Vale of Leven F&AC 

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Originally founded in August 1872, the Vale enjoyed plenty of success in the early years of Scottish football – when West Dunbartonshire was known nationwide as a hotbed of footballing talent.

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The Alexandria side won the Scottish Cup in 1877, 1878 & 1879, becoming the first club other than Queen’s Park to win the country’s most prestigious trophy, and were founder members of the Scottish Football League in 1890.

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After initial success, however, survival became a struggle for the Vale with the increased professionalism of football.

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Many rival clubs failed to survive. The Vale remained until they lost their league status for good in 1926 amid soaring costs. While this marked the official demise of the original club, the Vale of Leven Old Church Old Boys Association (Vale OCOBA) used the Millburn Park ground that the club have called home since 1888. An unofficial continuation of the original club, the Vale OCOBA eventually took on the Vale of Leven Football & Athletic Club name, joining the Scottish Junior FA ranks in 1939 after plans to join the Scottish Football Alliance were scuppered by World War II.

The Vale’s early days in the junior ranks proved a success, with the club memorably winning the 1953 Scottish Junior Cup, beating Annbank United in front of more than 50,000 people at Hampden Park. Other notable successes were the League Championships won in 1947 and 1970.

More recently the club has moved to be part of the Scottish Football pyramid as part of a restructure of non-league football. 

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2022 sees the club celebrate 150 Years of Football in the Valley.

 

Links

• https://www.valeoflevenfc.co.uk (club website)

• https://twitter.com/ValeofLeven (official Twitter)

• https://www.facebook.com/valeoflevenfc (official Facebook) 

• https://www.instagram.com/vale_of_leven_fc  (official Instagram)