On Friday 10th April Kilmarnock Football Club held their 140th Anniversary Dinner in the Park Hotel.

The evening was a great success and we would like to thank everyone who attended and helped make the evening a memorable one including our heroes from the past Andy King, Jackie McInally, Tommy McLean, Davie Sneddon, Gus McPherson, Ray Montgomerie, Ross Mathie, Alan Robertson, Stuart McLean and many more.

Kilmarnock F.C. was formed 140 years ago by a group of young men, some of whom were former pupils of Kilmarnock Academy and members of the St. Andrews Church, who played cricket in the summer, rugby in the winter, and any other kind of sport that took their fancy. They were real sporting enthusiasts, and when the newer game of association football began to gain popularity in the country, they started to play it as well, or rather a corrupted version of it, along with rugby in the winter months.

After a year or two, some of these young men decided to stick solely with rugby rules, whilst a number remained loyal to cricket as well as football, and others decided football was the sole favourite. In 1872, those who had been "won over" by football constituted rules, and the following year, after a lengthy period of persuasion from Queen's Park F.C., Kilmarnock F.C. agreed to join the Scottish Football Association as soon as it was formed, and donated the sum of £3 towards funds which eventually paid for the Scottish Cup to be made.

Indeed, Kilmarnock had the honour of being involved in the first Scottish F.A. Cup game to be played on October 18th, 1873 (their game kicked off earlier than the other one played on the same day). The fact they lost 2-0 to Renton at Queen's Park's Crosshill ground (the very first Hampden Park) was of no great importance. It was the first competitive game played by the club, and they played it with only 10 players!

Kilmarnock F.C. is the second oldest club still in existence in top class football in Scotland, with only amateur status Queen's Park, formed two years earlier in 1867, older than it. Thus, Kilmarnock F.C. is the oldest professional club in Scotland, although they did not turn professional until 1894. Since then, the club has gone on to become a great ambassador for Ayrshire and Scotland in the world's greatest game.