Wikipedia - Gala Fairydean Rovers F.C.
Gala Fairydean Rovers Football Club are a Scottish association football club based in the town of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders. The club competes in the Lowland League, after joining from the East of Scotland Football League in 2013. At the same time the club changed its name to Gala Fairydean Rovers, following a merger between Gala Fairydean and Gala Rovers. The club plays its home matches at Netherdale in Galashiels.
Gala Fairydean won the East of Scotland Football League eight times and finished runners-up on seven occasions. The club reached 15 Scottish Qualifying Cup South finals, winning it 11 times, before the competition was abolished in 2007. Gala Fairydean Rovers qualify automatically for the Scottish Cup as a member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA). The best performance by the club was reaching the third round, done on five occasions. Gala Rovers won the Border Amateur Football League 13 times.
History
Gala Fairydean Rovers was first formed in 1894. In 1907 the club was separated into two teams, known as Gala Fairydean and Gala Rovers. The first Gala Rovers was the reserve team of Gala Fairydean. Both clubs ceased operations in 1914 due to the outbreak of the First World War and the consequent loss of male population in Galashiels. Gala Fairydean resumed in 1919, after the war had ended, and was a founder member of the East of Scotland Football League in 1923.
Gala Rovers were only reformed in 1947 and joined the Border Amateur League. Although the two clubs were separate, they were closely linked through operations such as a joint lottery. Although Gala Fairydean were a semi-professional club and needed funds to pay players, Gala Rovers were amateur and could save some of the funds generated. This helped to fund construction of the 1960s main stand at Netherdale. Gala Fairydean applied to join the Scottish Football League in 1966, 1994, 2000 and 2002, but were unsuccessful on each occasion.
The two clubs merged to form Gala Fairydean Rovers in 2013. The club was admitted into the new Lowland Football League in 2013.
Gala Fairydean speelde in de Border League en won in 1907 de Scottish Amateur Cup. In 1921 werd de club lid van de Scottish Football Association en begon te spelen in de B-divisie van de Scottish League.
In 1924 bereikte Gala Fairydean de finale van de Scottish Cup, maar verloor met 2-0 van Airdrieonians. In 1927 won de club de B-divisie en promoveerde naar de A-divisie.
Gala Fairydean speelde vijf seizoenen in de A-divisie, maar degradeerde in 1932 naar de B-divisie. De club speelde nog een aantal seizoenen in de B-divisie, maar degradeerde in 1938 naar de C-divisie.
Gala Fairydean speelde tot 1955 in de C-divisie, toen de club werd ontbonden. De club werd in 1990 opnieuw opgericht en speelt nu in de East of Scotland Football League.