[7] The early years proved somewhat chaotic as the club had little regular competition to play in, and matches would often start with players short, as men failed to turn up on time after their shifts in the local ironworks.

On 5 August 1893 the decision was made to turn professional,[8] and the club was consequently elected to the league, then being the only Lanarkshire side to compete at national level.

[7] The small pitch and muddy conditions at Dalziel Park were deemed unsuitable and Lord Hamilton granted a lease on a plot of land on his Dalzell estate.

It is thought this was inspired by the success of Bradford City, who also sport claret and amber, although a more romantic version of events claims them to have been Lord Hamilton of Dalzell's racing colours.

[14] The championship was sealed on 23 April 1932, when Rangers could only draw at home against Clyde, handing Motherwell the title without kicking a ball.

His resignation came in 1965 amidst a downturn in form which eventually saw the club relegated back to the Second Division at the conclusion of the 1967–68 season.

Relegation down to the now-First Division and promotion back to the Premier League occurred twice in the early 1980s, before a decade under manager Tommy McLean (brother of Willie) culminated in a Scottish Cup win in 1991.

However, similarly to the Ancell era, Scotland internationalist Tom Boyd was sold in the close season after the cup win.

Results faded for two years before reaching another two season zenith immediately following the signing of Paul Lambert with third (1993–94) and second-placed (1994–95) Premier League finishes.

With Tommy McLean's departure to Hearts in 1994, much of his squad was broken up; a large fee in particular was paid by Celtic for Phil O'Donnell.

[19] Billy Davies was appointed as manager, and large transfer fees were paid for prominent players including ex-Scotland internationals John Spencer and Andy Goram.

Eric Black was briefly in charge with the club floating near the foot of the table before it was placed in administration in April 2002 with losses approaching GBP 2 million yearly.

[25] In his first season as manager McGhee would take the club to 3rd in the league and thus qualify for the UEFA Cup for the first time in 13 years where they would be beaten by French side AS Nancy 3–0 on aggregate.

[26] Mark McGhee left Motherwell for the vacant managerial position at Aberdeen in June 2009 to be replaced by Jim Gannon.

The 2010–11 season saw the club in the Europa League and they defeated Breiðablik[27] and Aalesunds[28] before losing in the Play-off round to Odense[29] preventing them from reaching the group stages of the competition.

[37] In season 2013–14 Motherwell were knocked out of the Europa League by Russian side Kuban Krasnodar 3–0 on aggregate in the third qualifying round.

[38] On 22 January 2014 Motherwell won their 40th Lanarkshire cup beating Hamilton Academical 1–0 thanks to a 54th-minute goal by 19-year-old youngster Jack Leitch.

[39][40] Despite conceding the most goals (60) out of the top six teams, European football was delivered for the sixth time in seven seasons,[41] with a record points total (70).

[43] Despite three successful consecutive league campaigns, Motherwell made a poor start to the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership, which ultimately led to the resignation of manager Stuart McCall on 2 November 2014.

[44] Despite the appointment of Ian Baraclough in December 2014,[45] Motherwell were eventually consigned to a Scottish Premiership relegation play-off spot after a defeat at St Mirren in the penultimate league match of the 2014–15 season.

In the closing stages of the novel, Motherwell defeat Rangers 2–1 in a fictional 2022 Scottish Cup Final, involving real players' names on both sides.

[53] Fir Park's current safety certificate limits the capacity to 13,742, all-seated in accordance with the Taylor Report although the ground is listed as 13,677.

[58] O'Donnell rejoined Motherwell in 2004, but his second spell at Fir Park ended when he died after collapsing on the pitch in a game against Dundee United on 29 December 2007.

The first winner of the award was Andy Paton, who received a silver cup from Sailor Hunter at a dinner dance in Overton Miners Welfare.

[64] 2019: 2020: 2021: 2022: 2023: Motherwell have won a number of league titles and cups in their history, which includes six major domestic trophy successes.

[70] (currently known as Scottish Premiership) Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

[99] Due to the sponsorship deal not being agreed in time for the start of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League the team briefly featured www.chooselife.net as their main shirt sponsor.

[104] Previously the club had enjoyed a long-term association with Motorola, but this ended after 11 years in 2002 as the sponsor started to reduce its manufacturing operations in Scotland.

At present the official kit supplier is Macron who were newly announced for the 2014–15 season to replace Puma after their 3-year deal with the club expired.

[107] Major manufacturers Adidas, Admiral, Hummel, Patrick, Pony, Umbro and Xara have all been kit providers for Motherwell.