Renfrew FC

Unofficial page
www.renfrewfc.co.uk http://twitter.com/renfrewfc

Formed in 1912, the previous Junior club in the town, Renfrew Victoria, went defunct in 1910. They also played at Western Park, and more detail on the Victoria will be posted on this page in the future.

The early years of the club saw the semi-finals of the national competition, the Scottish Junior Cup, reached several times- in 1914,1918,1933,1936, 1947 and more latterly 1978. The final has been reached three times, in 1917, 1962 and 2001. The first occasion saw no goals conceded on the way to the final, and it was only by a single goal that the final itself was lost, and this after a replay. Similarly, it was after a replay in 1962 when Rob Roy were the victors. However May 2001 saw Renfrew win their first "Scottish" after defeating Carnoustie Panmure in the final at Firhill Park in Glasgow. After a tense 90 minutes of regulation time and 30 minutes of extra time, Renfrew won the match on penalties with captain Neil Shearer scoring the winner. The final itself wasn't the greatest spectacle but the manner in which Renfrew made it through to the final showed them to be worthy Champions.In the first round, Renfrew Saltcoats Victoria and beat Steelend Victoria in the 2nd round. Then, after several postponements due to adverse weather, a 2-2 draw away to Kelty Hearts meant a replay back at Western Park. Goals from Tourish and Peacock presented Renfrew with a home tie against Central League Champions Benburb. After another 2-2 draw Renfrew faced the daunting task of travelling to the Bens and when they were 3-2 down with seconds remaining, it looked as if the dream was over. However a Farquaharson equalizer and another two in extra time meant that Renfrew made it into the 5th round. Dundonald Bluebell were duely beaten 5-0 meant that Renfrew were into the Quarter Final for the first time in twenty two years, where Formartine United, conquerers of Petershill in the previous round, made the trip from the North Region to Western Park. The 2-0 win for the home side, which could and should have been more, meant that Renfrew would travel to Love Street for a Semi Final against greatly fancied Auchinleck Talbot. An Andy Morrison penalty separated the teams although Renfrew hung on to send them to their first Final appeance since 1962.Over the years, as can be seen from the list of honours won, the club has been relatively successful, with a number of additional runners-up placings in cup finals and league competitions.

In more recent years, the club started the 1990's in the Premier Division, before being relegated in two successive seasons in the middle of the decade. Only one season was spent in the Second Division, and it took a further four seasons in the First Division before promotion back to the Premier Division was achieved in May 2000. This proved to be a successful campaign with a top five finish to go along with the "Scottish" triumph. To add spice to the 2000/01 season, all other three local sides- Arthurlie, Neilston and Johnstone Burgh were in the same division, leading to a great deal of local interest.

By the close of season 2001-02 Renfrew, who were in 10th place of 12 teams, would find themselves facing life in the new West of Scotland Superleague First Division. In 2003-04, Renfrew were promoted to the Premier League along with Bellshill Athletic, but found themselves in a fight to beat the drop the following year. In the end they survived and remarkably in 2005-06 missed out on the Championship on goal difference to eventual winners Auchinleck Talbot. Unfortunately, after the disappointment of missing out on the Premier League title, the club found themselves in relegation trouble from the start of the 06-07 season and ended up finishing bottom and dropping into the first division. They managed to consolidate their position and remained in the First Division of the Superleague until they were relegated to the Central League First Division at the end of the 2013/14 season.

With work going on in the background on a move to a new ground at Blythswood Renfrew, the club agreed a groundshare arrangement to play their home games at Keanie Park. Work started on the new ground on 24th November, after a two week delay, and was scheduled to take 14 weeks to be completed.

The history of the club is an ongoing project and the website at www.renfrewfc.co.uk is a great source of information.