Mauchline Football Club was a senior football team based in the small town of
Mauchline
Mauchline (; ) is a town and civil parish in East Ayrshire, Scotland. In the 2001 census Mauchline had a recorded population of 4,105. It is home to the National Burns Memorial.
Location
The town lies by the Glasgow and South Western Railway ...
in
East Ayrshire
East Ayrshire (; ) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquarters of the council are located on London Roa ...
.
History
The club was founded in 1873. Its first match against another side was in February 1874, against
Ayr Academy
Ayr Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Inbhir Àir'') is an 11–18 non-denominational secondary school situated within the Craigie Estate area at University Avenue in Ayr, South Ayrshire. It is the sixth largest secondary school in South Ayr ...
.
The club was known known as a cup team, appearing in every
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1877–78, at which stage the club lost 3–1 at Renton, going behind in the first three minutes after the ball was scrimmaged into the goal, but equalizing through M'Ilveen, who put in a "beautiful long shot" from near the corner-flag which saw even the Renton fans applaud. Renton however scored two second-half goals, the first from another scrimmage, to win through.
In the same season, the club won the
Ayrshire Cup
The Ayrshire Cup was an annual association football regional competition in Scotland. The cup competition was a knockout tournament between football clubs in the historic county of Ayrshire. The Ayrshire Cup was first held in 1877–78, the tr ...
for the only time, beating
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
*Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon
*Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine
*Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel
Portland may also r ...
4–2 in the final, played at Holm Quarry, the home ground for a number of other Kilmarnock sides. The match proved to be a test between the Portland's wider wing play and Mauchline's more compact forward line; Portland's opening goal was a Goldie header from a Sinclair corner, and the club went 2–1 up after Mauchline's back Wilson impeded his goalkeeper, but two goals in the last 20 minutes won the trophy for Mauchline. Portland had a measure of revenge in 1878–79 by winning the Burns Cup, an invitational tournament to raise funds for a statue to
Robert Burns
Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the List of national poets, national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the be ...
, coming from behind to beat Mauchline 2–1 in the final - the first time the Portland had beaten the Mauchline.
Mauchline was an original member the
Ayrshire Football League
The Ayrshire Football League is a defunct soccer league in Scotland.
Original competition
The League was formed in time for the 1891–92 season, by ten clubs which were members of both the Scottish Football Association and the Ayrshire Footba ...
in 1891–92, but only played in it for one unsuccessful season The following season it was a founder member of the
South of Scotland Football League
The South of Scotland Football League (SoSFL) is a senior football league based in south-west Scotland. The league sits at level 6 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League.
Founded in 1946, it ...
, but the season was never played out, and the championship abandoned.
A second Mauchline Football Club was founded in 1911 and existed until 1922 although all competitions were suspended throughout the First World War, 1914–1918.
Colours
The club played in blue and white hooped jerseys and hose, with white knickers.
Ground
The club's ground at Connel Park was a 3-minute walk from the Mauchline railway station. As late as 1886 the club did not have facilities on the ground, teams having to change at the Loudoun Hotel.
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 ...
caps whilst a Mauchline player, scoring three goals; he was the sole club representative to have been selected for international duty.
* Hughie Wilson played for the club until 1884.
* W. H. Campbell of Mauchline F.C. finished second in the Scottish long jump championship of
1888
Events January
* January 3 – The great telescope (with an objective lens of diameter) at Lick Observatory in California is first used.
* January 12 – The Schoolhouse Blizzard hits Dakota Territory and the states of Montana, M ...
.''Scottish Athletics 1883-1983'', John W. Keddie (1982)