Duntocher Hibernian Football Club were a

Scottish Junior football Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: * Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland * Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ...

club from the village of

Duntocher Duntocher (Scottish Gaelic: ''Dùn Tòchair'' or ''Druim Tòchair'') is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It has an estimated population of 6,850. The etymology of the name of the village indicates that its name means "the fort on the c ...

West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire ( sco, Wast Dunbairtonshire; gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann an Iar, ) is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the west of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's commuter to ...

, who played in three spells over a period of 86 years. Based at Glenhead Park from 1929, the club colours were green with white sleeves.

History

Founded in 1894 as a juvenile side, they turned Junior in 1896 and came to prominence by reaching the semi-finals of the

Scottish Junior Cup The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2022–23 edition, 108 teams compete ...

in 1899, losing 2–0 to

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necrop ...

. A group of players broke away from this side to form the club that became Clydebank Juniors. This first incarnation of the Hibs became defunct in 1909. Revived in 1919, the club joined the

Scottish Junior League The Scottish Junior Football League (SJL) was a Scottish football competition that, through various incarnations, existed from 1892 to 1947. It was based in the west of Scotland and largely consisted of Junior clubs that were not considered good ...

, enjoying immediate success with promotion in their first season and becoming league champions in 1923. Later that decade, Duntocher sided with the rebels during the

Intermediate dispute The Intermediate dispute was a major split in Scottish football which lasted from 1925 to 1931 and concerned the compensation that Junior clubs received when one of their players moved to a Senior football league side. Although largely confined t ...

and joined the breakaway Scottish Intermediate League upon its formation in 1927. It was during the 1950s however, that the team had its most successful period, reaching the

West of Scotland Cup The West of Scotland Cup was an association football cup competition for clubs in Scotland which were barred from the Scottish Football Association which was played in 1877–78 and 1878–79. Format The competition was a single-elimination tou ...

final in 1954, losing to

Kilsyth Rangers Kilsyth Rangers Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire. Nicknamed ''The Wee Gers'', they were formed in 1913 and play at Duncansfield Park, which used to be one of the bigger ''non-league'' ...

, followed by the Scottish Junior Cup final in 1955 only to lose to the same opposition after a replay. The first game at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

was watched by a crowd of 64,976. The club also won the Central League championship decider on two occasions, defeating

Benburb Benburb ()) is a village and townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It lies 7.5 miles from Armagh and 8 miles from Dungannon. The River Blackwater runs alongside the village as does the Ulster Canal. History It is best known, in his ...

in 1951 and

in 1958. They were to reach the semi-final of the Junior Cup in 1957, losing out to Banks O' Dee and were runners-up to

Pollok Pollok ( gd, Pollag, lit=a pool, sco, Powk) is a large housing estate on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate was built either side of World War II to house families from the overcrowded inner city. Housing 30,0 ...

in the Pompey Cup in the 1958–59 season. During this spell they were managed by Willie Walsh and Jim McLean. After a period in abeyance between 1966 and 1973, the club name was revived by the new tenants of Glenhead Park,

Drumchapel Amateurs Drumchapel Amateur Football Club is a football club from the village of Duntocher, near Clydebank in Scotland. Formed in 1950 in the Drumchapel area of the city of Glasgow, they are nicknamed ''"The Drum"''. The club presently competes in the ...

, for a third spell. Despite some reasonable success, financial pressures forced the club out of the Junior game for a final time in 1980.

Notable players

Numerous players stepped up to Senior football from the club over the years. Hibs also had sixteen players capped for the Scotland Junior international team. These capped players include: *

Paddy Crerand Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon *Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird species *Black-faced sh ...

–

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

Dick Beattie Richard Scott Beattie (24 October 1936 – 15 August 1990) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in both the Scottish and English football leagues. A Scotland under-23 international, who appeared in three majo ...

– Celtic goalkeeper in the

1957 Scottish League Cup Final The 1957 Scottish League Cup Final was the final of the 1957–58 Scottish League Cup. The football match was played on 19 October 1957 at Hampden Park, in which Celtic beat rivals Rangers in a record 7–1 victory. The final was nicknamed "H ...

