in its first season. East Stirlingshire dominated the tournament in its early years, winning it for a record four years in a row between 1885 and 1889, including an emphatic 9–0 victory against Falkirk in the 1888 final. Two goals came from Lawrence McLachlan who was an influential goalscorer in the club's early successes; scoring more times than any other East Stirlingshire player with 135 known goals. The latter years of the 19th century was East Stirlingshire's most successful era in the Scottish Cup. In the 1888–89 and 1890–91 tournaments, the club reached the quarter-finals in what was to be the last time for 91 years, losing to Celtic and Hearts respectively. In the 1888–89 tournament, the club recorded its highest win and equalled it in successive rounds with a 10–1 victory against local rivals Stenhousemuir in the first round and an 11–2 win over Vale of Bannock in the second round. It was during this period that four East Stirlingshire players earned international caps for their countries. The first was the Wales national team captain, Humphrey Jones, who earned five caps whilst with the club. Three other players, David Alexander, Archibald Ritchie, and James McKee made appearances for the Scotland national team from 1891 to 1898. Between 1891 and 1899, the club competed in regional leagues, including winning the Midland Football League and Central Football Combination, before being elected to the second tier of Scotland's main national league competition – the Scottish Football League – in 1900–01, ending its first season ranked 7th from ten. In March 1905, a proposal was raised for the club to merge with neighbours Falkirk with an aim to creating a bigger and more financially stable club, which Falkirk accepted in a vote. However, East Stirlingshire's vote was not in favour and the club rejected the proposal. The years following included finishing bottom of the league in 1905–06, recording only one win from 22 games, contrasting with finishing as high as third in table in 1912–13, narrowly missing out on winning the championship by two points. The club remained in Division Two until 1914–15 when it, and the Scottish Cup, were both suspended due to World War I. At the end of World War I, the club was re-elected to the old Division Two which was re-established in the 1921–22 season. The year beforehand saw the club move to Firs Park after leaving their