About Us

Formation and early years

Johnstone Burgh FC was formed in 1956 in response to a journalist’s suggestion in the “Johnstone & Linwood Gazette” to form a new football club to replace the former Scottish league side, Johnstone F.C. This period marked the beginning of the club’s journey in the football scene and after three and a half years of hard work, we played our first match on 28th July 1956, beating a Renfrewshire Select 4-2.

Our first trophy came in our third season, as we were crowned Renfrewshire Junior Cup champions in 1958/59. The following season, we successfully defended our trophy and also won the Central League, Central League Cup and we shared the Erskine Hospital Cup. In the 1960/61 season we won the Renfrewshire & Dumbartonshire Cup.

The club had a successful season in 1963/64 under the management of Jimmy Blackburn as we won the Pompey Cup, Erskine Hospital Cup and Scottish Junior Cup for the first time. Captained by Bobby Dick, we played out a 1-1 draw against Cambuslang Rangers in front of 49,000 at Hampden Park in the final before beating them 3-0 in the replay.

In the 1964/65 season, we retained the Pompey Cup and won the Central League.

Just four years after our first Scottish Junior Cup win, we’d lift the cup again in the 1967/68 season. A 2-2 draw against Glenrothes meant we’d need another replay, which we won 4-3 in extra time, with Hugh Gilshan netting the winner. This season was Johnstone Burgh’s most successful season as we also won the Central League Championship. This league & cup double means that manager Peter Donald became the first and, so far, only manager to win the league & cup double with The Burgh. We also won back the Erskine Hospital Cup.

We had to wait until 1973/74 before winning another trophy, which came in the form of the Erskine Hospital Cup

Notable Players (early years):

  • Bobby Dick – a local lad who hails from Elderslie, played what was then right half, won a number of medals for the club and is the only player who can boast two Scottish Junior Cup winner’s medals for The Burgh.
  • George Caughey – captained Burgh to the league & cup double in 1967/68.
  • Malcom Manley – youth player with The Burgh in the 60s before sealing a move to English top-tier team Leicester City.
  • Frank McAvennie – Started out with Johnstone Burgh, and played for us in 1979/80. After leaving the club, Frank played for teams such as St Mirren, West Ham United, Celtic and made several appearances for the Scotland national team.
  • Gerry Queen – another player who played with us at youth level in the 60s before making it big. Gerry went on to play for St Mirren and Kilmarnock, before a move down south to play for Crystal Palace and Orient (now known as Leyton Orient)

Later Years (1990s and beyond)

We’d have to wait until the 1990s before we lifted another trophy as we won the league (Central Division Two) and Erskine Hospital Cup in the 1991/92 season.

The turn of the millennium would prove to be eventful. Following our Scottish Junior Cup final in 1968, The Burgh would wait 32 years before reaching the final again, meeting Whitburn Juniors in the final. Having gone 1-0 up early on through Colin Lindsay, we needed to come from behind to draw 2-2, with John McLay grabbing the equaliser. With replays scrapped by now, the game went to extra time and, subsequently, a penalty shootout which we’d lose 4-3 as we tasted defeat in the final for the first time. We won the Central Premier Division and Evening Times Cup Winners Cup in 2001/02.

The following season saw the leagues restructured and we joined the West Region Super League Premier Division. In 2005/06, 2007/08 and 2008/09 we were relegated three times in four seasons and ended up in Central League Division Two. Following this, we became a bit of a yo-yo club as we struggled for stability. The 2009/10 season saw us promoted back to League One immediately, winning the league on goal difference. However, we spent only one season in League One, as we were relegated again in the 2010/11 season. Two seasons later, we were promoted back to League One in 2012/13 but, again, we were there for only one season as an immediate relegation followed in 2013/14, which was followed by an immediate promotion back to League One in 2014/15. We were relegated again two seasons later in 2016/17. In 2017, the club were on the brink of folding as we struggled with finances, committee members and there was even a fundraiser set up to help keep the club afloat.

Ahead of the 2018/19 season, the league system was restructured again and we were placed in West Region League Two. The 2019/20 season was abandoned due to Covid-19 and The Burgh were declared champions on a points per game basis. The following season was also abandoned although, in this case, the season was declared null and void. The 2021/22 season saw us beat Muirkirk Juniors 6-1 on the final day of the season to secure promotion to the newly-restructured WOSFL and into Division One.

In 2023, it was announced that the club had been taken over by a consortium with the aim of building a sustainable community club, which can rise through the football pyramid as quickly and efficiently as possible, into professional football. The intent was backed by the big-name signings of Graham Dorrans and Kyle Lafferty.

We secured another promotion in the 2023/24 season, taking us to the WOSFL Premier Division. We picked up 18 points in the space of 14 days under new manager Murdo MacKinnon, sealing promotion with a 4-2 victory away at Maybole.

For the first time in 25 years, Burgh reached the Scottish Junior Cup Final in the 2024/25 season, playing Tranent at Broadwood. And for the first time in 57 years, we lifted the cup. Having gone behind, Ciaran Diver equalised to send the match to penalties after a 1-1 draw, before Fraser Mullen, Diver, Ross Davidson and Kyle Lafferty all scored their penalties, and Luke Scullion producing a shootout save to win 4-2 on spot kicks.

Notable Players (90s onwards):

  • Tommy Turner – former Morton, St Johnstone and St Mirren midfielder who finished his career with Johnstone Burgh in the 00s.
  • Andy Murdoch – started his youth career with Burgh before playing for Partick Thistle
  • Graham Dorrans – spent much of his career playing in England’s top flight with West Bromwich Albion and Norwich City before a spell at Rangers. Also made 12 appearances for the Scotland national team.
  • Kyle Lafferty – won multiple honours with Rangers, including a league & Scottish Cup double and two league & League Cup doubles, and the Scottish Championship with Kilmarnock. The Northern-Irishman has won 89 caps for his country.

In December 2025, it was announced that Burgh would be receiving further investment, coming from US-based healthcare entrepreneurs Frank Villares and Debra Tucker. This investment will be used to will be used to enhance and further develop the stadium and its facilities, ensuring Keanie Park continues to evolve in line with the club’s ambitions. Alongside this, Johnstone Burgh continues to operate a thriving community football programme, with over 300 local children currently involved. The club remains committed to further developing its academy and community club infrastructure, coaching standards and facilities to ensure young players have access to high quality, year round development.

As the club continues to grow, so do our attendances. Having recently only had an average attendance of around 100, if that, the club’s average attendance is now around 400-500, with the club seeing attendances of over 3,000 at Keanie Park for back to back Scottish Junior Cup semi finals in 2023/24 (vs Arthurlie) and 2024/25 (vs Largs Thistle).