association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
club based in the town of
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
, in
West Dunbartonshire
West Dunbartonshire (; , ) is one of the 32 Local government in Scotland, local government council areas of Scotland. The area lies to the north-west of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages. ...
.
History
The club was formed in 1883 as a somewhat "aristocratic" club, The club may have had links with the
Temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...
as it often held its meetings in the Lennox Temperance Hotel.
The earliest recorded match for the club was at
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
of
Helensburgh
Helensburgh ( ; ) is a town on the north side of the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, situated at the mouth of the Gareloch. Historically in Dunbartonshire, it became part of Argyll and Bute following local government reorganisation in 1996.
Histo ...
in April 1885. Its first competitive match was in the
Dumbartonshire Cup
The Dumbartonshire Cup was the championship trophy of the Dumbartonshire FA from its inception in 1884 until the organization disbanded in 1938. There was however an 'extra' playing of the competition in 1939, immediately after the outbreak of the ...
at home to Dumbarton Athletic in 1886–87 and ended in a 9–1 defeat, the Methlan goal being almost the last kick of the game.
Undaunted, the club joined the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...
in 1887 and entered the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1887–88. Although it suffered heavy defeats in both national and county competitions, the club rapidly improved, and in 1888–89 had its best run in both competitions. In the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Kirkintilloch Athletic (with three goals in seven minutes) and Vale of Leven Hibernians put the club in the fourth round. The run ended at
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
with a 9–0 defeat, Methlan Park's poor performance being put down to "funk", and Dumbarton deliberately eased off towards the end.
In the Dumbartonshire Cup, Methlan Park registered its biggest competitive win, 8–0 at Kirkintilloch Central in the first round, the game ending eight minutes early when the Central walked off the pitch because of darkness, and only lost 2–1 at Dumbarton Athletic in the semi-final, even taking the lead. It reached the semi-final twice more (in 1889–90 and 1891–92).
Methlan Park's difficulty was that three clubs in the shire - Dumbarton, Vale of Leven, and Renton - were all founder members of the
Scottish League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct 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 k ...
, and competing with three clubs backed by local factories was impossible. The club scratched from the qualifying stage of the 1892–93 and 1893–94 Scottish Cup and did not enter the local competition. The club continuing registering with the Scottish FA, but was defunct by April 1895, although the name survived as that of a juvenile side.
Colours
The club played in red and yellow hooped jerseys, with white knickers until 1889 and blue knickers afterwards.
Ground
The club played at Lower Woodyard Park until 1888 and then Upper Woodyard Park, which were a pair of fields next door to Woodyard Park, which had been the home of Alclutha and until 1890 was the home of Union.
The Park had rented both fields during the football season, plus one of them over the summer months for practice, at a rent of £22 per annum, from a John McCallum. McCallum also rented the fields over the summer to a cowfeeder, William Donaldson, who refused to pay the full rent on the basis that he expected both fields over the summer.
Notable players
*
Dickie Boyle
Richard Boyle (24 September 1869 – 24 May 1947) was a Scottish professional footballer.
Career
Boyle played club football in Scotland and England for Dumbarton, Everton, New Brighton Tower and Dundee.
Honours
Dumbarton
* Scottish League: ...
, a
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
champion with Everton, was the club's vice-captain before joining Dumbarton
*
Alex Latta
Alexander Latta (1 September 1867 – 25 August 1928) was a Scottish footballer who made ten appearances, mostly at outside right, in Everton's Football League title-winning side of 1890–91. Latta began his career with Dumbarton Athletic as ...