Polmont Community A.F.C.

Polmont Community A.F.C. is an association football club from the town of Polmont in Scotland.

Polmont currently compete in the second tier of the Stirling & District AFA. The club finished in 12th position, second bottom, in their first competitive season, before winning the SDAFA Division Three the following season. The team play their matches at Meadowbank Park, with their colours being violet and white. The club is currently sponsored by the major Scottish landfill company Avondale Environmental.

History

Formation

Polmont Football Club were officially launched by Polmont residents And Co-founders Stuart Forrest and Christopher Galloway on 15 June 2011 in time for the 2011-12 season. They conducted feasibility studies with regards to joining numerous amateur leagues including the Caledonian Amateur Football League, before finally affiliating with the Scottish Amateur Football Association and were elected to the bottom tier, Division Three - level 4 - of the Stirling & District Amateur Football Association.

Immediately following the club's foundation, the board installed Asturian Diego Gonzalez as head coach and he was soon followed by an experienced Crawford Lauder as his assistant coach and the ultimately successful quartet set AbOUT piecing together and refining a squad at short notice to compete in their domestic league.

The club itself was created to provide a local football team to the Polmont area, being one of the largest settlements in the region without a current club at senior or amateur level. Polmont were originally designated by Falkirk Council to play their home matches at Quarry Brae in neighbouring Brightons, however after quasi-political wrangle which escalated to the level of councillors and club directors the Council finally relented and permitted the club to base their operations at Meadowbank Park in the St Margaret's area of Polmont.

Performance

Polmont played their first match in an exhibition game played in Reddingmuirhead against fellow Stirling & District side Condorrat, which ended in a 1-5 defeat. However, they won their first competitive fixture on 16 August at Meadowbank against another Stirling & District club, Hillfoots, in their division's pre-season League Cup competition. The team GeneRally struggled in their maiden campaign, narrowly avoiding finishing bottom of their division and flattering to deceive in all regional and national cup competitions. Prior to the following season, PFC were seen as possible dark horses for promotion but simply steamrolled the opposition, winning the division without losing a single match and powering their way to the title, but disappointed in the Scottish Amateur Cup at Round 2 after defeat at Balgonie Scotia following a replay.

The club again slipped out of the Scottish Cup in the second round in 2013-14, losing out to Edinburgh Southern AFC. They did, however, achieve back-to-back promotions by finishing in second position to reach the Stirling & District AFA Division One as well as reaching their division's League Cup final, missing out on both titles to rivals Redbrae Athletic.

Present & future

Polmont made tentative enquiries into a long-term ambition of joining the East of Scotland Football League as a step onto the Scottish pyramid system, however lack of a suitable ground to meet the relevant criteria put these plans on hold for the foreseeable future. Following three competitively progressive seasons, Galloway & Forrest both tendered their resignations due to external commitments and their departures were formally announced at the climax of the 2013-14 campaign allowing the day-to-day running to new management. One of the first acts of the new regime was to change the club's operating name with the SAFA to Polmont Community in line with efforts to become an SFA recognised community club.

Club crest and colours

Crest

From the club's inception until 2014, Polmont used the same crest which depicted Polmont Old Parish Church in the centre, along with the year of the club's foundation. The logo notably also included the variant of the club's name in Scottish Gaelic. Variations of the crest have regularly been produced in the original violet and gold colours, with others appearing in monochrome.

When the club changed in 2014, the crest was rebranded in line with Polmont's efforts to become an SFA recognised community club.

Colours

Polmont play in violet kits, which was selected as a unique and memorable colour. The team's iconic inaugural kit contained white sleeves, similar to that of Arsenal & Hibernian

Ground

The club currently play their home fixtures at Meadowbank Park (also known as St Margaret's). Polmont originally investigated the possibility of using Grangemouth Stadium as their venue, until this was taken by fellow new-comers Falkirk Juniors F.C.. The ground holds approximately 500, is all-standing and contains no covered area for spectators, although for the majority of league games crowds rarely exceed single figures.

2014-15 league performance

Below is a classification of Polmont's ongoing participation in the eleven club-strong 2014-15 Stirling & District AFA Division Two as of 11-10-2014

Players

First-team squad

Club officials

Board of directors & technical staff

Honours

Amateur

League

• '''Stirling & District AFA (level 4)

:* Winners: 2012-13

• '''Stirling & District AFA (level 3)

:* Runners-up: 2013-14

Cups

• '''Stirling & District AFA Taylor Trophy

:* Runners-up: 2013-14

Club records

• First competitive fixture: Polmont 4 - 3 Hillfoots, 16 August 2011
• League victory: 9-1 v Campsie F.C. (A), 18 January 2014
• League defeat: 0-5 v Redbrae F.C. (H), 21 September 2013
• Record goalscorer: Jamie Stanic, 71 goals
• Top goalscorer in a season: Jamie Stanic, 50 goals (2013–14)

Individual awards

Kit history

Coaches

:*Listed according to when they became coaches of Polmont:

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

External links

• official website
• PCAFC Twitter page
• PCAFC Facebook page