attracting over one million overseas visitors each year. Historic sites in Edinburgh include Edinburgh Castle, Holyrood Palace, the churches of St. Giles, Greyfriars and the Canongate, Edinburghs Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which has been managed by Edinburgh World Heritage since 1999. It appears to derive from the place name Eidyn mentioned in the Old Welsh epic poem Y Gododdin, the poem names Din Eidyn as a hill fort in the territory of the Gododdin. The Celtic element din was dropped and replaced by the Old English burh, the first documentary evidence of the medieval burgh is a royal charter, c. 1124–1127, by King David I granting a toft in burgo meo de Edenesburg to the Priory of Dunfermline. In modern Gaelic, the city is called Dùn Èideann, the earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area was at Cramond, where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp site dated to c.8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have found on Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat, Craiglockhart Hill. When the Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, at some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin. Although its location has not been identified, it likely they would have chosen a commanding position like the Castle Rock, Arthurs Seat. In 638, the Gododdin stronghold was besieged by forces loyal to King Oswald of Northumbria and it thenceforth remained under their jurisdiction. The royal burgh was founded by King David I in the early 12th century on land belonging to the Crown, in 1638, King Charles Is attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In the 17th century, Edinburghs boundaries were defined by the citys defensive town walls
14.
Helensburgh
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Helensburgh is a town within the Helensburgh and Lomond Area of Argyll and Bute Council, Scotland. It also has its own Community Council, in the Middle Ages it was within the Earldom of Lennox, an area sometimes referred to as The Lennox. It lies on the shore of the Firth of Clyde. Helensburgh is 25 miles north-west of Glasgow, the town faces south towards Greenock across the Firth of Clyde, which is approximately 3 miles wide at this point. Ocean-going ships can call at Greenock, but the shore at Helensburgh is very shallow, Helensburgh lies at the western mainland end of the Highland Boundary Fault. This means that the hills to the north of Helensburgh lie in the Highlands, consequently, there is a wide variety of landscape in the surrounding area – for example, Loch Lomond is only 4 miles over the hill to the north-east of Helensburgh. Although the Highland Boundary Fault is not geologically active, very minor earthquakes do occur occasionally in the area, during the last Ice Age the weight of the ice pushed the land downwards. Consequently, when the ice melted, sea levels were higher than they are now, evidence of this can clearly be seen in Helensburgh where the first two blocks of streets nearer the sea are built on a raised beach. Behind them the land rises up quite steeply for one block and then more gently –. The land, now free of the weight of the ice, is rising up. Although it has long known that there are some prehistoric remains in the Helensburgh area. However the oldest building in the town itself is Ardencaple Castle which was the home of Clan MacAulay. Today only one tower of this remains, the rest having been demolished in 1957-59. In 1752 Sir James Colquhoun, chief of the Clan Colquhoun of Luss, bought the land which was to become Helensburgh, at that time it was known by such names as Malig, Millig or Milligs. In 1776 he placed an advertisement in a Glasgow newspaper seeking to feu the land, no precise date is known for the change of name to Helensburgh. However it was probably around 1785 when Sir James decided to name the town after his wife, Lady Helen Sutherland, she was the granddaughter of the 16th Earl of Sutherland. However, for a few years both the old and new names for the town were in use and it was known for a time simply as the New Town. The towns coat of arms is based on those of the Colquhouns, Helensburgh received its burgh charter from King George III in 1802
15.
Ayr Thistle F.C.
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Ayr Thistle Football Club were a Scottish football team from the town of Ayr. Founded in 1872, Ayr Thistle played at the Low Green, before moving to Thistle Park in 1875, in 1877, Thistle reached the Semi-Final of the Scottish Cup, being defeated 9–0 by Vale of Leven at Kinning Park, then home of Rangers. In 1879, Ayr Thistle merged with Ayr Academicals to form Ayr, who, in 1910, merged with Ayr Parkhouse to form Ayr United
16.
Kilbirnie
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Kilbirnie is a small town of 7642 inhabitants situated in the Garnock Valley area of North Ayrshire, on the west coast of Scotland. It is around 20 miles south-west of Glasgow and approximately 10 miles from Paisley, historically, the town built up around the flax and weaving industries before iron and steelmaking took over in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The suburb of Kilbirnie in the New Zealand capital of Wellington is named after the town, archaeological digs conducted in the 19th century have shown that the area was inhabited during the Bronze Age. A crannog with a causeway was discovered in Kilbirnie Loch. The town derived its name from the church, the Auld Kirk. In 1740 there were three houses, the population grew to 959 people by 1801. Half a century later, and the town had grown substantially, in 1851 Kilbirnie contained 5,484 people, due to the Industrial Revolution, hastened by the locality of the Ayr and Glasgow railways. However, the industry entered a decline and was eventually closed, the Decoy Bride a film starring David Tennant and Kelly Macdonald was partially filmed in Kilbirnie. The town was hit hard by the closure of traditional industries. The town has the 9th lowest life expectancy among pensioners in the United Kingdom according to a report published in the Daily Mail newspaper in 2012, in addition Kilbirnie has highest bankruptcy rate in Scotland. Kilbirnie has a rate of 71 insolvencies per 10,000 people, just ahead of Clydebank, Glengarnock Steel Works opened its blast furnaces around 1841 which caused a massive influx of people from all over the country, as well as all over the world. Initially these works were owned by Merry & Cunninghame before being taken over by David Colville & Sons and eventually nationalised as part of British Steel Corporation, the steelworks in Glengarnock provided employment for most men of the community. The entire collection of magazines of the steelworks at Glengarnock have been preserved and are held at the Mitchell Library. This provides content such as spotlights on employees and departments, and these mills are famous for their nets, used by the British Army and BT Tower. They are one of few companies in the United Kingdom who have expertise in this area. W & J Knox Threadmills was owned by the Knox family who were prominent, not only in Ayrshire but in the South of England too, whos Who editions of the period list many members of the family. Since the closure of the works in the 1980s, the area has been an unemployment blackspot with distinct social problems. The town has few local employers, and people generally commute out of the town for work
