Athole Football Club was a 19th-century football club from

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to t ...

, in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

History

The club was founded in 1879, the club taking its name from its meeting place of the Athole Arms Hotel, with 60 members. The club's name was sometimes rendered as Athol but it was officially registered as Athole. It was active in its first season, playing 38 matches. This included one match in the

1879–80 Scottish Cup The 1879–80 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the seventh season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. With 142 entrants, this season saw the largest number of teams to com ...

- the club gained a walkover against Blythswood in the first round, which had amalgamated with the

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...

club in October 1878, so its entry appears to have been either a mistake or wishful thinking. In the second round, the club lost 9–0 at home to South Western, despite some "pretty play" and good form shown by Thomson, Hunter, and Marshall. The club however improved during the season, and a 10-man scratch side held the 3rd Lanark Rifle Volunteers to a draw in January 1880. In the

1880–81 Scottish Cup The 1880–81 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the eighth season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Defending champions Queen's Park retained the cup and won the compet ...

, the club drew 1–1 at home to Whitefield; logically the replay should have been at Whitefield, but Athole protested on the basis of "an irregularity in the appointment of referees", so the replay was at a neutral venue in Govan; Athole won 2–1 in extra-time. In the second round, Athole lost 1–0 at Alexandra Athletic, Duncan scoring the winner with a high shot with 4 minutes to go. Athole by now was prominent enough as a side to undertake a tour of north-east England over Christmas and New Year in 1880–81. The club entered the

1881–82 Scottish Cup The 1881–82 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the ninth season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. A total of 147 teams entered the competition, five more than the previ ...

, and was drawn at home to Ingram, but, despite this improvement in trajectory, Athole had disbanded before the tie was due to be played - as indeed had Ingram. The final club secretary, Joseph Halley, later took up the same role at

Cowlairs Cowlairs is an area in the Scottish city of Glasgow, part of the wider Springburn district of the city. It is situated north of the River Clyde, between central Springburn to the east and Possilpark to the west. Administratively, in the 21st cen ...

Colours

The club played in navy blue jerseys and stockings trimmed with gold, with white knickers.

Grounds

Athole played at Merkland Park in Partick, effectively evicting

Rosslyn Rosslyn can refer to: Places Africa * Rosslyn, Gauteng, South Africa * Rosslyn Academy, a school in Nairobi, Kenya Australia * Rosslyn, Queensland, a town on the Capricorn Coast in the Shire of Livingstone Europe * Roslin, Midlothian, Scotl ...

, which had to move to the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

grounds.

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs, state=collapsed Defunct football clubs in Scotland Football clubs in Glasgow Association football clubs established in 1879 Association football clubs disestablished in 1881 1879 establishments in Scotland 1881 disestablishments in Scotland Partick