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Lugar Boswell Thistle
Full name	Lugar Boswell Thistle Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Jaggy Bunnets
Founded	1878 (as Lugar Boswell)
Ground	Rosebank Park, Lugar
Capacity	2,000
Manager	George Wallace
League	West of Scotland League Third Division
2023–24	West of Scotland League Fourth Division, 3rd of 16 (promoted)
Home colours	Away colours

Lugar Boswell Thistle Football Club are a Scottish football club, based in the village of Lugar, near Cumnock, Ayrshire. Members of the Scottish Junior Football Association, they currently play in the West of Scotland League Third Division. Their home ground since 1882 is Rosebank Park, and they wear maroon home strips and light blue away strips.

History

Formed in 1878 as Lugar Boswell, the club were originally a Senior side playing such currently distinguished names as Rangers^[1] and Heart of Midlothian. The club made nine consecutive Scottish Cup appearances in the 1880s and reached the fifth round of the competition in 1882–83, losing to eventual finalists Vale of Leven.^[2] In March 1883, they recorded a 10–2 victory over Hearts which remains the Edinburgh club's record defeat.^[3]^[4] The following season, forward Sam Thomson was capped twice for Scotland.^[5] As success faded, the club then flitted between various Senior, Junior and even Juvenile leagues up to the Second World War. On reforming after hostilities, the club added the suffix Thistle and settled in Ayrshire Junior football.

The Jaggy Bunnets as they are nicknamed enjoyed a successful period in the 1950s. The club reached the semi-final of the Scottish Junior Cup in 1952, losing to Kilbirnie Ladeside after a replay with one tie attracting a then record attendance of over 30,000 to Rugby Park, Kilmarnock.^[6] In 1956, the club made it all the way to the final, with Thistle losing 4–1 to Petershill at Hampden Park in front of a crowd of 64,702.^[7] The current population of Lugar is 221.^[8]

With the club in danger of folding in 2015, Lugar entered a partnership with the Ayr United Football Academy where the SPFL club provided coaching staff and gave Ayr's pro-youth players game time in an adult footballing environment.^[9] In March 2016, Lugar announced that this arrangement would not continue beyond the end of the 2015–16 season and the club appointed Derek McMurdo as their new manager in the summer of 2016.^[10]^[11]

Notable former players

John Auld - Scottish International, who later played for Sunderland (1890–1895) and Newcastle United (1896–1897).
Sam Thomson - Two caps for Scotland in 1884. Later played for Rangers and was a member of the famous "Invincibles" at Preston North End.
Andy Kerr - Partick Thistle, Kilmarnock and Scotland.^[12]
Jimmy Collins - Scottish Junior international.^[13] Played for Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton.
Bertie Black - Scottish Football League champion with Kilmarnock in 1964–65 and Scottish League international.
Joe Mason - Rangers and Greenock Morton player.

Honours

Scottish Junior Cup

Runners-up: 1955–56

Other Honours

Western League champions: 1953–54, 1955–56
Ayrshire Second Division winners: 1995–96, 1999–2000
Ayrshire (Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald) Cup winners: 1927–28, 1928–29
Ayrshire District (Irvine Times) Cup winners: 1929–30, 1948–49
Ayrshire District League winners: 2002–03

References

^ Rangers History - Lugar Boswell^{[permanent dead link‍]}
^ "Lugar Boswell". londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters Club. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
^ "Sat 31 Mar 1883". London Hearts Supporters Club. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
^ "Scotland — Cup Results 1873/74-1877/78 and 1889/90-1995/96". RSSSF. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
^ "Samuel Thomson Scotland Football Record". London Hearts Supporters Club. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
^ Vallance, Matt (6 March 2015). "Tom McQueen". The Herald. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
^ McGlone, David; McLure, Bill (1987). The Juniors - 100 Years. A Centenary History of Scottish Junior Football. Mainstream. p. 101. ISBN 1-85158-060-3.
^ The community of Lugar Archived 26 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Coalfield Communities Federation
^ Wilson, Mike (26 March 2015). "Historic Junior side Lugar Boswell Thistle could go out of business after this season". Ayrshire Post. Daily Record. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
^ "Ayr United Football Academy Partnership with Lugar Boswell". aufa.org.uk. Ayr United Football Academy. 24 March 2016. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
^ Marzella, Chris (4 August 2016). "New Lugar boss, Derek McMurdo, says his side are well equipped for a title tilt". Cumnock Chronicle. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
^ Do You Remember? Andy Kerr Archived 12 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine killiefc.com profile
^ McGlone, David; McLure, Bill (1987). The Juniors - 100 Years. A Centenary History of Scottish Junior Football. Mainstream. p. 302. ISBN 1-85158-060-3.