THE
SCOTTISH
FOOTBALL HISTORICAL ARCHIVE
Previous updates
30 July – I’ve added a page about
the Midlothian Junior League,
which dominated the East of Scotland before and just after the Great War.
29 July – I’ve further updated
the Glasgow Junior League
page with tables (including some of the GJL 2nd XI League) sent to me by Stewart Davidson. I’ve also added a page about the short-lived Scottish Junior Alliance
of 1892-93. The Club Directory has also had some
amendments made to it.
27 July – I’ve added a page
concerning the Glasgow Junior League
which was arguably the most powerful Junior league to have existed,
taking on and beating the SJFA on a number of occasions before it disbanded in
1927.
Tom
McGouran has also sent me a couple of amendments to the C Division, mainly regarding fixture
dates. Tom writes ‘Your grid has Celtic playing Falkirk on 26 August. In my
research for Celtic scorers and teams, I found out on that date Celtic played
East Fife. I checked 23 August, that date the grid has Celtic playing East Fife
but I found no game. The figures on the League table this season do not match
the scores on the grid for Celtic. In 1954-55 C Division Celtic played Raith Rovers on 31 December and not 1 January.’
25 July – The Kincardineshire Junior League
page I added yesterday was an earlier one I’d been working on. The correct one
is now on the site. I’ve also added a page about the Friendship Cup by Bob Rutherford that was played between Scottish and French clubs
in the early 1960s.
24 July – I’ve added a page
concerning the Kincardineshire Junior League,
which existed sporadically between 1905 and 1955. Ian Sumner’s military knowledge of the Scottish battalions has now
been added to the Club Directory.
I’ve added a page listing all the top goalscorers in the Scottish League since 1890-91. Please contact me if you notice any errors, or
can to some of the earlier seasons regarding the lower divisions.
21 July – More Lanarkshire Junior League tables
from the 1920s to the 1950s have been sent in by Robert Watson.
17 July – The record of the Glasgow Cup competition is edging towards
completion thanks to research sent to me by Third Lanark historian Graham Deans. There are still a very small number of matches to
find, but the page now gives virtually every result up to 1988.
16 July – The Scottish Junior League
existed in three versions between 1892 and 1947. Stewart Davidson supplied a great many tables, and again using John Aitken’s ‘West of
Scotland Juniors’ book, I’ve posted a page detailing the history of this
somewhat overlooked league.
13 July – I’ve updated the Lanarkshire Junior League and Lanarkshire Junior Alliance pages that Stewart supplied with information from John Aitken’s ‘West of
Scotland Juniors’ book and given a potted history of both leagues. Any more
information on either would be most welcome. For more information on the latter
years of both the LJL and the Lanarkshire Junior FA, I thoroughly recommend the
two booklets published by Stewart Davidson.
Ian Sumner from West
Yorkshire, who by his reckoning maybe doesn’t know much about Scottish
football, but has sent me information on the military sides of the early years.
I will of course be incorporating this very important research into the next
update of the Club Directory, but in the meantime, I’ve
copied his email below...
“ I don't know very much about Scottish
football history, but I do know a bit about military history, and I think I
might be able to fill in a few gaps where you do not have a location for the
Rifle Volunteers sides. I have lists showing where each unit had their headquarters,
so it may be that their ground was somewhere in the same location. Bit of a
long shot perhaps, so feel free to ignore all this if you think I'm talking
nonsense.
17th Lanarkshire
Rifle Volunteers:
this was a Glasgow unit. It had the additional title '(Stockbrokers and
Accountants)', so perhaps one of the nicer areas of the city?
1st Aberdeenshire
Artillery Volunteers:
the HQ was in Aberdeen.
1st Kirkcudbright
Rifle Volunteers:
this was a Kirkcudbright unit.
1st LRE: I think this
might be 1st Lanarkshire Royal Engineers, if so, it was a Glasgow unit.
1st VBHLI: I think this is
1st Volunteer Battalion, Highland Light Infantry. Its headquarters was in Garnethill, Glasgow.
