Crossgates Primrose (Scotland)

Crossgates Primrose FC is a Scottish football club from the village of Crossgates in Fife, that was formed in 1926; although it is thought that its formation may have come from previous local sides Crossgates Hearts and Crossgates Corinthians.

Primrose joined competitive football as a member of the Fife Junior League in 1927-28, playing at Humbug Park, on the site of the former Cuttlehill Colliery. The side gained momentum and finished in third place in 1933-34 before a succession of mid-table finishes for the rest of the decade.

In 1947-48, ‘The Rose’ banged in a remarkable 120 goals while conceding 79 to finish in third place as well as lifting the Fife Cup as crowds flocked to Humbug Park, which was also used for greyhound racing between 1937 and 1953. They packed in during the Scottish Junior Cup run in the 1952-53 season.

A home fifth-round tie against Auchinleck Talbot saw 400 railway sleepers being installed to fit in a crowd of 7,600. The game was drawn with Crossgates prevailing in the replay before 5,000 fans turned up for the last eight-game against Annbank United. Crossgates eventually went out after a second replay to end the run.

The 1956-57 campaign saw a young Jim Baxter start his career at Humbug Park before moving on to Raith Rovers in a career which would see fame at Rangers, Sunderland and Nottingham Forest as well as for the national side.

More regional cups were won around this period before the club folded at the end of the 1960-61 season as the Junior competition struggled in Fife. Dunfermline Athletic took over Humbug Park.

In 1982, the club was resurrected as a juvenile outfit before re-joining the Fife Junior League in 1983-84 and moving back into Humbug Park, which had been sold back to the local council by Dunfermline. In 1989-90, the team weighed in with a third-place finish before mid-table placings became the norm before they came bottom in 2014-15. 

Worse was to come as the club pulled out of the East Region Premier League South in November 2015. The club cited a lack of committee members as their reasoning before regrouping to compete once again in the 2016-17 season. They remained as part of the SJFA set up before joining several other clubs that defected to the SFA.

Primrose were placed in the East of Scotland League Conference B for 2018-19, where a fifth place led to a position in the Premier Division under manager Alan Campbell. Fifth place was achieved in 2021-22 before the side was relegated to the First Division at the end of the 2023-24 campaign.

Primrose finished in fifth place in the seventh tier of Scottish football in the 2024-25 season.

Crossgates Primrose FC will play in the East of Scotland First Division in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Saturday 25th January 2020

My short visit to Fife had seen me visiting clubs in the east of the Kingdom on the Friday before heading to the Dunfermline Athletic v Dundee game. Saturday would see me watching the first half of the Juniors at Lochgelly Albert and then Cowdenbeath against Brechin City.

It was a cool morning that had already seen me head straight to Kelty Hearts from my hotel in Dunfermline. The X56 bus towards Edinburgh dropped me off at Halbeath Park & Ride before I got on the X61 service, heading for Glenrothes.

Alighting at Hillview Crescent, it was a five-minute walk down Main Street and then Inverkeithing Road to Humbug Park. The gates were locked, but I was still able to get enough views to take photos of the neat, if basic, venue.

The facilities of changing rooms, boardroom, tea hut and parking, and a small lean-to cover for spectators were all on the east side of the ground. The rest of the venue was made up of open flat grass standing. Once done, I returned to my earlier drop off for the short ride to Hill of Beath to continue the Jim Baxter history trail.