Meadowbank Thistle  was founded in 1943 as Ferranti Thistle, a works team. The club was admitted to the Scottish Football League and renamed as Meadowbank Thistle in 1974, and played its matches at Meadowbank Stadium in Edinburgh. In their early days, Meadowbank regularly finished at or near the bottom of the Second Division (now the third tier) on a regular basis but by the early 1980s their performances improved and in 1983 Meadowbank were promoted to the First Division (second tier). Two seasons later they were back in the lowest division but in 1987 they won promotion for the second time, this time as Division Two champions, the club's first senior honour. They were relegated once more but the following season they finished sufficiently high in the table to retain their place in the Scottish Second Division when another restructuring created a fourth level. In 1995, however, Meadowbank were relegated to the Scottish Third Division. During that year the club was relocated to Livingston and renamed after that town.