21st Fusiliers /
21st Royal Scots Fusiliers: same regiment.
2nd Brigade Scotch
Division Royal Artillery: 2nd Brigade, Scottish Division, Royal Artillery was
so named between 1882 and 1894. Its HQwas in Dunbar.
2nd VBHLI: the 2nd
Battalion. Its headquarters was in Yorkhill Street,
Glasgow. The use of the phrase 'Volunteer Battalion' ceased in 1908, after an
Army reorganisation.
30th Training
Battalion:
all the highland regiments had a 30th Battalion (although 30th
Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders was disbanded in 1943, so you could count
them out).
312 Battery etc, Royal
Field Artillery:
sorry, I've nothing that goes down as far as batteries in this period.
3rd Academicals: this might just
be related to 3rd Renfrewshire RV, whose HQ was in Paisley, but I can't see
anything 'academic' about their origins.
3rd Fife Rifle
Volunteers:
its HQ was in Kilconquhar until 1861, then East Anstruther
4th Divison Royal Artillery: beats me. There was a 4th Division
in the Army, but it was always based in England. Could it be 'Forth Division'?, The artillery units tasked with defending the
Forth estuary were referred to as Forth Royal Garrison Artillery after 1910.
Their HQ, however was Edinburgh until 1910, then
Queensbury. It was placed in suspended animation in 1919, then
revived under a different name in 1921.
5th Ayrshire
Artillery Volunteers:
its HQ was in Kilmarnock
5th Fifeshire Artillery Volunteers: its HQ was in
Kirkcaldy
6th Battalion Cameronians / 6th Cameronian Volunteers: I
think these might be same unit. 6th Battalion, Cameronians
had its HQ in Cathedral Street, Glasgow, and a drill ground at Flemington. The
number 6 means that the team was named after 1908; the same reorganisation that
I mentioned above changed the unit name from 4th to 6th.
6th Highland VBRS: tricky. I thought
'VBRS' must mean 'Volunteer Battalion, Royal Scots', but the 6th was not a
Highland Battalion. 6th Volunteer Battalion had its HQ in Peebles.
There was a Highland Battalion in the Royal Scots, formed in 1900 from
Highlanders living in Edinburgh, but it was numbered 9th. Could it be a typo in
your source?
6th Highland RV: can't find this
at the moment. All my sources insist on including a county in the unit name.
6th Seaforths: its HQ was in Elgin
7th Battalion Cameronians / 7th Scottish Rifles: this is the same
unit. The full title of the regiment was The Cameronians
(Scottish Rifles). The 1st Battalion always referred to itself as the Scottish
Rifles, the 2nd as the Cameronians; other battalions
followed either at, I suspect, the whim of the commanding officer.
77th Highland
Brigade:
I think this might be 77th (Highland) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery; if so,
its HQ was in Greenock. It became the 77th in 1921, and went into suspended
animation in 1946.
8th Argyll / 8th Argylls / 8th Battalion Argyll & Sutherland
Highlanders: the second two are
the same unit, I think. The 8th Battalion's HQ was in Dunoon. The first one, based in Renfrewshire, is a bit of a
problem. The only other 8th was the 8th Argyllshire Rifle Volunteers, but their
HQ was in Cowal until 1862, then at Glendaruel. However, in the 1920's the regiment's 5th/6th
Battalion was based in Renfrewshire, with detachments at Paisley and at Barrhead. If it isn't a typo, then perhaps the 8th
Battalion entered a Renfrewshire league to find more meaningful competition, in
spite of the travelling.
93rd Highlanders: this is 2nd
Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. It had been called the 93rd
Highlanders until 1881; retaining the name was another regimental affectation
(the 1st Battalion referred to itself as the 91st). They were at Fort
George, Inverness, in 1913.”
3 July – Amended Stirlingshire Junior League tables
for the 1911-12 and 1913-14 seasons have been sent to me by John Meffen, while
Stewart Davidson has supplied some season-by-season memberships. John’s also
listed several results for the Linlithgowshire League of
1895-96. He’s missing five results, but as Armadale
Volunteers were leading by a clear margin, assumes the remaining fixtures were
left unplayed.
