Blythswood Football Club was a 19th-century football club based 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 on 14 August 1873 as an offshoot of the Blythswood Cricket Club, which had changed its name from the Bellegrove club in 1866, and which played at Queen's Park until 1869.
Blythswood was one of the clubs taking part in the first
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Alexandra Athletic, although it caused a little controversy by appointing one of the club members as its umpire, who then proceeded to give tactical advice during the match; nevertheless the clubs enjoyed a convivial toast afterwards.
In the semi-final, the club was 4–0 down to
Clydesdale Clydesdale is an archaic name for Lanarkshire, a traditional county in Scotland. The name may also refer to:
Sports
* Clydesdale F.C., a former football club in Glasgow
* Clydesdale RFC, Glasgow, a former rugby union club
* Clydesdale RFC, South ...
after 80 minutes, when the match was stopped because of bad light. However the score was allowed to stand.
The club continued to enter until 1878–79, albeit without any success, a number of its players having joined the
Western
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Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
* Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that i ...
club before the 1874–75 season; the club's final entry saw it drawn away to the Clyde club in the first round, but before the tie took place, Blythswood 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 1880, some of the club members founded a junior offshoot which became a founder member of the
Scottish Junior Football Association
The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football (soccer), football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the ...
, and Blythswood played in the inaugural
Scottish Junior Cup
The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2022–23 edition, 108 teams compete ...
that season; although the club beat
Luton
Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...
1–0 in the first round, a protest saw a replay being ordered, and the club eventually lost in a second replay. The last recorded game Blythswood game was a 9–0 defeat to the Hawthorne club in 1882; a game against Glenburn scheduled for the next month does not seem to have taken place.
Ground
The club played at Westburn Park (also known as Burnbank), in
Kelvinside
Kelvinside is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde and is bounded by Broomhill, Dowanhill and Hyndland to the south with Kelvindale and the River Kelvin to the north. It is an affluent area of Gla ...
, as a senior club. From 1880 the club played at Trinidad Park in
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south b ...
.
Colours
The club's colours were red and black 1 inch "stripes", which in the 1870s referred to hoops.