Vale of Leven set to celebrate 150 years of football in the valley

Preparations are well underway as Vale of Leven FC mark 150 years of football in the valley.

Originally founded in 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.

The Alexandria side won the Scottish Cup in 1877, 1878 and 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.

Along with fellow founder members Queen’s Park and Third Lanark, Vale teams toured Scotland in the Victorian era in an attempt to generate more interest in football.

Near neighbours Renton and Dumbarton also experienced plenty of success – with six Scottish Cup wins between the three clubs in the first 15 seasons of the competition.

After initial success, however, survival became a struggle for the Vale with the emergence of the big two in Glasgow and Edinburgh and the increased professionalism of football.

Many rival clubs from the time such as Renton, Thornliebank and Helensburgh, failed to survive. However the Vale remained. Even after withdrawing from the Scottish League between 1893 and 1905.

After a tumultuous number of seasons that brought a record points tally but also relegation to the Third Division, the Vale lost their league status for good in 1926 amid soaring match and travel costs.

While this marked the official demise of the 1872 founded 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,