Auchinleck Talbot

Auchinleck Talbot Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Auchinleck, near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. They were members of the Scottish Junior Football Association, winning the Scottish Junior Cup on a record 13 occasions. They play in a local derby against near neighbours and biggest rivals Cumnock Juniors.

History

Auchinleck Talbot was formed in 1909 and take their name from the 2nd Baron Talbot de Malahide, Richard Wogan Talbot, a landowner who donated the site of their Beechwood Park home.

Beechwood Park opened in 1909 with a charity match between The Old Players and The Merchants. Talbot made their team debut the same year when they defeat the juvenile side Highhouse Rangers 4–0. Weeks later they lost their first competitive game at Cronberry Eglinton in the league. Their first win came in September 1909 when they defeated Patna Doon Athletic in their first Scottish Junior Cup tie.

The early and middle history of the club is characterised by periods of fluctuating fortune, often related to the economic conditions in this coal mining district of rural Ayrshire. Talbot folded in 1916 due to financial problems and the First World War but made a comeback four years later, ushering in a relatively successful period for the club. The Ayrshire Cup was won in 1920 by defeating Irvine Meadow 3–0 at Rugby Park. That same year they set a club goalscoring record in the Scottish Junior Cup, defeating Craigbank 11–0 at home, a scoreline surpassed in 2008 when defeating Nairn St. Ninian, 13–1. The South Ayrshire League was won for the first time in 1921 and the following year, a terrace was raised at Beechwood Park to accommodate larger crowds ahead of a Junior Cup quarter-final tie against the eventual winners, a Jimmy McGrory inspired St Roch's. Talbot made their first foray to the semi-finals of this tournament in 1924, losing 1–0 to Baillieston at Love Street. In the 1928–29 season however, the club were forced into abeyance due to financial difficulties.

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