Dunblane Football Club was an

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 ...

team from

Dunblane Dunblane (, gd, Dùn Bhlàthain) is a small town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links ...

, within the historic county of

Perthshire Perthshire ( locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the nor ...

, which entered the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Thornhill in June 1879; the club's first goals, in its second match against

Bridge of Allan F.C. A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

the following week, came from 13 year old Robert Christie, who would later play for Scotland. The club first entered the Scottish Cup in 1881–82, losing in the first round to Vale of Teith F.C.; at the time the club was temporarily called the Dunblane Wanderers to distinguish from a junior side in the town. The club's first substantial Cup run came the following year, reaching the fourth round (which, that year, was the final 22). The club's original 3–1 win at

Coupar Angus F.C. Coupar Angus Junior Football Club are a Scottish Junior football club based in Coupar Angus, Perth and Kinross. Their home ground is Foxhall Park. Formed in 1935, they joined the Angus Junior League the same year and remained in that leagu ...

in the first round was turned into a 3–3 draw after Coupar Angus protested about two disallowed goals; Dunblane won the second game 6–1. Dunblane also survived a protest from

Arbroath F.C. Arbroath Football Club is a semi-professional Scottish football club based in the town of Arbroath, Angus. They currently play in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded in 1878 and plays home matches at Gayfield Park. They play in mar ...

after the second round but went out at home to the powerful 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteer side in the fourth, despite the support of a "loud-tongued and not too select" crowd. The club reached the same stage in 1883–84, this time made up of 21 clubs, but lost 6–1 at home to

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

. Although the Heather fell one stage sooner in 1884–85, the season saw the first edition of the

Perthshire Cup The Perthshire Cup was an association football cup competition for clubs in the county of Perthshire, Scotland. The competition was founded in 1884 and was last competed for in the 1974–75 season. Format The competition was a knock-out tournam ...

, with 11 entries; Dunblane won the competition thanks to beating Vale of Teith in the final, at the Hillyland Skating Pond in

Perth Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...

, before 1,000 spectators, coming from 3–0 down to win 4–3. The club would win the Perthshire Cup on ten occasions, six of them coming by 1892, but the rise of

St Johnstone F.C. St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

effectively usurped the club as the leading side in the county. The club's high point on the national stage came in 1886–87, by reaching the final 16 of the Scottish Cup for the only time, albeit the run included a bye and a walkover after

Dundee East End F.C. Dundee East End Football Club were a football club from Dundee, Scotland. The club were founded in 1877 but merged with Dundee Our Boys in 1893 to form Dundee. History They joined the Northern League in 1891 and in January 1892 lost 5–3 t ...

scratched from a third round replay. After the introduction of preliminary rounds and 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 ...

in the 1890s, the club reached the main rounds of the Scottish Cup four times, three times being Qualifying Cup semi-finalists. The club struggled in the wake of professional clubs above them and Junior clubs below them, and by 1914 was struggling to raise a team; a 6–0 defeat to the

Crieff Morrisonians F.C. Crieff Morrisonians Football Club was a football club from the town of Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland. History The first recorded activity for the club was at the end of the 1896–97 season, under the name Morrisonian F.C., the name taken fro ...

in January 1914, with only ten men turning up, was the club's last competitive match. The club did enter the national and local competitions in 1914–15, but, as so many players had signed up for World War 1, the club resolved in September not to play any matches for the season. The club was struck off the Scottish FA roll in August 1915.

League football

The club played in two leagues: * Midland League/Central Combination from 1891 to 1903; *Central League - a spin-off of the Midland League - from 1903 to 1905; *Midland League once more from 1908 to 1911. Apart from the first season in 1891–92, when Dunblane was runners-up to

Raith Rovers F.C. Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...

, the club struggled in the Midland League, normally finishing near the bottom, but did win the Central League in 1903–04. However that competition only had three teams in it and Dunblane took the title having won one match, as the club was awarded another after Strathallan XI did not turn up.

Colours

The club originally played in "bright scarlet" shirts and white shorts, with the shorts changing to navy from 1892. The red shirts gave the club its nickname of the Heather.

Ground

The club played at Kippenross Park until 1887 and

Duckburn Park Duckburn Park was a football ground in Dunblane, Scotland. It was the home ground of Dunblane F.C. and Dunblane Rovers, and hosted a single Scottish Football League (SFL) match. History Prior to World War I, Duckburn Park was the home ground ...

afterwards.

Notable players

*The brothers Robert and Alexander Christie were both capped for Scotland after leaving the club. *James Fyfe,

Arsenal F.C. Arsenal Football Club, commonly referred to as Arsenal, is a professional football club based in Islington, London, England. Arsenal plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 league titles (inc ...

player, played for Dunblane in 1898 * David Henderson, joined

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...

from Dunblane in 1893 *Archibald McGeoch, centre-forward, joined Arsenal from Dunblane in 1897

Honours

Scottish Cup *Best run: last 16, 1886–87 Perthshire Cup *Winners: 1884–85, 1885–86, 1887–88, 1888–89, 1890–91, 1891–92, 1899–1900, 1900–01, 1903–04, 1905–06, 1909–10, 1912–13 *Runners-up: 1892–93, 1894–95, 1895–96, 1896–97, 1898–99, 1904–05, 1908–09 Stirling & District Charity Cup *Winners: 1887 Central League *Champions 1903–04

External links

Scottish Cup results

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs

Association football clubs established in 1878 Association football clubs disestablished in 1915 1878 establishments in Scotland 1915 disestablishments in Scotland