Brief Origins

At the end of the nineteenth century Broxburn was a thriving mining and oil refinery community. Football became a very popular pastime for the miners and at one point there were 4 senior football teams in the area. It was common practice for football agents to come to Broxburn from Edinburgh and the north of England to sign players for teams such as Hearts and Newcastle.

In season 1887-88 two of the senior teams were Broxburn Shamrock and Broxburn Thistle. However, the Shamrock folded during that season due to players leaving the area. The best of the remaining players joined the Thistle and the name was changed to Broxburn F. C. The newly formed team played a cup tie against Hearts during season 1888-89. It was a home match for the Broxburn team at the Sports Park and Broxburn F. C. were leading 2-0 at half time. The match managed finished 2-2 in controversial circumstances and Hearts won the replay by one goal..