Whitletts Victoria FC
Ground: New Voluntary Park
Capacity: 1,000
Club Founded: 1944
League: West of Scotland League First Division - 7th Tier (current level)
Despite losing its original home, Whitletts Victoria continued to provide their fans in the city of Ayr with a team to watch before building a new ground in their local community.
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| New Volunteer Park |
Club History
When the club was founded, Whitletts was a separate mining village on the outskirts of Ayr. They were given some land to construct Volunteer Park, named in honour of those who built it. Victoria joined the Western League (South).
New homes were built post-war that connected Whitletts to the city, providing local support for the football club. The team reached the
semi-final of the Scottish Junior Cup in the 1955-56 season, where they were
defeated by eventual winners Petershill in front of over 20,000 spectators at
Shawfield.
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| Dam Park Stadium |
The divisional title was won in 1957-58, but Irvine Meadow proved too strong in the overall Western League
championship match. Despite doing relatively well on the pitch, the club
struggled to attract many supporters. Committee man, John Boyce, battled against the odds to keep
the club going. Voluntary Park was often the victim of vandalism.
Vics
withdrew from competitive football in 1972-73 but returned the following
campaign. A temporary move to Dam Park Stadium followed, where Whitletts won the Ayrshire Second Division Championship on three occasions.
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| Dam Park Stadium |
The committee was ready to let Vics fold in 1991, but manager Bobby Lawrie was determined to
keep going. Few financial resources were available before Richard Brookes came forward to assist financially with the team
in the Ayrshire Second Division.
Scottish Junior football was reorganised just after the
millennium. Whitletts defied the odds to win promotion to the West Superleague
First Division in 2008-09. However, just a couple of years later, the club faced
another crisis.
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| New Volunteer Park |
Voluntary Park also staged greyhound racing under the
name of Ayr Greyhound Stadium. In February 2011, it was closed down on health
and safety grounds. Vics were offered a home back at Dam Park Stadium by the
local council.
The club received help from Ayr United’s Honest Men Trust
as Vics were converted into a club owned by the supporters who paid an annual
membership fee following a meeting at the Thistle Inn in July 2012. However, the change in ownership didn’t help on the pitch as Whitletts were relegated to
the SJFA Ayrshire District League.
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| Club Location |
Manager Neil Duffy, the experienced former
player at Dundee, Dundee United and Ayr United, joined the club in December
2015, offering hope for the future. Victory against Maryhill under manager George Grierson saw the team placed in the Championship of the West Region following league restructuring.
They joined the West of Scotland League for the 2022-23 season, where the team was relegated from the First Division, before winning promotion to regain their status after New Volunteer Park had been opened. Brian Reid was appointed as team manager in October 2025.
My visit
Dam Park Stadium
Saturday 24th December 2016
I found myself in Ayr on Christmas Eve in some pretty
horrendous conditions before Ayr United’s home game against Dumbarton, which had
a lunchtime kick-off, allowing me to get back to London for beers that
evening.
The winds were high with regular heavy showers thrown in
for good measure. I sheltered and suffered a pretty ordinary pint of Hophead in
the bar of the Ayrshire and Galloway Hotel before I headed off towards Dam Park
Stadium to get some photos.
The waters of the River Ayr looked fierce as I crossed
the bridge and headed towards the stadium past the Ayr Campus of the University
of the West of Scotland. The rain battered down again, so I sheltered against
one of the buildings to try to let it blow over.
The main entrance to the arena was closed, but after a walk, I discovered that I could climb the
bank from the riverside path and get an excellent view. Dam Park Stadium was used mainly for athletics with a neat covered seated stand above open terracing.
Once done, I tried to fight the elements as I headed to
Somerset Park to enjoy my main attraction of the day.