Hamilton Academical F.C. facts for kids
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| Full name | Hamilton Academical Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Accies | ||
| Founded | 1874 | ||
| Ground | Broadwood Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 8,086 | ||
| Owner & CEO | Seref Zengin | ||
| Chairman | Jock Brown | ||
| Head coach | John Rankin | ||
| League | Scottish Premiership | ||
| 2015–16 | Scottish Premiership, 10th | ||
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Hamilton Academical Football Club, often called Hamilton Accies or The Accies, is a Scottish football team. They are from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire. The club currently plays in Scottish Premiership.
Hamilton Accies started in 1874 from a school football team at Hamilton Academy. They are the only professional football club in Britain that began as a school team. The club has won the Scottish Challenge Cup three times. They have also been runners-up in the Scottish Cup twice. The team plays its home games at Broadwood Stadium.
Contents
Club History and Achievements
Hamilton Academical F.C. was created in late 1874 by the head teacher and students of Hamilton Academy. Soon after, the club joined the Scottish Football Association. They started playing in the Scottish Cup and Qualifying Cup. In November 1897, they joined the Scottish Football League.
Scottish Cup Finals
The club has reached the Scottish Cup final only two times. Their first final was in 1911 against Celtic. The game ended in a draw. In the replay, 45,000 fans watched Hamilton Academical lose 2–0. Their next big chance was the 1935 Scottish Cup final. Bertie Harrison scored a goal for Hamilton. But Rangers won the match 2–1 in front of over 87,000 fans.
Challenges and New Stadium
In the 1970s, Hamilton left the league for a short time because of money problems. In 1994, the club sold its home ground, Douglas Park, to a supermarket. For seven years, they played at other stadiums in Coatbridge and Glasgow. During this time, the club faced more money troubles. Players went on strike because they were not paid. This led to Hamilton losing 15 points in the 1999–2000 season. They were then moved down to the Third Division. The club moved into its New Douglas Park stadium in 2001.
Return to the Top League
In 2008, after 20 years, Accies were promoted to the top division of Scottish football, the Scottish Premier League. In the 2009–10 season, they beat Kilmarnock 3–0. This win meant they would stay in Scotland's top league for a third season.
The Accies' time in the SPL ended in the 2010–11 season. They were moved down after losing 1–0 to St Johnstone. Even though they were relegated, Hamilton was known for focusing on young players. Two of these players, James McCarthy and James McArthur, later played for Wigan Athletic in the Premier League. They also played for their national teams.
Back in the Premiership
After a tough 2013–14 Scottish Championship season, Accies finished second. They won 10–2 against Morton on the last day. They missed out on automatic promotion to Dundee. However, they went on to win their play-off against Falkirk 2–1. This meant they would play against Hibernian for a spot in the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership.
Hamilton lost the first game 2–0 at New Douglas Park. But they scored two goals away at Easter Road, including one in injury time. This forced the game into extra time and then penalty kicks. Hamilton scored all their penalties and were promoted back to the top league. Their manager, Alex Neil, left the club in January 2015 to join Norwich.
Hamilton was in another play-off at the end of the 2016–17 season. This time, they were already in the Premiership. They played against Dundee United from the Championship. Hamilton won 1–0 overall, with Greg Docherty, a player from Hamilton's youth team, scoring the only goal.
A Difficult Time
In October 2017, Hamilton Academical faced a serious problem. Someone tricked the club into sending a large amount of money from their accounts. The club lost nearly £1 million. This incident stopped a project to improve their youth academy.
In February 2018, Hamilton announced they would take legal action against their bank. They believed the bank's security should have stopped the money from being transferred. The bank disagreed but said they were working with the club and police. The club's chief executive later said the bank's system did not allow customers to set daily limits for transfers.
Recent Seasons
After seven years in the Scottish Premiership, Hamilton was moved down to the Scottish Championship in the 2020–21 season. They finished 12th in the Premiership.
When they returned to the Scottish Championship, Hamilton continued to struggle. They were fighting to avoid being moved down again. However, they managed to stay in the league with two games left. They won 1–0 against Greenock Morton. Accies finished 6th in their first season back in the Championship.
