East Craigie (Scotland)

East Craigie FC is a non-league football club from the east of the city of Dundee. The club compete in the Scottish Junior FA system, priding itself as one of the oldest ‘junior’ clubs in existence, having been formed in 1880.

‘The Shipbuilders’ competed in the Dundee Junior League and Tayside Premier League for most of their history, with former player Sandy Gilligan managing the side in the 20s and 30s, as the club moved into their Craigie Park home in 1932, before future Aston Villa star Jimmy McEwan started his career at the club.

Following SJFA restructuring in 2006-07, East Craigie were placed in the North Division of the East Region. However, in 2011, the club faced closure as the management team departed to Tayport, while the long-serving committee looked for new volunteers.

The crisis was averted as East Craigie continued. In August 2014, Keith Prophett raised nearly £700 for the club with a sponsored parachute jump. The side played in the SJFA East Region North Division for several seasons, winning the title in 2019-20, before many clubs headed off to join the SFA East of Scotland League.

The Shipbuilders stayed put and joined the newly formed SJFA Midlands League, finishing runners-up in the inaugural 2021-22 season. The side, under joint-managers Craig Brown and Sean Wilkie, continued to put in top finishes for the following three seasons.

East Craigie FC will play in the SJFA Midlands Football League in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Thursday 22^nd January 2015

Following my overnight stay in Broughty Ferry after the Dundee v Kilmarnock game I decided a good walk was in order on a bracing morning. After a climb uphill from the seaside and a look at Broughty Athletic’s Whitton Park home, I headed along Arbroath Road towards the city.

Not for the first time, I misjudged the scale of the map on my iPhone app. The walk seemed to go on forever, and I had one eye on the clock as my train from Dundee down to York left at 11.09. After nearly a couple of miles, I walked past the Eastern Necropolis and up the hill of Old Craigie Road to eventually arrive at Craigie Park.

The ground was locked, but I got a view through the metal gates and over the wall further up. It was a basic venue but with character, with grass banks along the roadside and behind the cemetery end goal. At the allotment end by the entrance were the only buildings, containing changing rooms and a tea bar.

I was delighted to walk back down to the main road and jump aboard the number 73 bus down the hills and into the city centre before a walk along the waterfront with its imposing granite buildings.

Dundee was a city in transition and certainly has a fascinating history to tell. I made a promise to return and visit the other junior clubs as well as a match at Tannadice Park a couple of years henceforth.