Champfleurie Football Club was a football club from

Kingscavil Kingscavil (NT029765) is a small settlement in West Lothian lying between Linlithgow and Bridgend, West Lothian, Bridgend on the old A9 road (Great Britain), A9 (now the B9080). History Kingscavil had historically been under the direct control ...

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 ...

History

The club was formed in 1886 and named after the house of an early benefactor. Champfleurie's first competitive fixtures came in the

Linlithgowshire Cup The Linlithgowshire Cup was an association football cup competition for senior clubs in the historic county of Linlithgowshire, Scotland. The competition was founded in 1884 and the last completed competition was in the 1925–26 season. Format Th ...

in 1886–87; after losing two friendlies to the Bathgate Volunteers, the first by 10 goals to nil, the Celestials brought in "football experts" which changed the entire XI, and Champfleurie beat the Volunteers 2–1 in the first round of the cup, despite a protest from the Volunteers that one of the Celestials was a professional athlete, having received a cash prize at the

Slamannan Slamannan ( gd, Sliabh Mhanainn) is a village in the south of the Falkirk council area in Central Scotland. It is south-west of Falkirk, east of Cumbernauld and north-east of Airdrie. Slamannan is located at the cross of the B803 and B8022 ...

games. Champfleurie lost 4–0 in the second round at

Bellstane Birds Bellstane Birds Football Club was a Scottish association football club based in Queensferry, West Lothian. History The club played its first recorded match in October 1881, a 1–0 win over the first Broxburn Shamrock club. For the first s ...

. The club entered the three main local competitions (the Edinburgh Shield, for members of the East of Scotland Football Association, 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 smaller clubs in the east of Scotland, and the

, for members solely from the county of

Linlithgowshire 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 ...

) from 1886–87 to 1890–91. The club's best run in the most prestigious of the three, the Shield, was to the quarter-final in 1889–90, the club then scratching when drawn to play

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

. Champfleurie reached the semi-final of the other two tournaments; the former in its first entry in 1886–87, the latter in its last entry in 1890–91. The club lost its King Cup semi-final tie in 1887 to Burntisland Thistle 1–0, the only goal coming when goalkeeper Sneddon was charged over the goal-line while still holding the ball. However, by 1890 the combination of professional football and leagues starting up had reduced the Linlithgowshire FA to a mere 8 clubs, and, without four of its regular players, Champfleurie lost the county cup semi-final 10–0 at

Bo'ness Borrowstounness (commonly known as Bo'ness ( )) is a town and former burgh and seaport on the south bank of the Firth of Forth in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. Historically part of the county of West Lothian, it is a place within the Fal ...

- a defeat that was 9 goals worse than the same fixture two months before. The club also entered the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1888–89. Drawn to play Armadale, failings within the organization of the club led to a scratch team being thrown together for the tie, with players not knowing they had been chosen until three days before the tie; Armadale won 12–0. In 1890, the Champfleurie second XI gained revenge for the parent club, beating the Armadale second XI at Captain Park in

Linlithgow Linlithgow (; gd, Gleann Iucha, sco, Lithgae) is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It was historically West Lothian's county town, reflected in the county's historical name of Linlithgowshire. An ancient town, it lies in the Central Belt o ...

to win the Linlithgowshire Second XI Cup. The match finished 9–4 to Champfleurie, who were helped by the Dale's Gallacher being sent off (while his side was 3–2 to the good) for threatening the referee. Things went better in 1889–90. Champfleurie held Bathgate Rovers to a 3–3 draw at the latter's Boghead ground, albeit in front of a crowd of "no more than two dozen", and the Rovers - who had been forced to choose a scratch team for the original match - were unable to raise a team for the replay at Champfleurie. The Celestials had a plum tie of Heart of Midlothian at home in the second round, and were not disgraced in losing 5–0, the score only being 1–0 at half-time and Hearts flattered by goals in the 80th and 90th minute. The club's final entry was in 1890–91, losing 5–3 at

Penicuik Athletic Penicuik Athletic Football Club are a Scottish football club. They were formed in 1888 and are based at Penicuik Park, in the town of Penicuik. Penicuik Park is ten miles south west of Edinburgh on the A702 road. The team now plays in the East ...

. Although the club seemed to be in generally good order, and took part in five-a-side football matches over the summer of 1891 (including winning the Foresters' Games tournament at Linlithgow), it had not entered any tournaments for 1891–92 and seems to have become defunct before the start of the season.

Colours

The club played in red jerseys and navy shorts.

Ground

The club played at Champfleurie Park, which was used as the final venue for the Linlithgowshire and King Cups a number of times. The highest recorded attendance for a Champfleurie match was 700, for the Cup tie with Hearts.

Notable players

Matt McQueen Matthew McQueen (18 May 1863 – 28 September 1944) was a Scottish football player, who later became a director and manager of Liverpool. Life and playing career Born in Harthill, Lanarkshire, Scotland, McQueen played for Leith Athletic (t ...

, full-back, who played for Champfleurie in 1887 and 1888–89. *

Hugh McQueen Hugh McQueen (1 October 1867 – 8 April 1944) was a Scottish footballer, who played for several clubs in the 1890s and 1900s, mainly as an outside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football tea ...

, Matt's brother, also played for Champfleurie in 1888–89.

External links

Edinburgh Shield results

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs, state = collapsed Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1886 Association football clubs disestablished in 1891 Football in West Lothian 1886 establishments in Scotland 1891 disestablishments in Scotland