The only two England-based football clubs to play in Scotland

There is only two England-based football clubs to play in Scotland, with many fans still curious as to why this is the case.

Those teams are Berwick Rangers and Tweedmouth Rangers, who are two and a half miles south of the Scottish border, but refrain from playing within the English football league pyramid.

Berwick were founded in 1881, and currently play in the Lowland League, the fifth tier of Scottish football, and were the only club from outside Scotland in the Scottish Professional Football League until their relegation in 2019.

Tweedmouth Rangers are the second club, forming in 2010, but also groundshare with Berwick, playing their football in the East of Scotland Football League.

Berwick have previously been members of the Northumberland Soccer Association, including games against Newcastle, Alnwick and Seahouses.

The club won the Northumberland Minor Cup and in 1897 the North Northumberland League. It was in 1898 that a switch was made to the Scottish Border League, Berwick cruised to the league championship in their first season heavily beating Selkirk, Hawick and Peebles Rovers.

They returned to English football a year later before rejoining Scottish football in 1905 and there they have remained ever since. Berwick dominated the East of Scotland League winning the championship numerous times and also got as high as Scottish Division One.

The club, who are often referred to as “English bastards” by whoever they come up against, play at Shielfield Park within Berwick-upon-Tweed and is closer to the Scottish capital Edinburgh than to Newcastle.

They have a ground capacity of just over 4,000, though before the pandemic averaged between 400 and 500 fans.

The town had previously been part of Scotland and changed hands many times until finally taken by England in 1482.

Berwick Rangers have played in the Scottish football league system since 1905, despite low attendances and frequent financial problems.

“The English setup just wouldn’t be economical,” says Dennis McCleary, who has worked as club secretary for over 50 years. “For instance, imagine travelling to Exeter.”

It would be a 14 hour round-trip between the two locations, of course, it would be logical to get on a plane, but clubs at Berwick’s level haven’t got money like that to splash on trips like that.

“The mix of Scots, English and ‘Berwickers’ is what makes us unique,” says McCleary, who believes the diversity of the fans is the club’s distinguishing feature. “[There are] lots of divided loyalties.”

“The referendum was a hot topic in Berwick, just like it was throughout Scotland,” says Tom Maxwell, a lifelong Berwick and England supporter and chronicled their history in Lone Rangers: An English Club’s Century in Scottish Football.

“Although Berwick isn’t in Scotland, its proximity to the border and the fact that a good number of its residents identify themselves as Scottish means that an independent Scotland would have repercussions for the town.

“Football supporters don’t need much of an excuse to have a pop at one another, and I daresay both Berwick fans and opposition supporters will have an opinion on the notion of Scottish independence and some will make their feelings known on the terraces. I was at Celtic Park to watch Wayne Rooney score twice and help beat Scotland 3-1 in a friendly. This was shortly after the referendum and I remember some England fans singing: “fuck off Scotland, we all voted ‘yes’.”

Check out this video below, created by the Footy Adventures YouTube account, explaining all about it and it includes a visit to the ground too…

A story ran in 2011 about how the English club were banned from flying St George’s cross at away games.

They proudly display both the St Andrew’s cross and the St George’s cross on their scarves and merchandise.

But then the club’s supporters were told that they can’t show the St George’s cross when attending away games – because it incites sectarian tension.

The decision, initially put forward by Stranraer, has naturally angered fans, with one calling it a ‘ludicous over-reaction’.

Tom Maxwell said: ‘It seems particularly ridiculous when no Scottish fans get told to take down the saltire when they come to Berwick.’ 

Because Berwick are so unique, it does often see many groundhoppers make the long trip, sometimes via the handy train route of London to Edinburgh.

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