Saltcoats Victoria is a Scottish non league football club from the seaside town of the same name. The club were originally formed in 1889 becoming members of the Scottish Junior FA, before been re-formed in 1911.
Victoria were crowned as Ayrshire District League champions in 1923-24 before lifting the Scottish Junior Cup the following season as St Anthony’s were defeated 2-1 after extra time in the final.
The club followed this up with another two successive Ayrshire League titles. Another championship came in 1938-39 and celebrated the end of World War Two by once again coming top and making it a double with a West of Scotland Cup win. The cup was retained as Saltcoats went on to win several other regional cups.
‘The Seasiders’ suffered following their halcyon days. Many houses around Campbell Park were demolished so crowds dropped. However, gates of over 3,000 turned out as Saltcoats reached the Junior Cup quarter finals on a couple of occasions in the 1970’s.
Unfortunately the grounds’ Grandstand was destroyed in the early 70’s following a severe storm. The changing rooms below it remained in use, until prefabricated buildings replaced them. The Seasiders lifted the Ayrshire League Second Division title in 1992-93.
The new changing facilities were deemed unsafe in 2008, leading to Victoria sharing with local rivals Ardeer Athletic for three years. New vandal proof huts were installed to allow the club to return home.
Victoria
stabilised on their return with many consecutive mid table finishes before
finishing bottom of the table in 2015-16 before improving by a few places
twelve months later. Saltcoats finished ninth in the final season of the
Ayrshire District League in 2017-18.
The
competition was absorbed into the West Region league’s as the Seasiders were
placed in League Two. After a couple of lowly finishes the club joined most
other West Junior colleagues by leaving the set up to become founder members of
the SFA West of Scotland League.
Saltcoats Victoria FC will play in the West of Scotland League in the 2020-21 season.
My visit
Sunday 29th September 2013
It was a beautifully bright but windy morning on the north Ayrshire coast. I was in great form as I was seeing new and interesting places. My Daytripper ticket was doing me proud as I went about my quest of calling in at as many Junior clubs as possible.
The bus from Ardrossan deposited me on Canal Street, where it was soon to transpire that I had got off a stop early. My IPhone map App soon put me right as I skirted along the side of the golf course, went past a factory and walked through the open gate of Campbell Park.
A man was working on the changing rooms with his young daughter in attendance. Like the vast majority of folk I come across he was more than happy to let me take my photos.
He agreed to my point about how cold it must be at the ground in the middle of winter. Only a railway and a road separated the arena from the sea. It was little wonder that the stand was destroyed.
Campbell Park was a very basic venue. Portakabins were used for the club facilities at the town end. A small cover stood on the sea side, but apart from that the ground consisted of a few steps of terrace, hard standing and grass. All were without shelter.
My companion was once again most helpful when I told him that I was thinking of walking to the next town of Stevenston, which was about a mile up the coast to visit Ardeer Stadium. I was put on a footpath down the side of the golf course, which led virtually to my next venue.
Again, like many clubs Saltcoats did not boast lavish facilities, but the welcome more than made up for it. If I was ever to visit for a match, the hat and gloves would definitely be on my list of necessary items!
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