Early years The first Montrose Football Club was formed on 25 February 1871 after a meeting of local young men seeking to organise the practice of the 'national game of football' on the Links of Montrose. The variety of football played at the time did not resemble the
modern game and was more akin to
rugby. Friendly matches amongst club members and
townsfolk,
Montrose Academical,
Arbroath and
Aberdeen University were played over the next few years before the club was dissolved. On 8 September 1877, a new football club was formed at a meeting at
Montrose Academy. During the new club's annual meeting on 13 October 1879 at the
Town's Buildings, the committee unanimously resolved to change the rules of the club to those of
General Association, with an association rules match amongst club members played later that week on 18 October 1879. The club played their first external
association rules match against
Arbroath Wanderers on 8 November 1879. Given the fact that the Montrose side were unfamiliar with new rules of the game, the team unsurprisingly lost 4–0. They are the 18th oldest association football team in
Scotland still in existence. Montrose first played on the Links before eventually moving to the first Links Park, which was situated to the east of Dorward House. The original Links Park was not considered to be suitable for football and the club moved to the present-day
Links Park in 1887 on land rented from the '
Auld Kirk'. Montrose made their
Scottish Cup debut in
1887 with a 5–7 win away to Broughty. By 1890, Montrose had one of the stronger teams in the Scottish game. In the intervening years since the club's formation, they had beaten
Aberdeen and played several teams from the West of Scotland such as
Dumbarton,
Third Lanark Volunteers and
Glasgow Thistle. In 1891,
Alex 'Sandy' Keillor became the first Montrose player to receive a
Scotland cap in a call-up for their win against
Wales in
Wrexham. Keillor received one more cap during his time at Montrose, scoring the opening goal in a 3–2 victory over
Ireland in
Belfast during the
1891–92 British Home Championship. Fellow 'Gable Endie'
George Bowman was also capped in that match. To this day, Bowman and Keillor remain the only players to be selected for Scotland whilst playing for Montrose. George Bowman also captained Montrose to their first piece of silverware, the
Forfarshire Cup, with a 5–3 win over
Dundee East End in the 1892 final at
West Craigie Park. In 1921, Montrose won the
Scottish Qualifying Cup after defeating
Nithsdale Wanderers 2–1 in the second replay of the final at
Ibrox. They joined the
Scottish Football League in 1923, along with near-neighbours
Brechin City, in the newly founded
Third Division. In
1923–24 they achieved a creditable fourth-placed finish. However, the
following season Montrose finished at the bottom of the table, and despite signs of a recovery in
1925–26, lost their league place when the Third Division was scrapped owing to the financial difficulties experienced by many of the member clubs. Montrose are one of only two teams from the sixteen teams in the 1925–26 Third Division who are still competing today in the
SPFL. The club was re-admitted to the Second Division in 1929–30. In the 1930s, the first few league seasons after re-admission were difficult, with the club regularly finishing in the bottom four of the table. Montrose did however reach the quarter-finals of the
1929–30 Scottish Cup, drawn away to eventual winners
Rangers. Perhaps the best result of that difficult decade came in the
1938–39 Scottish Cup, when in the first round, Montrose sensationally knocked out holders
East Fife by a 2–1 scoreline at
Bayview Park.
Post-war period In the immediate
postwar period, Montrose spent time playing in the newly formed Division C, consisting of provincial clubs and some first division reserve sides. In the
1947–48 Scottish Cup Montrose played
Celtic at
Celtic Park in the quarter-finals, losing 4–0. With the re-formation of the Second Division in
1955–56, the club once again joined that league.
Halcyon days The club's halcyon period was the mid-1970s when, under player-manager
Alex Stuart, Montrose reached third place in the old
First Division, and were a feared and respected cup side, notably reaching the semi-final of the
1975–76 Scottish League Cup and the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup in
1972–73 and
1975–76 - to this day their best performances in both respective cups. In the second round of
1974–75 Scottish Cup, Montrose recorded their largest victory in modern times when they beat
Vale of Leithen 12–0. Although this was an "away" fixture, due to a fire at their opposition's ground this tie was played at Links Park. In the
1975–76 Scottish Cup quarter-final, Montrose were only 90 seconds away from a famous victory in front of over 8,000 spectators at Links Park against
Hearts, until an
injury time equaliser from
Graham Shaw sent the match to a replay. If Montrose had beaten Hearts, they would have potentially earned a match-up against
Lokomotive Leipzig in the
1976–77 European Cup Winners' Cup as probable Scottish Cup runners-up. Montrose won their first championship under the guidance of Iain Stewart in
1984–85, as they triumphed in the old
Second Division. Relegation followed in
1987 as the part-time club found themselves outgunned in a league largely consisting of full-time teams.
The 1990s Under co-managers
Doug Rougvie and
Chic McLelland, Montrose won promotion to Division One in
1991, after finishing as runners-up to
Stirling Albion, but were relegated after one
further season in the higher league. Montrose have spent the vast majority of their recent history in the relative obscurity of the
Third Division. At the end of the
1994–95 season, they were promoted to the
Second Division after finishing second behind champions
Forfar Athletic. However, the team's first attempt at this higher level was not successful, as they finished bottom of the table in
1995–96.
