Great Scots

Though this weekend’s tie with Raith Rovers is Cliftonville’s first ever away game in the SPFL Trust Trophy, it is by no means our first fixture in Scotland.

The Reds have played 11 prior games away to Scottish opposition and, depending on how you classify the Ladbrokes Supporters Cup clash with Stirling Albion in 2011 (below), Saturday’s Stark’s Park encounter represents either the Club’s second or third competitive outing in the country.

Ominously, Cliftonville’s first two visits ended in 6-0 hidings, with Glasgow outfit Caledonians – who had dished out a 9-1 hammering in Belfast in just the Reds’ second ever fixture a few months earlier – emerging victorious in January 1880 before Hibernian did likewise in 1908.

Our first success in Scotland came in a 2-1 victory over Stranraer in October 1910, however a 1-1 draw with Partick Thistle in 1926 proved to be Cliftonville’s last visit for some 60 years; Stranraer exacting revenge with a 2-1 success of their own in 1986.

The summer of 1991, meanwhile, saw the Reds contest two matches in as many manic days.

After a proposed friendly with Kilmarnock was cancelled at the last minute, a hastily-arranged contest with Airdrie saw Cliftonville win 3-2 in Bishopbriggs ahead of a 4-1 reverse at the hands of this week’s opponents on a day when, in addition to more than a few travelling supporters complaining of an inability to find Raith on a map, our team had to wear Rovers’ away strip (above) because they hadn’t packed a second kit for the tour!

The Reds have faced Stranraer away more than any other Scottish side, with the third – and, thus far, last – installment against the Stair Park outfit coming in 2003 when, following a disastrous first-half, Marty Tabb’s side came within a whisker of rescuing a draw from 3-0 down.

Nine years on, goals from Joe Gormley (above) either side of a George McMullan penalty earned victory over Stirling Albion at the Doubletree Dunblane Stadium, where the visitors retained the Ladbrokes Supporters Cup they had won by defeating FC United of Manchester 12 months earlier.

Tommy Breslin’s team were back in Scotland in undisputed competitive action in July 2013 when a Champions League showdown with Celtic ended in a 2-0 defeat in Glasgow, where the Reds’ most recent Scottish run-out ended in a 2-2 draw with a Celtic XI at Lennoxtown five years ago (below).

Cliftonville’s history in Scotland
January 31, 1880: Caledonians 6-0 Cliftonville
April 20, 1908: Hibernian 6-0 Cliftonville
October 28, 1910: Stranraer 1-2 Cliftonville [McAuley x2]
April 6, 1926: Partick Thistle 1-1 Cliftonville [Compton]
August 2, 1986: Stranraer 2-1 Cliftonville [McConville]
August 2, 1991: Airdrie 2-3 Cliftonville [Drake x2, Donnelly]
August 3, 1991: Raith Rovers 4-1 Cliftonville [Drake]
July 22, 2003: Stranraer 3-2 Cliftonville [Adams, Crawford]
July 16, 2011: Stirling Albion 2-3 Cliftonville [Gormley x2, McMullan]
July 23, 2013: Celtic 2-0 Cliftonville
July 7, 2018: Celtic XI 2-2 Cliftonville [R Curran, McDonald]