Fleetside Rovers F.C. 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 ...

club from

Gatehouse of Fleet Gatehouse of Fleet ( sco, Gatehoose o Fleet gd, Taigh an Rathaid) is a town half in the civil parish of Girthon and half in the parish of Anwoth divided by the river Fleet, Kirkcudbrightshire, within the district council region of Dumfries and G ...

Kirkcudbrightshire Kirkcudbrightshire ( ), or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Kirkcudbrightshire was an administrative coun ...

, active just before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

History

The first match recorded for the club was a 6–2 defeat at St Cuthbert's Wanderers in September 1901. Its first competitive football came in the Law Cup, for senior clubs in Kirkcudbrightshire and

Wigtownshire Wigtownshire or the County of Wigtown (, ) is one of the historic counties of Scotland, covering an area in the south-west of the country. Until 1975, Wigtownshire was an administrative county used for local government. Since 1975 the area has ...

, in 1901–02, its first game in the competition being a defeat at

Barholm Rovers Barholm Rovers Football Club was an association football club based in Creetown, Dumfries & Galloway. History The club was formed in 1884 and was an original member of the Stewartry Football League based in Kirkcudbrightshire which started in ...

a month before it joined the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility fo ...

. The club continued entering the competition until the last time it was held, 1906–07, and lost every tie. It did however reach the final of the Wigtownshire & District Cup in 1906–07, losing to Creetown Volunteers; the final was played twice after the Rovers successfully protested against the eligibility of one Arnott, but the Rovers lost both matches 2–0. From the 1908–09 season, the club started to enter the

Southern Counties Cup The Southern Counties Cup is an association football cup competition for clubs in the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Wigtownshire, and Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland. The competition was founded in 1891. Format The competition was a knock-out ...

and the less-prestigious Potts Cup, and again continued its run of losing. The club drew at the 5th K.O.S.B. in the Southern Counties Consolation Cup in 1908–09, but lost the replay, which was affected by such crowd violence against the "incompetent" referee that the Rovers' ground was closed, and the club banned from playing within 5 miles of Gatehouse, for 2 months. It looked as if the club had finally won a tie when it beat

Dalbeattie Star Dalbeattie Star Football Club is a Scottish association football club based in Dalbeattie, Dumfries and Galloway. It currently competes in the . The club had previously played in the South of Scotland Football League. Home matches are played a ...

in the first round of the Southern Counties in 1910–11, but the tie was replayed after a protest that J. Clark of the Rovers only was not registered in time for the tie, and Star eventually won through. The club did get revenge in the Potts Cup that year, a 2–0 win over Star, with a goal in each half, being the club's only win in the competition. The 1910–11 season marked the club's last appearance in the Southern Counties and Potts Cups. It lasted one year longer with entries to 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 ...

, but, again, other than a 6–6 draw with Stranraer on its debut in the competition in 1902–03, it lost every match it played. The club made preparations for the 1912–13 season, but barely (if ever) seems to have played, having withdrawn from the Southern Counties association in May 1912. After an 8–3 win over Twynholm to open the 1913–14 season, the club seems to have given up.

Colours

The club wore the following colours: * 1901–03: black and white * 1903–09: primrose and pink * 1909–14: green and white

Ground

The club played at Standingstone Park in Gatehouse, which was notably isolated, being 6 miles from the nearest railway station. The ground may have been the area marked out at the top of Castramont Road, next to the cemetery.

External links

Link to Scottish Qualifying Cup results

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1901 Association football clubs disestablished in 1913 1901 establishments in Scotland 1913 disestablishments in Scotland Football clubs in Dumfries and Galloway Gatehouse of Fleet