In August 1889, Ardrossan Ensign changed its name to Ardrossan Football Club. The change and the first game under the new name were reported in the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Heralds of 16 and 30 August 1889.
ARDROSSAN ENSIGN CHANGES NAME TO ARDROSSAN FOOTBALL CLUB
With regard to the Ardrossan Ensign, a change of name, I learn, has just been agreed upon by the members which will in future be known as the Ardrossan Football Club. Recently, a general meeting of the members was held at which the following office bearers were appointed: Honorary President - Dr MacDonald, President - Mr James A Crawford, Vice President - Mr Thomas Rixon, Captain - Mr D Kinnear, Honorary Secretary - Mr John Hogarth, Match Secretary and Treasurer - Mr John Comrie. The field is expected to be ready this week for practice and intending members should now come forward. The opening match for the ensuing season takes place at Seafield Park on Saturday 24 August when the local 'jags' will have their guests the Clyde Strollers.
ARDROSSAN 0 - CLYDE STROLLERS 0
The football season was inaugurated (at Seafield Park), Ardrossan last Saturday (24 August 1889) when the local team played their opening game with the Clyde Strollers. The teams were Ardrossan: goal - Bain; backs - Raeburn and Gibson; half-backs - Nicol, Allan and Graham; forwards - Greig, Sinclair, Kinnear, Breckenridge and Williamson. Strollers: goal - McBryde; backs - Jamieson and Leslie; half-backs - Russell, Paul and Drummond; forwards - McGiven, Brookes, Hill, Neaves and Gardner. Kinnear kicked off for Ardrossan and the Strollers, with a strong wind at their back, quickly besieged the home fortress. Ardrossan, however, played a good defence and although mainly confined to their own ground in the first half, they succeeded in keeping their goal intact. The Strollers were too erratic when shooting although several of their attacks came close enough which were well saved by the home custodian. The visitors wrought hard to score but half-time was announced with no goals. A change of ends now gave Ardrossan the full benefit of the breeze and, like their opponents in the first half, they were soon at the leeward goal. Time wore on and, with no goals for either side, the teams were pretty well matched. In this part of the game, the Strollers made a better show than the home team when playing against the wind as on different occasions Bain had to save his charge. Ardrossan, however, had still the best of the half but they too were erratic in their shooting and the game ended in a draw - no goals.
Ardrossan Football Club played its home games at Seafield Park thought to be in the vicinity shown below.
Ardrossan Football Club's last reported game was on 7 April 1890 and was mentioned in the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald of 11 April 1890.
ARDROSSAN 2 - PARTICK THISTLE SWIFTS 2
Taking advantage of the Glasgow spring holiday, a team representing the Partick Thistle Swifts tried conclusions with Ardrossan on Monday evening (7 April 1890) at Seafield Park, Ardrossan. The game, which was the last of the season for Ardrossan, was very well-contested and ended in a draw, two goals each. The past season, as their records shows, has not been very successful for Ardrossan being the worst recorded for several years past. This is mainly due to the loss of players which very frequently proves a strong impediment against the success of any team and more especially those clubs which have few playing members to fall back upon. That Ardrossan has experienced these hard lines is too true and on that account, their record for this season can all the more readily be overlooked. However, let us hope that another year will see an improvement in these respects and that brighter days may be in store for the lads of Seafield Park. Following the custom of many other clubs, I hear that four-a-side football competitions are to be held shortly which will be the first of the kind ever held under the auspices of the Ardrossan club.
On 1 August 1890, in a story about former Ardrossan Ensign players, the Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald reported that 'building operations have been started on the Ensign's field and the club, up to the present, seems defunct'. On 16 August 1889, it reported that Ensign had changed its name to Ardrossan Football Club. The implications are apparently that building operations were started on Seafield Park and that Ardrossan Football Club was defunct. As stated above, Ardrossan's last reported game was on 11 April 1890. In contradiction of the building work reports, Seafield Park was mentioned in reports from January 1891 onwards.