John Elder Football Club was a

Scottish 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 ide ...

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 based in

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south b ...

, now part of

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 ...

. It was the football side for workers with the John Elder & Co. shipbuilding company.

History

The club was founded in 1876, and had enough players for two XIs in its first season. The club 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 ...

in time to enter the 1877-78 Scottish Cup. It went through to the second round after two draws with Rovers, which meant that, under the competition rules, both sides progressed, but lost 1–0 at

in the second. John Elder reached the third round of the competition in the next two seasons. In the first round of the

1878–79 Scottish Cup The 1878–79 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the sixth season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Defending champions Vale of Leven met Rangers in the final but, aft ...

, the club earned its biggest competitive win, 7–0 away at Blackfriars, and beat Stonefield at

Dalmarnock Park Dalmarnock (, gd, Dail Mheàrnaig) is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated east of the city centre, directly north of the River Clyde opposite the town of Rutherglen. It is also bounded by the Glasgow neighbourhoods of P ...

in the second, the club's secretary Pringle scoring a brace. The club was knocked out 2–1 in the third by Alexandra Athletic after a "thoroughly contested" game. The following season the club walked over the dissolved

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club, and seemed to have beaten

Jordanhill Jordanhill ( sco, Jordanhull, gd, Cnoc Iòrdain)
is an ...

in the second; however the Association upheld a protest from Jordanhill on the basis that the pitch was not roped off, and spectators interfered with play four or five times, the referee's evidence being that no fewer than 300 spectators were over the touch line. The replay took place at Jordanhill and John Elder came from behind to win 2–1. The tables were turned in the third by South Western, as John Elder took the lead, but only held it for a couple of minutes, and went out 2–1. As Scottish football became more popular, and new clubs started, John Elder was, like other works sides, left behind. Its 40 members in 1877 made it one of the biggest senior clubs in Glasgow; by 1881, the same number of members made it one of the smallest. The club did enter the

1881–82 Scottish Cup The 1881–82 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the ninth season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. A total of 147 teams entered the competition, five more than the previ ...

, and gained a walkover in the first round as scheduled opponents Shawlands Athletic had dissolved, but scratched when drawn against

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in the second. At the end of the season, it did not renew its Scottish FA membership, and so left senior football. The club played lower-level football until at least 1886, but the conversion of John Elder & Co. to a limited company seems to have ended the club's operation at any reportable level.

Colours

The club's colours were 1" navy and white hooped jerseys (with a badge on the breast) and hose, with white knickers.

Ground

The club played at Fairfield Park, also known as Dock Park, shared with Govan for a season until the latter club moved to Moore Park in 1877.

External links

Scottish Cup results

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs, state=collapsed Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1876 1876 establishments in Scotland Association football clubs disestablished in 1886 1886 disestablishments in Scotland Football clubs in Glasgow Govan Works association football teams in Scotland