Mid-Annandale 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
club from
Lockerbie
Lockerbie (, ) is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, located in south-western Scotland. The 2001 Census recorded its population as 4,009. The town had an estimated population of in . The town came to international attention in December 1988 when ...
in
Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...
. The club was one of the more successful in the county in the 1880s and early 1890s, once reaching the final 16 of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,[Dumfriesshire
Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the hi ...](_blank)
, for a trophy donated by a Rev. Churchill of the
Moffat
Moffat is a burgh and parish in Dumfriesshire. Part of the Dumfries and Galloway local authority area in Scotland, it lies on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500. It was a centre of the wool trade and a spa town.
Moffat is arou ...
club. The club entered for the first time in 1882–83, its first tie being a 2–1 win over East End Rovers of
Dumfries
Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
. In 1883–84 the club was also invited to enter the Southern Counties Charity Cup, which was for a more select group of clubs.
First Churchill Cup success
The club's first success came in the Churchill Cup in 1886–87. In the first round, the club was drawn to play the
5th K.R.V., one of the two strongest sides in the region, and who had beaten the Mids 10–1 in the competition two years earlier. Mid-Annandale won 3–2. The Volunteers protested, but, after a 4–4 draw in the re-played tie on neutral territory at Milldamhead (the ground of
Vale o' Nith), they failed to turn up for a replay, and the Mids were put through to the second round. In the semi-final, the club unexpectedly beat
Queen of the South Wanderers 4–2, the match affected by a heavy wind which disturbed the Wanderers' passing game more than the Mids' dribbling game; a protest about the "partiality" of the referee (from Moffat) was dismissed. In the final, the Mids edged Vale o' Nith 4–3 in "magnificent" weather at Milldamhead, the Mids conceding two late goals to bring the score close.
It was the first of three successive Churchill Cup finals for the Mids. In 1887–88 the club lost to Moffat in a final that saw 21 goals; eight in the original match (said to be the "roughest on record") and 13 in the replay, which ended 7–6 to Moffat. In 1888–89 the club lost 4–2 to the 5th K.R.V. after a replay.
Suffering against the 5th K.R.V.
The success encouraged the club to enter the Scottish Cup for the first time in
1888–89. In its first tie the club lost 3–1 at Vale o' Nith, after its best player James Mitchell had to leave the field through injury; in its second tie, in
1889–90, the club had the chance to gain revenge for its cup final defeat when drawn at home to the 5th K.R.V., but only two players (D.J. and F. Jardine) remained from the 1888–89 side. Reflecting the Lockerbie fans' hopes for success, there was greater support at the match for the visiting Volunteers; the "indifferently represented" Mids took a two-goal lead early on, but the 5th scored 5 goals before half-time, and ultimately won 11–3. The 5th also dealt a heavy defeat to the Mids in the final of the Charity Cup at the end of the season at Cresswell Park in Dumfries, this time 8–2, although by this time the Mids had recovered the previous season's players Ross, Laidlaw, Gardiner, and James Mitchell to their ranks; blame for the defeat was put on the "feeble resistance" offered by inexperienced goalkeeper M'Kinnon.
The Mids met the 5th again in the second 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.
Teams
First round Glasgow and Lanarkshire district
Glengowan receive ...
; Mid-Annandale had recorded its record victory in the first round, hammering
Rising Thistle of
Lochmaben
Lochmaben () is a small town and civil parish in Scotland, and site of a castle. It lies west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway. By the 12th century the Bruce family had become the local landowners and, in the 14th century, Edward I of Engl ...
16–1, but the Volunteers again came out on top, the game ending after 75 minutes with the score at 9–1 after Mundell left the pitch in protest at the refereeing; W. Mitchell, Robert Steel, and Ross having already done so, thus leaving the Mids with 7 men.
Second Churchill Cup success
1891–92 was arguably the club's greatest season, as 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 ...
had introduced preliminary rounds in the Scottish Cup, and the Mids won through them for the only time to get to the first round proper - albeit the club only won one tie, as it was helped by two sides scratching and receiving a bye. The club's tie at that stage with
the original Aberdeen club in
1891–92 was scheduled to be played at
Duckburn Park in
Dunblane
Dunblane (, ) is a town in the council area of Stirling in central Scotland, and inside the historic boundaries of the county of Perthshire. It is a commuter town, with many residents making use of good transport links to much of the Central Be ...
but the referee postponed the tie because of a frozen pitch; the Mids, being "working fellows" and a "sturdy lot", offered to play regardless, which was declined by the "genteel" Aberdeen side of "clerks, teachers &c", and the sides nearly came to blows over the issue, much to the amusement of the locals. The rescheduled tie was eventually played at
Stirling
Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...