The 2022–23 season was also tough for Hamilton. They were again in a fight to avoid relegation. They avoided being automatically moved down and entered the relegation play-offs. They won the 2023 Scottish Challenge Cup final, with Reghan Tumilty scoring the winning goal. However, they lost the Championship play-off final on penalties to Airdrieonians. This meant the club was moved down to Scottish League One. Hamilton had been relegated twice in three seasons, falling from the Premiership to League One. Hamilton was promoted back to the Scottish Championship after beating Inverness Caledonian Thistle 5–3 in the play-off final.
Stadium
The club played their games at New Douglas Park until 2025. This stadium opened in 2001. The playing field is an artificial surface. The stadium can hold 6,018 people. It has two permanent stands and one temporary stand.
New Douglas Park replaced Douglas Park, which was Hamilton's home from 1888 to 1994. Douglas Park opened on May 30, 1888, with a match against Glasgow University. It was sold to a supermarket in 1994. The money from the sale helped build the new stadium, which is next to the old site.
Between 1994 and 2001, the club did not have its own home. They shared stadiums at Cliftonhill and Firhill Stadium.
From 2022 to 2025, the club shared New Douglas Park with Clyde. Clyde had to leave their previous stadium, Broadwood Stadium.
In May 2025, it was announced that Hamilton would play their home games at Broadwood Stadium in Cumbernauld. This was due to a disagreement with the owner of New Douglas Park.
Club Honours
Here are some of the awards and achievements Hamilton Academical has won:
- Scottish First Division
- Winners: 1985–86, 1987–88, 2007–08
- Runners-up: 2013–14 (second tier)
- Scottish Second Division
- Winners: 1903–04
- Runners-up: 1952–53 (second tier), 1964–65 (second tier), 1996–97 (third tier), 2003–04 (third tier), 2023–24 (third tier)
- Scottish Third Division
- Winners: 2000–01
- Scottish Cup
- Runners-up: 1910–11, 1934–35
- Scottish Challenge Cup
- Winners: 1991–92, 1992–93, 2022–23
- Runners-up: 2005–06, 2011–12
Club Records
Match Records
- Biggest victory: 10–2 against Cowdenbeath (October 1932) and 10–2 against Morton (May 2014).
Transfer Records
- Biggest player purchase: Tomáš Černý from Sigma Olomouc (July 2009; £180,000).
- Biggest player sale: James McCarthy to Wigan Athletic (July 2009; £1,200,000).
Players
Current Squad
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Players on Loan
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Player of the Year Awards
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2004 |  Brian McPhee |
| 2009 |  Tomáš Černý |
| 2013 | Ziggy Gordon |
| 2017 | Darian MacKinnon |
Team Captains
This is a list of the official captains for the Hamilton Academical first team.
| Name | Nation | Years | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Neil | Scotland |
2005–2014 | Became player-manager | |
| Martin Canning | Scotland |
2014–2015 | Became player-manager | |
| Michael McGovern |  Northern Ireland |
2015–2016 | Signed for Norwich City | |
| Michael Devlin | Scotland |
2016–2018 | Signed for Aberdeen | |
| Dougie Imrie | Scotland |
2018–2019 | Retired in 2019 | |
| Darian MacKinnon | Scotland |
2019–2020 | Contract ended | |
| Brian Easton | Scotland |
2020–2023 | Signed for East Fife | |
| Scott Martin | Scotland |
2023–2025 | Signed for Partick Thistle | |
| Sean McGinty |  Republic of Ireland |
2025 | Contract ended | |
| Scott Robinson | Scotland |
2025– |
Coaching Staff
| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach | John Rankin |
| Assistant head coach | Darian MacKinnon |
| Goalkeeping coach | Ryan Marshall |
| First team coach/U18 coach | Shaun Fagan |
| Academy director | Gordon Young |
| Physiotherapist | Gavin Lee |
| Sports scientist | Euan Taylor |
| Kit manager | Danny Cunning |
Managers
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See also
In Spanish: Hamilton Academical Football Club para niños
