Motherwell Trivia Quiz

Answer: Wee Alpha

Motherwell FC were formed in 1886 by the merger of two existing clubs, Glencairn and Alpha, with the name Wee Alpha being their first moniker. The club's current name was adopted shortly afterwards.

Answer: Fir Park

Motherwell began playing home games at Fir Park in 1895. In 1952, a Scottish Cup tie vs Rangers attracted a record attendance of 35,632 to the ground. Following redevelopment in the 1990s the all-seater stadium consisted of four stands named after former players or managers (John Hunter, Tommy McLean, Davie Cooper and Phil O'Donell), and had a capacity of less than 14,000.

Answer: Claret & Amber

Motherwell wore mainly blue shirts in the early years of their existence, but, in 1913, changed to claret and amber. These were the racing colours of Lord Hamilton of Dalzell, on whose land their stadium was built. Shirt designs tend to change from season to season, but the most common Motherwell strip is amber shirts with a claret band, and white shorts.

Answer: The Steelmen

Motherwell has a long history of steel-making, dating back to the late 19th century, so it was natural that the football club would adopt Steelmen as their nickname. Another less interesting nickname for the club is "The Well".

Answer: 1931-32

Motherwell FC were very much the "third force" in Scottish football in the late 1920s/early 1930s, often coming close to breaking the duopoly of the "Old Firm". They managed to do so once, in season 1931-32, finishing five points ahead of Rangers, with Celtic a distant third, 18 points behind.

Answer: Hibernian

In season 1950-51, Motherwell qualified from their League Cup first round group ahead of Hearts, Partick Thistle and Airdrie, and were drawn to face Celtic in a two-legged quarter-final. A magnificent 4-1 victory at Celtic Park meant that, despite a 0-1 reverse in the home leg, it was still good enough for Motherwell to progress to the semi-final, where Ayr United were defeated in a 4-3 thriller.

The final against Hibernian took place at Hampden on 28th October 1950, where second-half goals from Jim Forrest, Archie Kelly and Willie Watters saw Motherwell triumph 3-0.

Answer: Dundee

In season 1951-52, Motherwell began their Scottish Cup with a 4-2 victory away to Forfar Athletic, then proceeded to eliminate St Mirren, Dunfermline, Rangers and Hearts to set up a cup final meeting with Dundee at Hampden on April 19th, 1952. Motherwell dominated the final, winning 4-0 with goals from Jimmy Watson, Willie Redpath, Wilson Humphries and Archie Kelly.

The attendance of 136,274 was a record for Hampden for any match not involving Celtic, Rangers or Scotland.

Answer: Willie Ormond

Ally MacLeod was Scotland manager during the 1978 World Cup finals, and would take charge of Motherwell between 1979 and 1981. Alex McLeish was Motherwell manager between 1994 and 1998, and would go on to have two spells in charge of the national team. Craig Brown led Scotland between 1993 and 2001, and had a short tenure in charge of Motherwell between 2009 and 2010. Willie Ormond led Scotland to the 1974 World Cup finals but was never manager of Motherwell.

Answer: Northern Ireland

Stephen Craigan was a defender from Newtownards in Northern Ireland who had two spells at Motherwell between 1995 and 2012 ( he spent 2000-2003 with Partick Thistle). All of his international caps for his country came during his second spell with Motherwell.

Answer: Steve Kirk

Motherwell began their 1990-91 Scottish Cup campaign with an upset 1-0 victory away to Aberdeen, then proceeded to eliminate Falkirk, Morton and Celtic to reach the final against Dundee United. The match took place at Hampden on 18th May 1991, and was unique in that the two managers in charge were brothers, Tommy Mclean of Motherwell and Jim McLean of Dundee United.

The game itself was a thriller, with goals from Iain Ferguson, Phil O'Donell and Ian Angus giving Motherwell a 3-1 lead only for United to come back and level it, Darren Jackson scoring a last-minute equaliser. In extra-time, Steve Kirk's header put Motherwell back in front, and they held on to lift the trophy for the first time since 1952.