Stirlingshire generally finished below mid-table, including a final day victory against Arbroath in the 1996–97 season to avoid finishing last. In 2000–01, the club reached the semi-final of a national cup competition for the first time in its history, losing 2–1 to Livingston for a place in the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup. At the start of the 21st century the club struggled financially, paying players £10-a-week and manager Dennis Newall became the first unpaid manager at senior level in Scottish football. As a result, the club ranked last in the Scottish Football League for five consecutive seasons from 2002–03 to 2006–07, losing 24 consecutive league games in the 2003–04 season, recording only 8 points from two wins and two draws in 36 games. From the 2005–06 season, it was determined if a club finished bottom of the Third Division twice in successive years, it would face the risk of being reduced to associate member status, meaning the loss of voting rights. In East Stirlingshire's case, a league vote was held and concluded in favour of the club retaining full member status with the condition that it did not finish last the following season in 2008. The club won its final game of the season to move off the bottom of the table in a 3–1 win against Montrose, which was also the last game at Firs Park. The following season, retaining full member status, the club moved to Ochilview Park in a ground-share agreement with neighbours Stenhousemuir. Under manager Jim McInally, the club finished third in successive years to qualify for the promotion play-offs to the Second Division. However, a second-bottom place finish in the 2010–11 season saw McInally sacked and replaced by John Coughlin. The club would subsequently post another two bottom-place finishes in the seasons to follow, which could have again put them in danger of reduction to associate member status, but due to ongoing negotiations about league restructuring for the 2013–14 season, the league opted not to enforce the rule. The negotiations ultimately saw the formation of a new governing body, the Scottish Professional Football League, following the merger of the Scottish Football League and Scottish Premier League. East Stirlingshire joined the Scottish League Two, the successor to the old Third Division. In October 2015, on loan Raith Rovers forward Jonny Court scored the SPFL's 5000th goal (across all four divisions, but not including play-offs),