association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...
club from
Broxburn
Broxburn ( gd, Srath Bhroc, IPA: �s̪ɾaˈvɾɔʰk is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the A89 road, from the West End of Edinburgh, from Edinburgh Airport and to the north of Livingston.
Etymology
The name Broxburn is a corruption of ...
in
West Lothian
West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geographically by the Av ...
, which once reached the semi-final of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Eastern Football Alliance, albeit in the teeth of some opposition from the committee who suggested delaying the club's application.
The Eastern Alliance did not conclude its first season; Shamrock was in second place at the time, two points off the lead with a game in hand. The club's first home league game was the "New Reekie" derby against
Broxburn F.C.
Broxburn United Football Club was a football club based at Sports Park in Broxburn, West Lothian in Scotland. The club was formed by the amalgamation of the town's two senior clubs Broxburn and Broxburn Athletic in 1912, and was a member of the ...
; it was abandoned after 40 minutes due to a storm, with the Shamrock 3–2 ahead - the Greens won the second attempt 2–1, despite "a rather rough element" towards the end of the match which saw Shamrock's M'Cann ordered off.
The club's first entry in the Scottish Cup saw the club win through three qualifying rounds and gaining a bye in the fourth - one of the ties being a win over
Campsie F.C.
Campsie Football Club was a Scottish association football club based in the village of Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire.
History
The club was founded in 1883, with the club's initial honorary and match secretaries living in Crosshill Terrace in Le ...
in a replayed tie after a protest, based on bad weather and the ground being "in several places flooded with water", overturned the original Shamrock win - to enter the competition proper; after beating
Northern F.C.
Northern Football Club was a football club based at Hyde Park in the Springburn area of Glasgow, Scotland. The club was a founder member of Scottish Football League Division Two, but left after a single season.
History
The club was formed ...
of
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 ...
7–2 at home in the first round, Shamrock lost in the second, 5–4 at home to the Cup holders Heart of Midlothian. The club was handicapped by not having captain Meechan playing; although the Scottish game was strictly amateur at the time, there were certain ways around this, and Meechan apparently felt undervalued, that "he was disappointed at the size of a subscription raised for him during the time he was off work".
Scottish Cup semi-final
The club's second Scottish Cup entry, in 1892–93, went even better, the club reaching the semi-finals, its victims including
St Mirren F.C.
St Mirren Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire, that competes in the Scottish Premiership after winning the 2017–18 Scottish Championship. Founded in 1877, the team has two nicknames, ''the ...
, who would finish third in the
Scottish League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...
that season; however, ominously, the club's tie with the Buddies only attracted a small crowd, a much bigger crowd going to
Albyn Park
Broxburn Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the town of Broxburn in West Lothian. They play their home games at Albyn Park. The team currently competes in the , the sixth tier of Scottish football, having moved from th ...
to watch Broxburn lose to Hearts in the East of Scotland Shield. St Mirren protested about the "indecent language" from the crowd - the referee, Mr M'Lean 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 ...
, stating that "he had never officiated before a more excited crowd, and he feared had St Mirrens icwon he would have been subjected to much abuse" but the protest was dismissed on the basis of it not being correctly lodged; instead the SFA censured the Shamrock.
The club played
Queen's Park F.C.
Queen's Park Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish football pyramid. Queen's Park is the oldest association football club ...
at
Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
in the semi-final, in front of 7,000 spectators, the crowd reduced by the view that it would be a foregone conclusion for the home side. Shamrock duly went out to the eventual Cup winners, although the score was only 4–2, a possible third goal denied after defender Smellie handled on the line, but no penalty was given, "to the no small chagrin of the Shamrock supporters". The Shamrock however was cricitized for being the "roughest team ever seen at Hampden", with a "very perverted conception of Association football"; the club had "made a careful study of the peculiarities of the physical game...the game on Saturday was one of the foulest witnessed in Glasgow for a long time." The local media were kinder, blaming the referee for "not using his prerogative" and asserting that "shady and disagreeable tactics were being brought in by both sides". Queen's Park had to play the second half with ten men, due to an injury to William Lambie, put down as being the result of a "crippling" (Glasgow Herald) or a "collision" (Lothian Courier).
