Kilsyth Wanderers 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 the town of

Kilsyth Kilsyth (; Scottish Gaelic ''Cill Saidhe'') is a town and civil parish in North Lanarkshire, roughly halfway between Glasgow and Stirling in Scotland. The estimated population is 9,860. The town is famous for the Battle of Kilsyth and the religi ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire ( sco, North Lanrikshire; gd, Siorrachd Lannraig a Tuath) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It als ...

History

The first reference to the club is of its hosting

Milton of Campsie Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free ...

in August 1885, winning 6–5. The club's first competitive football came in the

Stirlingshire Cup The Stirlingshire Cup is an association football cup competition for clubs in the county of Stirlingshire, Scotland. The competition was founded in 1883 and is contested annually by senior member clubs of the Stirlingshire Football Association. Th ...

in the 1885–86 season, Wanderers losing to Longcroft in the first round. In August 1887 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 ...

, making its

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1887–88 with a defeat at

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

, William Hamilton scoring the Wanderers' consolation near the end after Falkirk goalkeeper Mitchell flapped at a cross. The club however improved and reached the semi-final of the Stirlingshire Cup for the first time in 1888–89, but lost to

Slamannan Slamannan ( gd, Sliabh Mhanainn) is a village in the south of the Falkirk council area in Central Scotland. It is south-west of Falkirk, east of Cumbernauld and north-east of Airdrie. Slamannan is located at the cross of the B803 and B8022 ...

, slightly against expectation.

Beating Renton

It struggled in its first Cup entries, only winning one tie in four seasons, but in the first round of the

1890–91 Scottish Cup The 1890–91 Scottish Cup was the 18th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Heart of Midlothian defeated Dumbarton 1–0 to win the trophy. First round * * Match Declared Void *** St Johnstone Declared ...

, the club pulled off the biggest shock in the competition to date, and perhaps still the greatest shock in the competition's history. The club's opponent, Renton, had just become one of the founder members of the

Scottish 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 sout ...

and two years before claimed to be world champions, having won the 1888 Scottish Cup Final and then having beaten

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

winners

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

. Although Renton had lost many of its best players to professional sides, Kilsyth was not reckoned to be a challenge, with even the local media claiming that "they will not be surprised if they are beaten by a dozen goals, at the very least". Nevertheless, the Wanderers turned around at half-time 2–1 to the good, and, despite being under siege for the whole of the second half, hung on for the win; a score so outlandish that "few could believe the evening papers". Renton protested on the basis of encroachment by the home spectators but the protest was dismissed on the technical grounds that the objection at the match had been made by Renton's umpire and not the club captain. One unintended consequence of the Wanderers' victory was that Renton arranged a friendly with the suspended St Bernard's in lieu of a second round fixture, which resulted in Renton's expulsion from the Scottish League.

Later Scottish Cup matches

The club reached the third round, coming from 3–0 down with half-an-hour remaining to beat Clydebank Athletic 5–3 in the second, thanks to inspirational play by captain Cuthbert, before the

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 '' ...

pulled off the sort of result people expected Renton to inflict, beating the Wanderers 8–0 at Garrel Garden; all eight goals came in the second half. From the 1891–92 season, a qualifying element was brought into the Scottish Cup, and the Wanderers only reached the first round proper once more; in 1898–99, by winning through to the fifth round of 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 ...

(where the club lost to Wishaw Thistle. In the first round, the club had a plum draw at home to Queen's Park, but switched the tie to

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 ...

, and Queen's won 4–0.

Local leagues and cups

The club came close to winning the Stirlingshire Cup in 1892–93, taking the lead in the final at

Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically independent of the county. It is included with Le ...

against

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins can be tra ...

and, with the scores at 1–1 in the second half, the Shire was reduced to ten men after Hastings was sent off for kicking a Wanderer; but, despite playing the better football, the Wanderers conceded a winner with four minutes remaining. With the rise of league competitions in the 1890s, the club sought to join the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History ...

, being turned down for membership in 1893–94, but was finally admitted in 1895–96. The club also reached the final of the Stirlingshire in the latter season, playing Falkirk at

Merchiston Park Merchiston Park () was a football ground in Bainsford, near Falkirk, which was the home of East Stirlingshire F.C. between and 1920. It was near Main Street, just north of the Forth and Clyde Canal at Bainsford Bridge. History Early years Eas ...

, and took the lead in the first minute when Brown finished off a counter-attack, but by half-time the local side was 3–1 up, and with luck going against the Wanderers (including hitting a post just before the break), Falkirk scored three breakaway goals in the second half for a flattering 6–1 scoreline. The club played in the Midland League, and its successor competition (the

Central Football Combination Formed in 1897 by Camelon F.C., Dunblane F.C., East Stirlingshire F.C., Fair City Athletic F.C., Falkirk F.C., Kilsyth Wanderers F.C., King's Park F.C., St Johnstone F.C. and Stenhousemuir F.C.. This Scottish football competition was basically ...

), until 1899–1900, finishing between third and fifth in the competition.

End of the club

In 1899–1900 the club was forced to withdraw from the Central Combination after playing 9 games for financial reasons; one problem was the difficulty in securing fixtures or availability as the town was not close to a railway station. The club's last match in the Combination, and last recorded match in toto, was a 2–1 defeat at home to Falkirk in on 24 March 1900. Despite this withdrawal the club was still ranked 6th in the 9-team competition, but at the end of the season it was expelled from the competition for non-payment of subscription and visiting clubs' guarantees. One of the club's players, P. Heenan, had already been banned ''sine die'' for on-pitch brutality, the ban coming soon after a 7-month suspension had ended. Most of the club's players left for other clubs over the summer of 1900, and, although an entry was made for the Qualifying Cup in 1900–01, no team could be got together, and the club scratched to

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nea ...

so late that the Warriors were able to put in a claim for expenses. However the club apparently had no money, not renewing its subscription to the Stirlingshire FA in October 1900. Oddly, the club was not struck from the Scottish FA register before the 1901–02 season, apparently to give the club one last chance for resurrection, and it was entered for the Qualifying Cup draw in August, although it was claimed that was because "someone has blundered". The club was again drawn to face Stenhousemuir but this time scratched in good time. The coup de grâce for the club, which had not played a match since 1900, was its striking from the Scottish FA register in April 1902.

Colours

The club played in black and white vertically striped shirts with blue knickers.

Ground

The club played at Garrel Garden, described as "primitive" and "rough and ridgy".

Notable players

* John Patrick, later a Scottish international * Alex Drain, who represented the Dumbartonshire FA and Stirlingshire FA, who occasionally turned out for

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 ...

in friendly matches, and who died of injuries from a broken spine after a mining accident in 1897 *

Tom McAteer Thomas McAteer (30 March 1876 – 20 September 1959) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a centre half in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, in the Scottish League for Dundee, Clyde, Celtic, Albion Rovers and Abercorn ...

, later a Scottish Cup winner with

James Cleland James Cleland may refer to: *James Cleland (footballer) (1869–1942), Scottish footballer *James Cleland (politician) (1839–1908), Member of the Ontario Legislative Assembly *James Cleland (statistician) (1770–1840), Scottish statistic ...

, who joined the club in 1898 after a professional career

Honours

*Stirlingshire Cup **Runner-up: 1892–93, 1895–96 *Kilsyth Charity Cup **Winner: 1889–90, 1890–91 (the club was compelled to withdraw from the competition the next season because of its representation on the charity committee)

External links

Scottish Cup results

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs, state=collapsed Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1885 1885 establishments in Scotland Association football clubs disestablished in 1902 1902 disestablishments in Scotland Kilsyth