Bute Rangers Football Club was a

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 ...

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 based in the town of

Rothesay Rothesay ( ; gd, Baile Bhòid ) is the principal town on the Isle of Bute, in the council area of Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies along the coast of the Firth of Clyde. It can be reached by ferry from Wemyss Bay, which offers an onward r ...

on the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent is ...

History

The club was founded in 1880 and started with success, winning the Rothesay Cup in its first season. The obvious difficulty for the club on the national stage was its being on an island, requiring sea crossings in order to play. Consequently it was one of the less active senior clubs in Scotland; in 1881–82 it only played 6 matches, winning 2 and drawing 4, scoring 10 and conceding 2. In 1882–83, the club tried its hand on the national stage, and entered the

1882–83 Scottish Cup The 1882–83 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the tenth season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Dumbarton won the cup for the first, and so far only, time when they ...

, but lost 7–0 at

Arthurlie Arthurlie is an area of the town of Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, Scotland. History of Arthurlie The lands of Arthurlie were held in medieval times by the Stewart family, a branch of the noble Stewarts of Darnley. Later the lands became the prop ...

in the first round; the club only conceded one other goal in its other 6 matches. The following season, the club entered the Scottish Cup again, and was drawn to visit Glenpatrick. The Rangers duly travelled to Castle Park in

Johnstone Johnstone ( sco, Johnstoun,
gd, Baile Iain) is a town ...

, Glenpatrick's ground, only to find that the home side had not turned up. Bute Rangers duly claimed the tie, and after considering correspondence from both sides, the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility fo ...

accepted the claim and unanimously disqualified Glenpatrick. In the second round, Bute was drawn to visit

Thornliebank Thornliebank (Scots: ''Thonliebank'', Scottish Gaelic: ''Bruach nan Dealgan'') is a suburban area in East Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, it is located on the Auldhouse Burn about so ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...

, and was hammered 14–0. This seems to have dissuaded the club from entering the national competition, and it ceased to be a member of the

from August 1884. The Rangers nevertheless continued playing on a local level. It was dominant on the

Buteshire The County of Bute ( gd, Siorrachd Bhòid), also known as Buteshire, is a historic county and registration county of Scotland. The county comprises a number of islands in the Firth of Clyde, between the counties of Argyll and Ayrshire, the p ...

scene; it won the local cup competition - called the Rothesay Cup from 1881 to 1886, and the Buteshire Cup afterwards - seven times by 1892, when it ceased being a Senior competition, albeit the competition had no more than 6 entrants in any year. The Rangers re-emerged on the national stage in 1889–90, entering the Scottish Cup again, and only losing 2–1 against

Kilbarchan Kilbarchan ( gd, Cill Bhearchain) is a village and civil parish in central Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The village's name means "cell (chapel) of St. Barchan". It is known for its former weaving industry. History ...

. In 1890–91 however the club lost heavily, 7–3, at

Neilston Neilston ( sco, Neilstoun, gd, Baile Nèill, ) is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, south of Paisley, and south-southwest of Renfrew, at t ...

. The Scottish Football Association then introduced qualifying rounds, and, from 1895, the

Scottish Qualifying Cup The Scottish Qualifying Cup was a football competition played in Scotland between 1895 and 2007. During that time, apart from a brief spell in the 1950s, it was the only way for non-league teams to qualify for the Scottish Cup. The Qualifying Cup ...

, and Rangers never won a single tie, until it stopped entering after 1894–95. Its best result was a 4–4 draw with Neilston in 1892–93; this was a second preliminary round tie, Lugar Boswell having scratched to the Rangers in the first, leaving the Rangers out of pocket for match expenses, and requiring a suspension for Boswell in order to get the debt paid. As a member of the Renfrewshire Football Association, the Rangers were entitled to enter the

Renfrewshire Cup The Renfrewshire Cup was an annual association football competition between teams in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The final was generally a Renfrewshire derby contested between the two largest teams ...

, and did so three times. However, the club only played one tie, scratching from two of its entries. Its one match was a 7–1 defeat at

Dykebar Dykebar is a small residential estate at the south-easternmost periphery of Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, close to the local authority boundaries with both East Renfrewshire and Glasgow. It is situated next to the Hawkhead area, with other ne ...

in 1891–92. The SFA removed the Rangers from the Roll for non-payment of subscriptions before the 1895–96 season. The club continued as a Junior club, playing in the

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 ...

; it finally gained a win in a national competition by beating Paisley Thistle 5–3 in the second round in 1895–96, having received a bye in the first. Bute scratched from the third round after a replay required it to visit Hurlford Thistle, and its only other entry, in 1898–99, saw a 6–1 first round defeat at St Blanes. Bute protested against its fellow Rothesay's side's win, but the protest was thrown out. It could not repeat its Senior success in the Buteshire Cup either, never managing to win the competition, which was now dominated by St Blanes and Royal Victoria, and the club was dissolved in 1902.

Colours

The club originally played in white jerseys, white knickers, and blue hose. By the time of its return to the national game in 1889, the club had changed its knickers to blue. In 1892, the club changed to amber and blue shirts and white knickers, possibly taken from the yellow, blue, and white livery colours of the

Marquess of Bute Marquess of the County of Bute, shortened in general usage to Marquess of Bute, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1796 for John Stuart, 4th Earl of Bute. Family history John Stuart was the member of a family that d ...

Ground

Bute Rangers started off at a ground near the High Street, 5 minutes' walk from the quay. In 1891 the club moved to Meadowcap Park in Rothesay.

Honours

Rothesay/Buteshire Cup: *Winners: 1880–81, 1882–83, 1884–85, 1887–88, 1888–89, 1889–91, 1891–92 *Runners-up: 1881–82, 1885–86

External links

Scottish Junior Cup results

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs, state=collapsed Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1880 1880 establishments in Scotland Association football clubs disestablished in 1902 1902 disestablishments in Scotland Isle of Bute Football in Argyll and Bute