Kilmarnock F.C.

Formation and early years

The club's foundation dates back to the very earliest days of organised football in Scotland, with speculation over the club's beginnings being in 1868, 1869 or 1872 often disputed. The club was founded by a collection of men and boys who were sporting enthusiasts, with a few of them playing cricket during the summer months, as well as playing bowls, quoits, running and golf. During the winter period, the group lacked active sporting opportunities, and in the Autumn of 1868, the younger members of the sporting enthusiasts who attended Kilmarnock Academy first played football in the Barbadoes Green area of Kilmarnock. Football in Scotland at this time was considered "rough" and "disorderly", and, while it was popular, it had never been played in an organised manner before. The group of sporting enthusiasts later became known as the club's "founding fathers", and began playing football with their own set of rules which were more similar to that of Rugby league, rather than association rules, which had become the rules used for a similar game, also known as football, in England in the late 1850s. A committee was formed with the intention of the game becoming more organised, and after raising money, had placed an advertisement in the 2 January 1869 issue of the Kilmarnock Standard for a general meeting of the "Kilmarnock Foot-ball Club" to be held in Robertson's Temperance Hotel on Portland Road in Kilmarnock on Tuesday 5 January 1869. The…

Club accolades

Second oldest professional club in Scotland Biggest competitive win: 13–2 v Saltcoats Victoria, Scottish Qualifying Cup 2nd round, 12 September 1896 Worst defeat: 1–9 v Celtic, Scottish League Division 1, 13 August 1938 Highest home attendance: 35,995 v Rangers, Scottish Cup Quarter-final, 10 March 1962 Most league goals in a season: Harry Cunningham (34 in 1927–28) and Andy Kerr (34 in 1960–61) Transfer fee paid: £340,000 for Paul Wright from St Johnstone, March 1995 Transfer fee received: £2,200,000 for Greg Taylor to Celtic, August 2019

Domestic

Scottish Football League (first tier): Winners (1): 1964–65 Runners-up (4): 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64 Scottish First Division / Scottish Championship (second tier): Winners (3): 1897–98, 1898–99, 2021–22 Runners-up (6): 1953–54, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1992–93 Scottish Second Division (third tier): Runners-up (1): 1989–90 Scottish Cup: Winners (3): 1919–20, 1928–29, 1996–97 Runners-up (5): 1897–98, 1931–32, 1937–38, 1956–57, 1959–60 Scottish League Cup: Winners (1): 2011–12 Runners-up (5): 1952–53, 1960–61, 1962–63, 2000–01, 2006–07 Scottish Qualifying Cup: Winners (1): 1896–97

Other; international and regional

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: Semi-finalists: 1966–67 International Soccer League: Runners-up: 1960 Tennent Caledonian Cup: Winners: 1979–80 UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking: Winners: 1999 Ayrshire Cup: Winners (44): 1884, 1885, 1886, 1891, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899,…