football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
West Lothian
West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...
.
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 () 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 roads, near the ...
King Cup
The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's Cup) (), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup (), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition.
The King's Cup is the second-oldest knockout competition in Saudi Arabian ...
for smaller clubs in the east of Scotland, and 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 ...
, for members solely from the county of
Linlithgowshire
West Lothian, also known as Linlithgowshire (its official name until 1925), is a counties of Scotland, historic county in the east central Lowlands of Scotland. until 1925. It is bounded geographically by the River Avon, Falkirk, Avon to the wes ...
) 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 () 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 1890. According to a 20 ...
. 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. Counties of Scotland, Historically part of the county of West Lothian (historic), ...
- 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 ( ; ; ) 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 on a historic route between Edi ...
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.
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.
Born in Harthill, Lanarkshire, McQueen played for Leith Athletic before being signed by ...
, Matt's brother, also played for Champfleurie in 1888–89.