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 ...
club based in
Rutherglen
Rutherglen (; , ) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having previously existed as a separate Lanarkshire burgh, in 1975 Rutherglen lo ...
, Scotland.
History
The club was formed in 1874, as a winter activity for the Clydebank Cricket Club. It was the first football club to use the Clydebank name and the only one not to come from the town of
Clydebank
Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...
located to the north-west of
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
; instead their home was south-east of the city centre, on the left bank of the
River Clyde
The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...
.
The earliest matches recorded for the club are from the 1875–76 season. Although the club was active in its early years, including fixtures against well-regarded clubs such as
Cambuslang
Cambuslang (, from ) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th-largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a town hall, it may also be cons ...
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...
until the 1879–80 season. This enabled it to enter the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Airdrie Excelsior in the first round.
In the same season, it was one of the founder members of the Lanarkshire Football Association. It played in the first
Lanarkshire Cup
The Lanarkshire Cup was an annual competition open to football teams in the Lanarkshire area. The competition is now defunct. The Lanarkshire FA was dissolved in June 1999 when it was merged with the Ayrshire and Renfrewshire FAs to form the Wes ...
, losing 4–2 to Shotts F.C. in the second round.
Despite this increased activity and membership, the club never entered either competition again, instead playing junior football until 1886.
Colours
The club originally played in blue shirts and white shorts. By 1879 it had changed to red and blue two-inch "stripes" (in the context of the time referring to hoops).
Ground
The club's earliest recorded matches were played on
Glasgow Green
Glasgow Green is a park in the east end of Glasgow, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde. Established in the 15th century, it is the oldest park in the city. It connects to the south via the St Andrew's Suspension Bridge.
History
In ...
before the first home matches recorded at Phoenix Park in Rutherglen in 1876. The ground was by the Dalmarnock Bridge.