Its first competitive match was in the 1886–87 Stirlingshire Cup and was a 9–0 win over the Olympic club of Stirling, who blamed a new goalkeeper who "only stopped the shots that were going past".

[7] Falkirk was far too strong in the final, at East Stirlingshire's Bainsford ground, 2,000 spectators seeing the Bairns stroll home 9–0.

[10] For the final itself, Gairdoch was handicapped by illness forcing it to make a change, and thanks to injuries to P. Rae and Honeyman, finished the match with 9 men; the Shire ended up winning 5–0.

[13] Gairdoch did however have one piece of good news at the end of the season, being elected to the Scottish Midland League in place of the moribund Bridge of Allan.

[18] Gairdoch did enter the Scottish Cup for 1896–97, but scratched to Alloa Athletic, and the formal end for the club was being struck from the local association's register in October.