Post-professionalism decline
The Scottish FA permitted professional football from the start of the 1893–94 season, which was a blow to the Broxburn sides; the town was barely large enough to support one professional club, let alone two. The Shamrock did not need to enter the qualifying rounds in the
1893–94 Scottish Cup
The 1893–94 Scottish Cup was the 21st season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Rangers when they beat Celtic 3–1 in the final. It was the first Scottish Cup final between the two Glasgow clubs, ...
, and went 3–1 up in the first round proper tie at home to
Arbroath F.C.
Arbroath Football Club is a semi-professional Scottish football club based in the town of Arbroath, Angus. They currently play in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded in 1878 and plays home matches at Gayfield Park. They play in mar ...
, but conceded seven goals without reply in the second half; reserve goalkeeper Keast fumbled the ball over the line to make the score 3–2, the Shamrock then "played the man rather than the ball", and with the score 3–3 Keast was sent off "for rough play".
The club had more success on the local level. The new East of Scotland League also did not complete a full season, Shamrock holding an 8 point lead with half of the fixtures completed, but the club did win the
Linlithgowshire Senior Cup
West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geographically by the Avo ...
for the only time, beating
Linlithgow Athletic F.C.
Linlithgow Athletic F.C. was an association football club from Linlithgow in West Lothian.
History
The club was formed at the start of 1888, the club's opening match being a 1–0 home win over Dean Rangers of Edinburgh.
It was generally o ...
4–0 at
Bathgate
Bathgate ( sco, Bathket or , gd, Both Chèit) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, west of Livingston, Scotland, Livingston and adjacent to the M8 motorway (Scotland), M8 motorway. Nearby towns are Armadale, West Lothian, Armadale, Blackburn, ...
in the final.
The Arbroath match was the club's final tie in the Scottish Cup proper, with any promising players being taken by richer sides. Before the start of the 1894–95 season, the Shamrock took over the
Broxburn
Broxburn ( gd, Srath Bhroc, IPA: �s̪ɾaˈvɾɔʰk is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, on the A89 road, from the West End of Edinburgh, from Edinburgh Airport and to the north of Livingston.
Etymology
The name Broxburn is a corruption of ...
club, on the basis the village was too small to compete with split loyalties. In the wake of this, the club did gain its biggest competitive win in the first qualifying round in 1894–95, beating Loch Rangers of
Kingseat
Kingseat is a village in Fife, Scotland, approximately northeast of Dunfermline. It was originally a coal mining village with the first pits sunk in the area in 1800. The name of the village is thought locally to have originated from when the ki ...
11–0. However the club lost 3–1 at Camelon F.C. in the second round, despite taking the lead. The club did not enter the Cup in 1895–96, and lost in the qualifying rounds in 1896–97.
The decline in local football was shown by the Linlithgowshire Cup having reduced to 5 clubs for 1896–97, Shamrock losing in the final to the Armadale Volunteers side in a replay, but the club did not enter the competition or the
King Cup
The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup ( ar, كأس خادم الحرمين الشريفين), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition, run by the Saudi Arabian Foot ...
for East of Scotland sides again, and lost in the first round of the East of Scotland Shield in 1897–98 (again to Armadale Volunteers). The club did enter the Scottish Cup in 1897–98 and 1898–99, but scratched both times, the second time taken as evidence that senior football in Broxburn was "completely dead".
Colours
The club's colours were green and white, the jerseys being plain green.
Ground
The club's first home match was played at the
Sports Field
A pitch or a sports ground is an outdoor playing area for various sports. The term ''pitch'' is most commonly used in British English, while the comparable term in American and Canadian English is playing field or sports field.
For most sports ...
in Broxburn. For the 1891–92 season, T.P. Doyle, owner of the Buchan Arms hotel, leased a ground at Pyothall Road, opened with a match against the Adventurers F.C. of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, "opposite the refinery, the entrance being by Port Buchan", although it was "a bit out of the way". The ground was soon named Shamrock Park and was notorious for its narrowness.
* Peter Meechan, the club's first captain, who won championship titles in both England and Scotland
* George Allan, one-time record goalscorer for
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...
and Scottish Championship winner with
Celtic F.C.
The Celtic Football Club, commonly known as Celtic (), is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. The club was founded in 1887 with the purpose of alleviating poverty in the immigra ...