29 June – Andy McGregor has added
a few amendments to the Club Directory, mainly concerning grounds.
However, he’s also noticed a long standing mis-spelling,
it is of course Craigmark Burntonian,
NOT Bruntonian.
24 June – Final tables of the Lanarkshire Junior League and Lanarkshire Junior Alliance, which were researched by
the late Jackie Heaney, have been kindly supplied by Stewart Davidson for
inclusion on the site. The tables need to be tidied up due to formatting
issues, but this will be done after the site has been fully migrated to its new
host at sqweebs.com.
17 June - John Meffen notes ‘I was doing my
usual sad looking at old, old, old fitba matches
& I saw something which made me think. I don't have any proof either way on
this, but I get the feeling that Alloa Athletic's early, early matches were
not done in the name the of Alloa
Association, but Alloa [Association], which was
simply there to differentiate them from Alloa
[Rugby].’ Any other thoughts on this would be most welcome...Alloa Athletic’s early history is
turning into something of an enigma!
As I’m currently moving to a new
host, updates will probably be few and far between. However, I am in the
process of listing club matches during the 19th Century (I’ve gotten
as far as the end of 1881-82 season), and plan to post a fuller record in due
course. These matches, which feature new club data, will of course have an
impact on the Club Directory,
which will be updated in due course.
12 June – In 1976-77, six eastern
clubs formed a Central Reserve League.
Andy McGregor has sent the final table of this league that was operated wholly
by the clubs themselves.
After an unfortunate glitch with
the system, John Meffen’s history of Falkirk between
1877 and 1891 is again available.
11 June 2009 – Graham Deans, who
is researching Third Lanark’s results, has supplied some notes concerning the Glasgow Cup.
6 June – Robert Watson has
submitted the final, or as near to final tables of the Scottish
Combination and Lanarkshire
League
28 May – Dave Beattie has sent
the final table of the 1962-63 Scottish (Reserve) League,
while a number of C Division results
of the 1954-55 season have been uncovered by Thomas McGouran.
20 May – Scott Cockburn has
supplied the 2008-09 Scottish Premier Reserve
League table as well as an alternative
2007-08 table regarding Gretna’s withdrawal.
18 May – More Glasgow Cup results have been sent in by Stuart, the record of results
now extend to the Great War. Thomas McGouran has sent
me a number of final tables, namely the Scottish Alliance
(with results) from 1932-33 to 1936-37, the Combined Reserve League
from 1960-61 to 1963-64, and the Scottish (Reserve) League
of 1972-73. Tom has also supplied many of the results for the Scottish Combination
of 1896-97. Alan McCabe uncovered the unfinished East of Scotland League
table of 1893-94 from the book 'Bluebells & Cuckoos' (A History of Football in Penicuik & Kirkhill) by
Tom O’Rourke. I’ve also added a page of results for the Scottish
FA’s North and South Challenge Cups
which replaced the Scottish Qualifying Cups in 2007.
7 May – Ongoing research of the
1870s has realised a lot more information regarding many of the clubs of the
time. As well as revealing some grounds that were used and amended years of
existence, I’ve also (so far) found over forty currently unlisted clubs. These
have all been added to the Directory.
A
new page of Glasgow Cup results (from
1887-1896) has been added as well as a couple of seasons after WWII. Many thanks
go to Stuart Robertson who researched and compiled these.
28 April – Thomas McGouran has supplied a couple of dates and results, for
Celtic ‘A’ games, in the 1950-51 C Division.
25 April – A couple more final
tables from Stewart Davidson, in the Eastern League and Scottish Alliance.
4 April – Minor adjustments have
been made regarding to some Lochgelly-based clubs in
the Directory.
