Galston Football Club were a football club based in Galston,
Ayrshire
Ayrshire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Àir, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine, North Ayrshi ...
,
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 ...
. The club were members of the
Scottish Football League Third Division
The Scottish Football League Third Division was the fourth tier of the Scottish football league system between 1994 and 2013.
History
The Scottish football league system had operated with three divisions in the Scottish Football League (SFL) f ...
Formed in 1891 to play in the new Ayrshire Football League, they lasted in that competition for its four-year run before joining the Ayrshire Football Combination. After three years without regular competition the club joined the North Ayrshire League, later appearing in the Scottish Football Combination and
Scottish Football Union
The Scottish Football Union was a football league competition that existed from 1906 till the outbreak of the First World War. It was formed after the collapse of the Scottish Football Alliance.
Initial membership of the Union was: Alloa Athlet ...
.Galston Historical Kits
They eventually joined the Western league, which was incorporated by the
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km so ...
as its new Third Division for the 1923–24 season. Galston lasted the Division's three seasons, finishing 13th, 11th and 16th, although they resigned midway through the abandoned final season, unable to provide match guarantees. Indeed Galston had been so keen to increase the income from their meagre gates that they were censured by the League for charging entrance fees below the minimum agreed league level, then in turn blamed for accelerating the collapse of the Third Division by being the first to pull out from it in February 1926.
They proved one of the division's survivors and found themselves playing in first the West of Scotland Amateur league before being invited to join the Scottish Football Alliance from 1932 onward – a league made up of Senior Reserve teams and non-league sides which they had been invited to join to generate more interest in a competition many Senior clubs were considering abandoning due to a lack of public interest.
However, in 1938,
Hamilton Academical
Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...
proposed they and Beith be expelled and the league restricted to First Division clubs reserve teams only. Despite an impassioned plea by letter from club President James Abbott to every Scottish League side – pointing out they had brought Beith and Galston in to prop up the league in the first place – only Ayr United, Clyde, Kilmarnock, Queen's Park and St Mirren voted to retain them and both sides were duly expelled.
The Alliance was then abandoned and a new Reserve League set up, whereupon moves were made in 1940 for a new Scottish Football Alliance to be set up, among which the invitees were Galston and
Vale of Leven
The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning '' ...
, another side that had been damaged by the collapse of the Third Division and who had not played competitively since 1929 over a lack of any Senior league in which to play. However after only a month's worth of games the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
broke out and the league was put on indefinite hold. Without any Senior league to play in, and not interested in joining the Junior ranks, this marked the end of Galston FC.
Kit
During their relatively brief history Galston wore a number of different kits. They can be summarised thus:
Full Scottish League record
KEY: Pl=Matches played; W=Matches won; D=Matches drawn or tied; L=Matches lost; F=Goals scored (for); A=Goals conceded (against); Pts=Points (2 awarded for a win, 1 for a draw)
*Biggest win (Scottish Football League): 9–2 v
Brechin City
Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club ...
(away) 1923–24
*Biggest defeat (Scottish Football League): 8–0 v Queen of the South (away) 1924–25
Scottish Cup record
During the course of their existence Galston qualified for the
The town of Galston has been represented at amateur level since the early 1970s by ''Galston United'' who play in the upper echelons of the local amateur league; they play at the local secondary school ( Loudoun Academy) and have no link to the original club.