, a piqued Mid-Annandale won 6–2, Aberdeen protesting about "the rough play" of the Mids.
The second round proper, made up of 16 clubs, and the furthest the club would ever reach, saw Mid-Annandale drawn to play 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 ...
side
Cowlairs
Cowlairs () is an area in the Scottish city of Glasgow, part of the wider Springburn district of the city. It is situated north of the River Clyde, between central Springburn to the east and Possilpark to the west.
Administratively, in the 21 ...
away from home, and suffer an 11–2 defeat; the home side missed a penalty, but scored seven goals without reply in the second half, and one of the two Ross brothers was sent off with 10 minutes to go, his brother also leaving the pitch in sympathy. The club however had ample consolation in February when it won the Churchill Cup for a second time, finally gaining revenge over the 5th K.R.V. in the final with a 3–0 win, Mitchell scoring a hat-trick.
Collapse, re-start, and final end
It was the club's high point. Two months after the Churchill Cup final, the Mids met the 5th again in the Southern Counties Cup final; but this time, with centre-half Laidlaw replaced by the inexperienced Barnett, the Mids went down heavily to the Volunteers, with the first goal coming in under a minute, and the second from the penalty mark after 2. Yet again the Mids saw players leaving the pitch as a protest against the refereeing, this time after Mitchell was sent off for "kicking an opponent while lying on the ground", joined by the two Rosses and Richardson. The Volunteers also scored three times from penalties and ended up winning 9–1.
The club was in fact in serious financial difficulties. It did enter the
1892–93 Scottish Cup
The 1892–93 Scottish Cup was the 20th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Queen's Park when they beat Celtic 2–1 in the final after a replay.
Calendar
Teams
Preliminary rounds
First ...
, but disbanded before the season started. However, at a "largely-attended" meeting at the Eastern Institute in Lockerbie on 2 September 1892, it was resolved to re-start the club, with the previous committee undertaking to clear the debts, and a new committee under honorary president James Jardine-Paterson was formed.
It was too late for the club to play in the Scottish Cup, but it did enter the Churchill Cup, reaching the semi-final. However the club retained its rough play and objections to refereeing decisions. When beating whipping boys Rising Thistle 14–0 at their Innerfield Park in the first round match, "the latter portion of the game was characterised by a display of roughness on the part of the visitors", with Mitchell being singled out for violence. In the semi-final, against
Newton Stewart Athletic at
Castle Douglas
Castle Douglas () is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies in the lieutenancy area of Kirkcudbrightshire, in the eastern part of Galloway, between the towns of Dalbeattie and Gatehouse of Fleet. It is in the ecclesiastical paris ...
, and the score 3–2 to Athletic, Mitchell was sent off for rough play, and 6 of his team-mates walked off in sympathy. Despite the Mids being down to 4 men, the referee re-started the match, and Newton Stewart scored a fourth goal, with the four Mids players claiming offside.
The club did play out the 1892–93 season with friendlies, and only played friendlies in 1893–94. It returned to competitive football in the 1894–95 season, but lost in its first ties in the Scottish Cup (losing 2–1 at
St Cuthbert Wanderers after Adamson of the Mids and Crossan of the Wanderers were sent off after a "too warm interchange of physical compliments"), and the Churchill Cup. The club's defeat to Maxwelltown Thistle - a club which would only play senior football that season - in the latter is the club's last recorded competitive match; in December 1894, after a scratch side beat Templand Wanderers, the club was disbanded. The coup de grâce was the Scottish FA striking the club from membership for non-payment of subscriptions before the 1895–96 season.
Colours
The club's colours were light blue until 1887, and yellow (originally described as orange) and black striped shirts afterwards, with navy knickers. The club's change kit was dark blue and white stripes.
Ground
The club played at Livingstone Place Park.
Honours
*Churchill Cup:
**Winners: 1886–87, 1891–92
**Runners-up: 1887–88, 1888–89
*Southern Counties Cup:
**Runners-up: 1891–92
*Southern Counties Charity Cup:
**Runners-up: 1889–90
External links
Churchill Cup
References
{{Defunct Scottish football clubs, state=collapsed
Defunct football clubs in Scotland
Association football clubs established in 1877
Association football clubs disestablished in 1894
Football clubs in Dumfries and Galloway
1877 establishments in Scotland
1894 disestablishments in Scotland