2 April – Recent correspondence
with Hibernian historian Gordon Baird has cleared up a few discrepancies with a
number of the Dunfemline-based Junior
clubs of the 1890s. The original Dunfermline FC ran as seniors until 1891 when
the Senior XI was disbanded. The club then took over the South-side Athletic team.They were formed in 1889, and as they were without a
ground in 1891, were offered the use of Lady's Mill taking up the mantle of
Dunfermline Juniors. They were not connected in any way to Dunfermline
Athletic. This club operated as strictly as seniors from 1885 to 1892 when a
junior side was started alongside (probably to maintain rivalry with
Dunfermline Juniors). Senior football was scrapped in 1894 (low crowds, no
money, etc), and the Junior XI ran on until 1900 .In three of those seasons
(1894-1896, playing in the Edinburgh & District Junior League, and in
1898-99) it was the only team run by the club as the seniors XI were disbanded.
After much discussion, the seniors were reformed in 1896 and were re-admitted
to the SFA. The two levels ran concurrently for two seasons - initially the
juniors struggled but in 1898 it was again decided to scrap the senior side
again. 1898-99 saw only junior and juvenile football at East End Park (a
juvenile team had been run by the club in at least one previous season, 1892-3,
when it was known as the East End XI). Senior football returned to the club
again for season 1899-00 alongside the juniors, for whom this was to be their
last season. The committee finally realised that neither the club nor the town
could support two teams and this time it was the juniors that were disbanded.
The club ran a Junior side on two other occasions,
between 1915 and 1918, and in 1921-22.
Since Dunfermline Athletic formed
in 1885, there have been five seasons in which they failed to run a senior
team: 1894-95, 1895-96, 1898-99, 1918-19 and 1940-41. The latter two saw no
football at all at East End Park.
Meanwhile Wishaw Juniors
secretary, Robert Watson has thrown in some thoughts about the Wishaw clubs.
Robert writes “My understanding is that the line goes from, Wishaw Thistle
(1885-1900); Wishaw United (1900-1903), being an amalgamation of the short
lived Wishaw, formed 1898, and Wishaw Thistle; Wishaw Amateurs (1903-1906), who
possibly became Wishaw Thistle (1906-1920); Wishaw YMCA Juniors (1919-1927) when they were renamed Wishaw
Juniors.
1885 seems to have generally been accepted
as the foundation year for Wishaw Juniors for a long time, but the above
chronology shows a different thread. In the Mitchell library there is an old
bound copy of the second
SJFA hand book. In this there is an interview with the then
Wishaw President talking about the 1888 Scottish Junior Cup win and referring
to the club as being over SIX years old. Robert has often wondered how a club
formed in 1885 could have won the Lanarkshire Junior Cup straight away and if
this is correct it places the foundation of Thistle at 1882 or, if you go by
seasons possibly 1881. This might mean Thistle were a re-incarnation of Wishaw
Swifts, the club originally formed in 1882.”
Ian
King has also sent me details of two Irvine-based clubs from the 1890s, Irvine
Caledonia and Vale of Clyde
All
the above information has been slotted into the Club Directory.
31 March - Dave Beattie has sent
me the final tables of the 1899-1900 Northern League and
Forfarshire County League
and Stuart Robertson the remaining missing table of the Ayrshire Combination.
22 March - Stewart Davidson has
sent me several pages of final tables for the pre WWI leagues. The Northern League, Scottish Reserve League,
Scottish Combination
(1896-1911), Forfarshire County League,
Midland League
(1891-1897), Central League
(1896-1898), Central League
(1909-1921), Glasgow & West of Scotland
League, Ayrshire Combination,
Central Combination,
Eastern League
(1912-1914), East of Scotland League
(1896-1908), Fife League
(1903-1905), Inter City League
(1899-1906) and Scottish Union
pages have all been updated with this information. I’ve also added a page
regarding the Perthshire League,
a county league that had existed since the 1890s, but had disappeared as a Senior competition by the 1970s. Stewart has sent a few tables
(pre WWI) while some information from David Ross and Alan McCabe gives a little
background to its makeup. Any other help regarding this somewhat enigmatic
league would be most welcome.
A
Scottish Federation
league, organised by Partick Thistle, was run briefly
during the 1898-99 season.
John
Meffen has supplied details of the 1890s Stirlingshire 2nd XI Cup.