Hamilton Academical F.C.

Hamilton Academical F.C. was formed in late 1874 by the rector and pupils of Hamilton Academy. The club soon became members of the Scottish Football Association and initially began competing in the Scottish Cup and Qualifying Cup, before joining the Scottish Football League in November 1897 following the resignation of Renton. Throughout its history, the club has only reached two Scottish Cup finals. The first, in 1911, resulted in a goalless draw against Celtic at Ibrox Park. The replay, again held at Ibrox, attracted a crowd of 45,000 spectators and ended in a 2–0 defeat for Hamilton Academical. Their next chance at major silverware was the 1935 Scottish Cup final. Despite a Bertie Harrison goal (the club's only in a final of a major competition), Rangers went on to win the match in front of over 87,000 spectators by two Jimmy Smith goals. In the 1970s, Hamilton briefly resigned from the league due to mounting debts. In 1994 the club sold its home ground, Douglas Park, to Sainsbury's supermarket, and subsequently ground-shared in Coatbridge and Glasgow for seven years. During this period the club went through financial hardships and unpaid players went on strike. As a result, Hamilton was unable to fulfil one fixture during the 1999–2000 season and were docked 15 points, the result of which was relegation to the Third Division. The club moved into its New Douglas Park stadium in 2001. In 2008, for the first time in 20 years, Accies gained promotion to the top division of…

Scottish First Division (second tier) Winners: 1985–86, 1987–88, 2007–08 Runners-up: 2013–14 (second tier) Scottish Second Division Winners: 1903–04 Runners-up: 1952–53 (second tier), 1964–65 (second tier), 1996–97 (third tier), 2003–04 (third tier), 2023–24 (third tier) Scottish Third Division Winners: 2000–01 Scottish Cup Runners-up: 1910–11, 1934–35 Scottish Challenge Cup Winners: 1991–92, 1992–93, 2022–23 Runners-up: 2005–06, 2011–12