Ayr Academicals Football Club was a football team from the
Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
*Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...
town of
Ayr
Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...
.
History
The club was founded in October 1876, at a meeting at the Ayr Assembly Rooms, in which it was "unanimously agreed" to merge the
Ayr Academy
Ayr Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Inbhir Àir'') is a non-denominational secondary school situated within the Craigie Estate area at University Avenue in Ayr, South Ayrshire. It is a comprehensive school for children of ages 11–18 fro ...
and Ayr Eglinton clubs, to form a new club, Ayr Academicals. The new club's secretary was to be the Eglinton secretary John Watt, with Eglinton captain John Holm captaining the Academicals side. The two clubs had previously been close, the Eglinton side which had played in the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1877–78, reaching the third round (last 34); in the second round the club beat Kilmarnock. The club was also a founder member of the Ayrshire Football Association and entered the first
Ayrshire Cup
The Ayrshire Cup was an annual association football regional competition in Scotland. The cup competition was a knockout tournament between football clubs in the historic county of Ayrshire. The Ayrshire Cup was first held in 1877–78, with t ...
, losing in the first round to Kilbirnie.
In 1878–79, the club lost in the second round of the Scottish Cup to
Mauchline
Mauchline (; gd, Maghlinn) is a town and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In the 2001 census Mauchline had a recorded population of 4,105. It is home to the National Burns Memorial.
Location
The town lies by the Glasgow and South Wes ...
, the club which had beaten the Academicals the previous year. The club did go further in the Ayrshire Cup; in the first round the club walked over Ayr Thistle and was eliminated in the fourth round (the final 6) by Kilmarnock Portland, the Portland side defending a one-goal lead through time-wasting tactics, continually sending the ball "into 'touch'".
The club entered the Scottish Cup for 1879–80, and was drawn to play Kilmarnock. This appears to have been a speculative entry, perhaps as a back-up plan, as the football club no longer existed. In April 1879, the club had merged with Ayr Thistle to form
Ayr F.C.
Ayr Football Club was a Scottish Football League club from Ayr, Scotland. They were formed in 1879 by a merger of the Ayr Thistle and Ayr Academicals football clubs. Their initial home ground was Springvale Park, which they left in 1884 to pl ...
, in time for a friendly match against
Calthorpe F.C.
Calthorpe was an England, English association football, association club based in Birmingham.
History
The club was informally founded in October 1873, its first formal meeting being held on 23 November that year. The club's name came from it ...
of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
, which was touring Scotland over Easter, and to whom
Archie Hunter
Archibald Hunter (23 September 1859 – 29 November 1894) was a Scottish footballer who was the first captain of Aston Villa to lift the FA Cup, in 1887. He was one of Victorian football's first household names.
Life and career
Born in Joppa ...
had recommended Ayr Thistle as an opponent. The name Ayr Academical (in the singular) survived as an athletics club.
Colours
The club played in navy shirts with a white Maltese cross badge, and white knickerbockers.
Grounds
At the initial foundation meeting, the club secured the use of the Cattle Show Ground, close to
Ayr railway station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = File:Ayr - Abellio 380108 and 380011.JPG
, caption = Ayr railway station, with Abellio ScotRail Class 380s in the bay platforms
, borough ...
, from the owner Mr Dewar. From its second season the club played at Springvale Park.
The club experimented with floodlit football in 1878, but the match (against Glasgow University F.C.) was not a success, thanks to continual rain causing intermittent blackouts.