Kinleith 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 ...
team from
Juniper Green
Juniper Green is a village on the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, situated about south-west of the city centre. It bridges the city bypass, and extends along the foothills of the Pentlands. It is bordered by Colinton to the east, Baberton ...
, in the south-west outskirts of
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, active in the 1880s.
History
The club was founded in 1879, and was linked to the Kinleith Paper Mill. Its first recorded game was a 1–1 draw with the Ashley club at home in April 1880 and its first competitive match was a 3–2 home defeat to
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
in the
Edinburgh Shield in 1880–81; a Kinleith protest was dismissed.
Kinleith 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 August 1881, and entered 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 ...
. It was the smallest senior side in the Edinburgh district, and was lucky enough to draw
West Calder
West Calder ( sco, Wast Cauder, gd, Caladar an Iar) is a village in the council area of West Lothian, Scotland, located four miles west of Livingston. Historically it is within the County of Midlothian. The village was an important centre in t ...
, rather than one of the bigger city sides, but West Calder was still easily strong enough to beat Kinleith. After a misunderstanding led to Kinleith not turning up to the original tie, West Calder won the rearranged match 5–1, four goals coming in the second half.
The club did win two ties in the Edinburgh Shield that season, 8–0 against St Lennox in the first round and 4–0 against
Armadale in the second, but lost 6–0 to
Hibernian in the third.
Kinleith never grew its membership substantially, and remained the smallest side in Edinburgh for its existence. Its final Scottish Cup tie in
1883–84, in first round against
Edina
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Services
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, a side which had never won a Cup tie, seemingly ended in an Edina victory; Kinleith protested on "several" grounds, the most prominent one being that the referee was a member of the Edina. During what appears to have been a fractious debate, at one point it was mooted that both clubs be thrown out of the competition, before the Scottish FA ordered a replay, with an allowance of half-an-hour for extra time. Kinleith's obvious problems with keeping people interested in a constantly losing cause was demonstrated by it only mustering 9 players for the replay, and losing 4–0.
The club was struck from the Scottish FA's register in August 1884. It entered the 1884–85 Edinburgh Shield but an 8–1 home defeat to
Glencairn in the third round was the club's last reported match.
Colours
The club wore Oxford and Cambridge blue hooped jerseys, white knickers, and red hose.
Ground
The club's home was simply called the Kinleith Grounds, and was about half-a-mile from Kinleith Mill railway station.
External links
Edinburgh Cup results
References
{{Defunct Scottish football clubs
Defunct football clubs in Scotland
Association football clubs established in 1879
Association football clubs disestablished in 1884
1879 establishments in Scotland
1884 disestablishments in Scotland
Football clubs in Edinburgh