East Stirlingshire's official date of formation was in 1881,[6] but its origins can be traced to the previous year when a local cricket club called Bainsford Bluebonnets formed a football team under the name Britannia.[7] The team's first recorded match was a friendly against Falkirk's second eleven in December 1880 and resulted in a 7–0 defeat while its first match as East Stirlingshire was against the same opponent in August 1881.[8] The club's nickname is "The Shire", which refers to the Stirlingshire part of the club name.[6] After joining the Scottish Football Association, the club became eligible to compete in the Scottish Cup, Scotland's main association football knock-out competition, eliminated in its first game in 1882.