Fantastic news coming out of Hampden Park today, as we have received confirmation that Troon Football Club has been recommended for their Scottish FA Club License at this summer’s Scottish Football Association Annual General Meeting.
This is the culmination of a lot of hard work at the club from a number of people, mainly Club Chairman Jim Kirkwood and Club Secretary Richard Henderson. It is a recognition of an investment in facilities, a strong organisation and rising standards across the board, and we are absolutely delighted to receive this recognition.
WHAT IS A SCOTTISH FA CLUB LICENSE?
The Scottish FA definition is as follows:
The Club Licensing system encompasses a National and European regulatory system. Licensing sets out standards and procedures by which clubs will be assessed as a basis for continuous improvement of many aspects of football. It is a modern form of regulation.
Clubs in Scotland can achieve different levels of Club License, depending on their facilities and standards. Clubs are ranked as either:
- Platinum (Celtic, for example)
- Gold (eg. Hibernian, St. Mirren)
- Silver (eg. Falkirk, Kilmarnock)
- Bronze (eg. Livingston, Ayr United)
- Entry level (eg. Hamilton, Dumbarton).
Troon have been recommended for the award of an entry level licence.
The award of a Scottish FA Club License will mean several positives for Troon:
PROMOTION
Timescale wise, the first benefit of being awarded an SFA License is that we will be eligible for promotion to tier 5 in the Scottish Football Pyramid, which will be the Lowland League (West) at the end of this season, should we finish in the appropriate position in the Premier Division.
With League Reconstruction happening in the summer, an SFA License was a minimum requirement for progression and we are delighted to have achieved this standard.
The finer details of League Reconstruction is covered in a separate article on our website, which you can read below:
SCOTTISH CUP ENTRY
The award of our Scottish FA Club License not only permits progress within the Scottish Football Pyramid, but it also means Troon Football Club now have automatic entry into the preliminary rounds of the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup from season 2026-27 onwards.
We have all enjoyed following the exploits of Darvel against Aberdeen and Auchinleck Talbot against Celtic in recent years, and we can finally look forward to entering the competition ourselves for the first ever time in our club’s 80 year history.
Our first ever match in the “senior” Scottish Cup will be a proud moment indeed!
Club Secretary Richard Henderson was understandably delighted at the news.
It’s fantastic news, massive for the progression of the club and gives us all a chance to dream of Scottish Cup runs in the near future.
It was a lot of hard work, but we as a club owe a huge debt of gratitude to our Chairman Jim Kirkwood for his investment and his drive to take the club to another level since he first got involved with the club in 2010. The club and Portland Park are unrecognisable since then, and a lot of that often goes unnoticed.
We have to thank Scottish FA Licensing Officer Stuart Brown for his assistance throughout this process. No matter how many questions I asked, he was always helpful & willing to offer guidance, which was invaluable.
I realise just how irritating I must have been in the last 12 months to a number of people at the club as I have been chasing up paperwork, nagging people to go on courses & needing signatures on forms, so a huge thank you to everyone for their patience. However, it has been worth it to see the club being able to progress.
The players & our management team have done incredibly well this season to have us flying high in the league table, so I’m delighted the club has done our part to put us in the best possible position to progress. We can now look forward to the rest of the season & hopefully enjoy the spoils in the summer.
Exciting times to be a Troon Football Club supporter!