Eglinton had been preceded by an earlier club, Cronberry FC which was formed in 1880 but folded just two years later.

The football club took its unusual suffix from the Eglinton Iron Company who developed the villages of Lugar and Cronberry in the 1840s to provide housing for workers at the nearby colliery and ironworks.

In 1928 the Eglinton Iron Company, by then owned by William Baird & Co, closed leaving the local economy decimated.

[4] Cronberry Eglinton FC survived until the South Ayrshire Junior Football League collapsed in 1932.

[5][6] Glenbuck-born Bill Shankly began his footballing career as a right-half for Cronberry Eglinton FC in 1931–32 season following of the demise of his home town side, the legendary Glenbuck Cherrypickers in 1930.