Thorniewood United F.C.
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| Full name | Thorniewood United Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Wood | ||
| Founded | 1924 | ||
| Ground | Robertson Park, Viewpark | ||
| Manager | David Gormley | ||
| League | West of Scotland League First Division | ||
| 2023–24 | West of Scotland League First Division, 9th of 16 | ||
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Thorniewood United Football Club are a Scottish football club, based in Viewpark, North Lanarkshire. Formed in 1924, they compete in the West of Scotland League First Division. Their home ground is Robertson Park and the team colours are all red.
History
[edit]Nicknamed the Wood, they were formed in 1924 and play at Robertson Park, having moved from Thorn Park in nearby Tannochside in 1957 when the Caterpillar Tractor Company acquired the land to build a new factory at the time.
Negotiations to secure Robertson Park were made by the club's founder William Cowan with Caterpillar, who secured the site as a direct replacement for the original ground. A senior vice president of Caterpillar travelled from the US to meet with William to identify what was holding up the acquisition of the land.
In an agreement that resulted from the request to "move our park from here to there", Thorniewood moved to the current location and over the years have sold off parts of the land around the park. Robertson Park itself is named in recognition of the club's lawyer John Robertson, who provided much needed advice to William and other co-formers when the club was in its infancy.
While William Cowan will always be remembered as "Mr Thorniewood",[citation needed] many older supporters will recall that all of the Cowan family took roles in ensuring the club continued from washing the strips to collecting the gate money.
They currently compete in the West Region of the Scottish Junior Football Association; they wear all red strips (uniforms) with a change strip of all blue, although their original colours were either black and white striped shirts or latterly white shirts, black shorts and white socks. Thorniewood used to be called Tannochside Recreation for a short period in the 1960s but soon reverted to their original name. Tunnocks, the large biscuit manufacturer, are Thorniewood United's main sponsor and have been for many years. Fans of the club are known as Woodites or Woodies and The Shed Boys.
The club had its most successful era from the 1940s to the early 1960s, under the management of William Cowan, with its most recent league honour achieved in 1981 under the management of Stuart Noble.
In June 2015, Thorniewood won their first cup in 50 years when they defeated Blantyre Vics in a penalty shoot out to lift the Euroscot Engineering Central League Cup. The game had finished 2–2 with Thorniewood playing with nine men for 30 minutes after two straight red cards.[1] The team have been managed since February 2017 by Gerry Bonham.[2]
Honours
[edit]Central League Division 2
[edit]- Winners: 1992–93
Other Honours
[edit]- Lanarkshire League winners: 1950–51, 1955–56, 1959–60, 1963–64
- Central League C Division winners: 1980–81
- Lanarkshire Junior Cup: 1963–64, 1964–65
- Euroscot Engineering Central League Cup: 2014–15
Current players
[edit]Season 2023/2024
Craig Murdoch
Josh Lane
Craig Smith
Jordan Duncan
Ali Miller
Jack McClair
Callum Shields
Fraser Stobbie
Callum Nolan
Callum Scott
Declan Walsh
Michael Archer
Jamie Pollock
James Martin
Cody McLeod
Robbie Leighton
Josh Winton
Dan Kindlan
Jack Smith
Cammy Smith
Gary Smith
Former players
[edit]1. Players that have played/managed in the top two divisions of the Scottish Football League or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league).
2. Players with full international caps.
3. Players that hold a club record or have captained the club.
References
[edit]- ^ O'Donnell, Jim (18 June 2015). "Eight-man Thorniewood lift EuroScot Eng Central League Cup in dramatic penalty shoot-out". Evening Times. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
- ^ Goldthorp, Craig (14 February 2017). "Gerry Bonham is new Thorniewood United gaffer". www.motherwelltimes.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2017.