Berwick Rangers

Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, on the border with Scotland. Founded in 1884, they currently play in the Lowland Football League, the fifth tier of Scottish football, and were the only club from outside Scotland in the Scottish Professional Football League until their relegation in 2019 to the Lowland League. The club play at Shielfield Park, which has a capacity of just over 4,000.

Success at Berwick’s Shielfield Park is no stranger to Ayr United and on their first ever visit to Shielfield Park United recorded a 9-3 win on 19th January 1929 in a Scottish Cup 1st Round encounter.

Although on another visit there on 13th February 1954 in the 2nd round of the Scottish Cup brought a 5-1 defeat for the honest men, an ignominious defeat from a Berwick side who were in ‘C’ Division at the time.

Berwick Rangers’ entry into to the league for season 1955/56 brought about a 4-1 home win for Ayr on 14th September 1955 followed by Ayr’s first league victory at Shielfield Park, a 4-3 win in ‘B’ division on 28th September 1955 completing the double over the Borders’ club. Ayr also revenged their previous seasons’ Scottish Cup defeat by winning 5-2 in the Scottish Cup 5th Round on 4th February 1956 at Ayr. Berwick couldn’t get the hang of winning in league games and on 19th October 1957 Ayr recorded a 6-0 win in the newly created 2nd division and by 4-0 the following season. 13th September 1958 produced a good 4-0 win in a second division match. United had a solid 2-0 win at home on 3rd January 1959.

United were again on the high scoring mark on the wee Rangers’ next visit to Somerset winning 5-1 on 4th November 1961 although Berwick did manage a 4-2 wn at home on 3rd March 1962.

Two draws and a home win for Ayr was the fair for season 1962/62 but the following season goals were the order of the day, Ayr winning 5-1 at home on 21st August 1963 but Berwick gaining revenge with a 6-1 victory at Berwick on 28th December 1963. Results in Second Division clashes for the rest of the decade were unremarkable and the 1970’s league staus kept the clubs part.

After league reconstruction the clubs met in First Division matches which Ayr won at home 3-2 on 19h September 1979 and 4-2 at Berwick on 24th November 1979. Ayr won away the following season by 2-1 on 6th September 1980, drawing the second away match 1-1 on 14h March 1981. A 4-1 home win was secured on 1st November 1980.

The clubs didn’t meet again until 6th September 1986 in a Second Division match at Ayr which Ayr won 4-2. A 2-0 away win was recorded on 3rd January 1987. Ayr also won 2-0 at home on 18th April 1988. In Ayr’s championship wining season of 1987/88 they won twice at Berwick on 22nd August 1987 and 13th February 1988 and made it three wins by winning 2-0 at home on 14th November 1987.

After being relegated at the end of season 1995/96 under manager Simon Stainrod, Ayr went through the turmoil of a very poor season in Division 2. Ayr lost heavily at home by 4-1 on 2nd September 1995 and drew away 2-2 on 16th January 1996. Rooted to second bottom of the league, Stainrod was sacked and replaced by Gordon Dalziel whose main task was to steady the ship and avoid relegation, which he did. A superb 5-0 win at home on 2nd March 1996 eased Ayr’s relegation worries.

Season 1996/97 promised much more. A strong pool of experienced pros and young players had the guile and goalscoring abilities were evident early on with a 6-0 win at Ayr on 31st August 1996 and by 2-0 on 1st March 1997. By 13th May 1997 Ayr were at Berwick’s Shielfield Park for the last game of the season. A simple victory here would bring the championship.

The game started well but Berwick refused to be overun and a few near scares were all that Ayr needed to rise to a higher gear.

Near the end of this nervy first half, two goals in a minute from Robert Scott in 44 minutes and Alain Horace just on half time gave Ayr an advantage they were never going to concede and when the final whistle went, a good natured crowd acclaimed their heroes as they raised the trophy. Over 1200 Ayr fans made the trip to see the first Scottish League divisional title ever to be won on English soil.

Season 2004/05 saw Ayr back in Dvision Two and beating Berwick at 2-1 at home on 10th August 2004, away on 16th October 2004, but losing at Ayr on 26th February 2005 in Berwick’s relegation year. The clubs met at Ayr in a CIS Cup match on 9th August with Ayr winning 2-0.

On 25th August 2007 the two clubs me early in the season or a second division match at Somerset Park. Goals from Ryan Stevenson (23), Michael Moore (39 and 62) and Alex Williams (45) sealed a clinical 4-0 win. Ayr won 4-0 at Ayr again on 2nd January 2008, managing only a 1-1 draw away on 3rd November 2007. Ayr did also win the away match on 1st March 2008 by 1-0.

There were no league confrontations in season 2008/09 but United did win the CIS cup match by 2-1 on 6th August 2008.

Berwick Rangers were relegated from League 2 to the Lowland League in season 2018/19, however the clund met in the Scottish League Cup section on 13th July 2019 with the Honest men pulling off a convincing 7-0 win.