Arbroath Victoria (Scotland)

Arbroath Victoria FC is a Junior or non-league football club from the Angus coastal town of Arbroath that was formed in 1882, making it one of Scotland’s oldest clubs; originally playing their matches on ‘The Common’.

Vics were crowned as champions of the Angus Junior League in 1928-29 and 1936-37. After playing on local parks and using Gayfield Park during World War Two, while competing in regional football, Vics moved into Ogilvy Park in 1951.

The team went on to lift further Angus League titles in 1952-53, 1953-54, 1954-55 and 1955-56 as well as winning a plethora of cup competitions. The team progressed to the last eight of the Scottish Junior Cup in 1970-71 before going out to eventual winners Cambuslang Rangers.

To celebrate the club's centenary, a match was played against Arbroath FC in August 1982, with George Best guesting, scoring twice in a 4-3 win. The club continued to go on to win further league titles before hitting a slump in the 1990s.

Arbroath Victoria came close to folding in 1999 before regrouping with a new committee. The Junior set up was restructured for the 2002-03 season with Vics winning promotion to the Tayside Premier Division.

However, the team struggled and dropped back down to the First Division a year later. For 2013-14, Vics became members of the Eastern Region’s newly formed First Division North.

Jake Ferrier had managed the side from 2006 before announcing his retirement in October 2014. A sixth-place finish saw a marked improvement in 2014-15 under new boss Derek Lawson, before his departure to Scone Thistle.

The side then struggled in the bottom half of the table, finishing in tenth place in 2018-19 under manager Eddie Gray. After a third-place finish, Vics were placed in the East Superleague for the 2020-21 campaign. The club was placed in the SFA Midlands Football League thereafter, the sixth tier of the national pyramid.

The team fitted well in their new environment, before manager Gray stood down in May 2024 to be replaced by Neil Cargill. 

Arbroath Victoria FC will play in the Midlands Football League in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Saturday 18th January 2020

A Scottish Cup weekend trip offered me the opportunity to take a look at the home of Victoria. I’d arrived in the town on the train after spending the previous day in Glasgow and had been to the Rangers v Stranraer game.

I had Arbroath against Falkirk and then Dundee versus Motherwell to look forward to before Sunday’s offering of Dundee United and Hibernian. I’d struck lucky with the fixtures, if not the temperatures.

On Saturday morning, I’d taken the service to Dundee and then up the coast. I was ready for a good walk to freshen up and dispense some of the timber accumulated over a very sociable Friday.

It took around fifteen minutes from the station along Keptie Street, then a right past Tesco’s on Lochland Street, before Cairnie Street took me to Cairnie Loan. The entrance to the ground was just past the recycling centre.

Fortunately, the main gate was open, though I’d still have been able to take limited shots of the ground. Ogilvy Park was neat, if a little basic, but had all the requirements for Junior non-league football.

The near side of the pitch and behind the goal were enclosed by banking. Car parking occupied the road touchline with a small shelter up near the corner flag to the left. The facilities of changing rooms and a clubroom with a small cover were on the opposite side.

Once I’d taken my photos, I wandered across the road, where the number 46 bus was due from the Aikman Road stop to drop me at the bus station, from where I had a look around the town and waterfront before gravitating towards the match.