Carlton Football Club was a Scottish
football team located in the town of
Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of ...
,
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 ...
.
History
The club was founded in September 1887, at a time when most of the Greenock senior clubs, apart from
Morton Morton may refer to:
People
* Morton (surname)
* Morton (given name)
Fictional
* Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3''
* A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise
* A character in the 2008 film ''Horton ...
, had disbanded, and the junior scene was heading towards a "comatose state". The club's first match was a 10–2 defeat to the 2nd Renfrewshire Rifle Volunteers.
Turning senior
Carlton turned senior in August 1888, although there was some confusion with the Scottish FA originally thinking that the applicant club was a team from
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 ...
.
There was also some confusion within the club itself. Drawn to visit
Pollokshaws
Pollokshaws ( sco, Powkshaws) is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood and Hillpark to the south and Shawlands to the north, with the Gl ...
in the first round of the
1888–89 Scottish Cup
The 1888–89 Scottish Cup was the 16th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. 3rd Lanark RV beat Glasgow rivals Celtic (making their Cup début) 2–1 in a replayed final. The original match was won 3–0 by 3rd L ...
, the club contrived to leave Greenock without goalkeeper Campbell, half-back Watson, or right-wing Malcolm.The club found two substitutes but had to play the match with 10 men. The result was a 14–0 thrashing.
The club's unconvincing start continued with a withdrawal from 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 ...
in the same season, but it did get an invitation to play in the Greenock & District Charity Cup, much to the chagrin of the
Greenock Abstainers, who considered the berth should have been theirs. This caused tension between the two sides, such that they refused to play each other, until burying the hatchet at the start of the 1889–90 season; Carlton proved a point by winning the fixture at Ingleston 6–2. Although the club lost in the first round of the Charity Cup, the defeat was to a very strong
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990.
Dumbarton was the ca ...
side, and Carlton "gave their senior opponents more trouble than they bargained for".
Gradual improvements
The 1889–90 season was a little better. Carlton suffered another heavy defeat in the
national cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League. For most of the competition's history, the draw ha ...
, 8–0 at Morton in front of only "a few hundred" spectators, but there were extenuating circumstances, as the club started and finished with 10 men, losing a player at 2–0 down to injury. It had similar bad luck with injury in the Renfrewshire, when, at 1–0 down to
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 ...
, the Carlton goalkeeper broke his wrist, and, down to 10 men, Carlton conceded another three. At least the club was considered to have put in a "highly creditable appearance", and was by now considered to be pushing to be the second team in Greenock, vying with the more experienced
1st Renfrew Rifle Volunteers.
The club's momentum included playing the reserve sides of some of the bigger clubs, Carlton conceding two "soft" goals late on to lose 3–2 to
Celtic's second XI towards the end of the season, and it enjoyed a 5–1 victory over the much bigger
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 of the Charity Cup, although Carlton lost 10–0 at Morton in the semi-final, watched by a crowd of 1,500.
Sudden collapse
At the end of the season, the club lost a number of its players to other clubs, including M'Coll and M'Corquodale to Morton, and it was in such a moribund state that secretary/president Mr Sutherland wrote to the club's opponent in the first round of the
1890–91 Scottish Cup
The 1890–91 Scottish Cup was the 18th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Heart of Midlothian defeated Dumbarton 1–0 to win the trophy.
First round
* * Match Declared Void
*** St Johnstone Declared ...
,
Lugar Boswell, to scratch. However, the Carlton letter to Lugar Boswell had crossed with a Lugar Boswell letter to the Scottish FA notifying it that Lugar Boswell was unable to get up a team, and therefore was ceding the tie to Carlton. Sutherland therefore got Carlton put into the hat for the second round, but, despite Carlton being drawn in a winnable tie against
Glengowan in the second, he could not find an XI.
The club had also already entered the Renfrewshire Cup for 1890–91, being drawn at home to Howwood in the first round, and Sutherland was able to borrow
Cappielow Park
Cappielow, also known as Cappielow Park supported by Dalrada Technology UK for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League club Greenock Morton, ...
for the occasion, as well as recruit a number of old Morton men for the line-up. The match started late and was brought to a halt after 85 minutes, with Carlton eight goals to the good. Despite the one-sidedness making the game "very laughable at times" and "fun for the money", the Renfrewshire Association made the "somewhat ridiculous" decision to order a replay, which should have been a sinecure for Carlton, but, due to a misunderstanding, not enough players had turned up, so the club scratched from the tie - and within 10 minutes of the scratching the full complement appeared. To add to the air of unreality, Howwood scratched before facing an inevitable humiliation at the hands of
Port Glasgow Athletic
Port-Glasgow Athletic was a football club based in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The club was formed in 1878 and originally named Broadfield before changing their name in 1881. They played in the Scottish Football League between 1893 and 1911, and were ...
.
Without a ground, and without any competitive football available, there is no record of Carlton having played again. The club technically existed for the 1890–91 season as Sutherland was president of the Renfrewshire FA, via his role at Carlton, until the season's end.
Colours
The club wore blue and white.
Ground
The club gained permission, on foundation, to use Wellington Park for its first season; the ground had been used by other senior clubs before, including the
eponymous club. Before the 1888–89 season, the club took over Ladyburn Park from the moribund
Greenock Rangers, the ground being (re-)opened with a 2–1 defeat to
Dumbarton Union on 18 August 1888. Carlton tried to secure the Berry Yards for 1889–90, but was unable to do so, so reverted to Ladyburn.
The club's apparent end before the start of the 1890–91 season meant that the club ceded Ladyburn to the Abstainers,
so Carlton had to borrow Cappielow for its Renfrewshire tie.
Notable players
*
William M'Coll, later a Scottish international, who left for Morton in 1890
References
{{Defunct Scottish football clubs
Defunct football clubs in Scotland
Football in Renfrewshire
Association football clubs established in 1887
Association football clubs disestablished in 1891
1887 establishments in Scotland
1891 disestablishments in Scotland
Football in Inverclyde
Greenock