21st century In the second round of the
2003–04 League Cup, Montrose were drawn away to SPL side
Hibernian where they were crushed 9–0. Following a disappointing beginning to
2005–06 season, manager
Henry Hall left the club by mutual consent, shortly followed by assistant
Ian Gilzean. Former Montrose player
Eddie Wolecki was appointed new manager of the team on 12 December 2005. In July 2006 Aberdeen businessman Kenny Black invested money in the club and was offered a place on the board which he accepted.
David Robertson (ex
Aberdeen,
Rangers and
Leeds United player) became co-manager with Wolecki, but the latter parted company with the club in September 2006. Following a very poor run of results David Robertson left the club in early 2007, replaced in time by ex-
St Johnstone stalwart Jim Weir, assisted by experienced defender
Kevin McGowne. Links Park underwent a transformation ahead of the
2007–08 campaign. A new
artificial pitch was laid, so the game on 21 April 2007 was the last game on grass for the foreseeable future. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main stand. New state of the art catering facilities and changing rooms were also installed. The fortunes of the club on the pitch also improved with several big name signings and a great start to the season propelled Montrose into the top four for the majority of the season. Montrose came in third in the league and were pitted against
Stranraer in the
Second Division playoffs. A 1–1 draw in the first leg at Links Park, was followed by a second leg in which Montrose went down 3–0. They were thus confined to the Third Division for yet another season. The
2008–09 pre-season was very quiet and few new signings were made; rumblings of discontent and rumours of behind the scenes fighting were proved to be true as boss
Jim Weir was sacked by the Board after a 2–1 defeat to
Cowdenbeath with six months still to run on his contract. U17's boss Steve Adam took the reins before ex-
Dundee United and
Celtic defender
David Hannah became caretaker boss. Hannah left the club in mid-December after a poor defeat to Cowdenbeath. During this game, fans made their feelings felt after Hannah threatened a fan and criticised the away support from the previous week after the dreadful 5–0 defeat away at
East Stirlingshire. Director of Football Kenny Black took the reins over the Christmas period until Montrose appointed
Steven Tweed as player-manager. During January many of the players from Jim Weir's reign were shipped out and a number of new loanees appeared. Things began to gel and Montrose won six out of their last nine games with a smaller, much younger squad who narrowly missed out on the playoffs. The
2009–10 season began terribly for the Montrose faithful, with the team failing to win any Division Three matches at all up to 16 January. However, the club reached the
2009–10 Scottish Cup fifth round, where they were defeated by Hibernian at
Easter Road. On 10 April, Brian Winton stepped down as chairman. The club finished bottom of the Third Division for the first time in eleven years.
2011 saw Steven Tweed finally step down due to work commitments with the
RBS.
Ray Farningham &
Stuart Garden were given the job of leading the team till the end of the season however the board moved quickly to secure the pair on two year contracts. In the final game of the season popular player
Hugh Davidson chose to retire from the game. During the
2012–13 season, Montrose faced
Rangers four times in the league due to the latter's financial troubles and subsequent placement into the Scottish Third Division. Montrose managed to draw both home and away matches against the Glasgow team but lost the other two encounters. The home games attracted crowds of over 4,500 at Links Park. Notably, Montrose's 4–2 home defeat against Rangers was televised on
ESPN, marking the first live televised match for Montrose. At the end of the
2014–15 season, Montrose came last in League Two, and, due to the reform of the
Scottish football league system, they had to play against
Highland Football League champions
Brora Rangers (who were the winner in the semi-final) in the
League Two play-off. They maintained their status in the SPFL after a 3–2 aggregate win, with two goals in the second half of the home leg by
Marvin Andrews and
Gary Wood saved the club from dropping into
non-league football.
Stewart Petrie era Stewart Petrie was appointed manager in December 2016 after the sacking of
Paul Hegarty a month earlier due to a run of poor performances, which led to the club sitting bottom of League Two. The appointment of Petrie vastly improved the fortunes of the team, achieving a 4th-place finish at the end of season and qualification for the
League One playoffs for the first time in nine years. Montrose ended up losing 4–1 on aggregate to
Peterhead in the playoff semi-final. The
2017–18 season was more notable for altogether happier reasons. Montrose were promoted as
League Two champions finishing one point ahead of Peterhead, who had pushed them all the way to the last game. This saw Montrose end 22 consecutive seasons in Scotland's fourth tier. After promotion, Petrie continued to steer the club in a favourable direction in
League One, achieving top four finishes and
Championship playoff spots for four consecutive seasons. Montrose also reached the round of 16 of the
2020–21 Scottish Cup, their best performance in over a decade, losing to
Kilmarnock 3–1 at
Rugby Park in the fourth round. Their third-place finish in the
2021–22 League One season was the highest for the club in the
Scottish football league system since their 12th-place finish in the
1985–86 old First Division. During the
2023–24 season, Montrose had three matches televised live on
BBC Alba, including a 3–2 win over
Queen of the South at
Palmerston Park. == Rivalries ==