, later to receive a lifetime ban from the game for involvement in the British betting scandal of 1964. *Edward Maxwell –

1958. *

Dennis Gillespie Dennis Gillespie (1936–2001) was a Scottish professional footballer who played for Alloa Athletic, Dundee United, Dallas Tornado and Brechin City. He played for Jerry Kerr at Gillespie's first two clubs. He remains one of the Dundee United ...

– Originally stepped up to

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

. Over 400 appearances for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in ...

and inducted to that club's Hall of Fame. * Frank McDougall-

Clydebank F.C. Clydebank Football Club are a Scottish football club based in the town of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire. Formed in 2003, they are currently a member of the West of Scotland Football League. The current Clydebank are a phoenix club formed af ...

St. Mirren F.C. St Mirren Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire, that competes in the Scottish Premiership after winning the 2017–18 Scottish Championship. Founded in 1877, the team has two nicknames, ''the ...

and Aberdeen F.C.

Stadium

The club originally played at Fore Park in Duntocher before moving to St Helena Park in the neighbouring village of

Hardgate Hardgate is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Hardgate has probably been settled since neolithic times with a burial site at Knappers Farm, a cup and ring marked stone and a Burial chamber near Cochno Loch providing evidence of this ...

. After purchasing a field from a local farmer in 1924, the club embarked on a project to build their own stadium using local volunteer labour. This new ground, known as Glenhead Park, was eventually opened on September 6, 1929. Duntocher closed down in 1940 for the duration of the war and Glenhead was badly damaged in the 1941

Clydebank Blitz The Clydebank Blitz were a pair of air raids conducted by the ''Luftwaffe'' on the shipbuilding and munition-making town of Clydebank in Scotland. The bombings took place in March 1941. The air raids were part of a bombing program known today as ...

. When the club reformed in 1946, Hibs groundshared for two seasons at

New Kilbowie Park Kilbowie Park, also known as New Kilbowie Park, was a football stadium in Clydebank, Scotland. It was the home ground of Clydebank. New Kilbowie was built for Clydebank Juniors in 1939. In 1964, Clydebank merged with East Stirlingshire and en ...

with Clydebank Juniors. They resumed playing at Glenhead in August 1948 and the ground would remain the club's home until their demise in 1980. After Hibs folded for the second time, the ground was taken over by the current occupiers,

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) 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 and Milton beyond) to the west, and the Yoker and Drumchapel areas ...

used the ground under a five-year deal with Drumchapel on their return to the Junior grade in 2003 before departing to groundshare with Yoker Athletic. In the early 2000s there was talk locally of restarting the 'Hibs', albeit at the same time a proposal was made for Drumchapel Amateurs to move to

Knightswood Knightswood is a suburban district in Glasgow, containing three areas: Knightswood North or High Knightswood, Knightswood South or Low Knightswood, and Knightswood Park. It has a golf course and park, and good transport links with the rest of th ...

in north-west

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

and have Glenhead Park sold for development, which was not well received by locals due its long association with the defunct club. In 2013 Duntocher Hibernian was reformed at amateur level, initially playing in the Mountblow neighbourhood of Clydebank south of Duntocher; in 2017 the club moved 'back' to Glenhead Park at the invitation of Drumchapel Amateurs.'The Hibby' is packed full of home comforts for Duntocher side who returned to old ground
Clydebank Post, 18 August 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2022

Honours

: ** champions: 1922–23 * Central League Championship: ** champions: 1950–51, 1957–58 * SJFL Division Two: ** champions: 1919–20 * Central League Division B: ** champions: 1975–76 *Central League Cup: ** winners: 1956–57 * SJFL Victory Consolation Cup: ** winners: 1919–20, 1924–25 *Pompey Cup: ** winners: 1949–50 *Challenge Cup: **winners: 1948-49

References

Sources

Scottish Football Historical Archive
{{Defunct Scottish football clubs Association football clubs established in 1894 Association football clubs disestablished in 1980 Scottish Junior Football Association clubs Football in West Dunbartonshire Defunct football clubs in Scotland 1894 establishments in Scotland 1980 disestablishments in Scotland Clydebank 1909 disestablishments in Scotland 1919 establishments in Scotland Association football clubs disestablished in 1909 Association football clubs established in 1919