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
Milngavie
Milngavie ( ; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milngavie is a commuter t ...
, at the time in
Dunbartonshire
Dunbartonshire () or the County of Dumbarton is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbar ...
.
History
Milngavie Football Club
The first senior club in the town was the Milngavie club, founded in 1875. It first recorded fixture was a 1–0 home defeat to the Grafton club of
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
at the start of the 1876–77 season.
The club entered the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1877–78, and won at
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, scoring in the second half after Alexandria dominated the first. The club was brought down to earth by a 9–0 defeat at Lennox in the second.
Thistle Athletic Football Club
There is no further record of the Milngavie club; for the 1878–79 season, the town was represented by a club registered under the name of Thistle, which gave its foundation date as being 1878. The club however played at the same ground as Milngavie and had the same club secretary, so was either a continuation of Milngavie, or a successor club.
Whether the Thistle was the same club as Milngavie or a separate club was not clear (or apparently important) at the time. The club's first Scottish Cup tie, in the first round in 1878–79, was certainly a 3–0 defeat at
Lenzie
Lenzie () is a small affluent town by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway in the East Dunbartonshire council area and the historic county of Dunbartonshire in Scotland. It is about north-east of Glasgow city centre and south of Kirkintilloch. At ...
, with Thistle disputing one of the goals. However, the
North British Daily Mail
The ''Daily Record'' is a Scottish national tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. The newspaper is published Monday–Saturday and its website is updated on an hourly basis, seven days a week. The ''Record'' sister title is the '' Sunday Mail''. ...
gives the club's name as Milngavie, the
Glasgow Herald
''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...
as Thistle Athletics ic''and'' the Milngavie Club,
the Scotsman
''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
as Thistle (Milngavie), and 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 ...
Yearbook as Milngavie Thistle. One practical difference was that the Thistle club was entered in the
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties.
It borders Perthshir ...
section of the Scottish Cup, whereas as Milngavie the club was considered a Dunbartonshire club.
In 1879, the club formally recorded its name as Thistle Athletic. It entered the Scottish Cup under that name until 1881–82; the club scratched to Lenzie before playing in 1880–81.
Its best run in the competition came in 1881–82. In the first round, the club drew twice with
Bridge of Allan
Bridge of Allan (, ), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a former spa town in the Stirling (council area), Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling.
Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on th ...
, which should have put both clubs into the second round; indeed Bridge of Allan was drawn to play
Strathblane
Strathblane (, ) is a village and List of civil parishes in Scotland, parish in the registration county of Stirling, situated in the southwestern part of the Stirling (council area), Stirling council area, in central Scotland. It lies at the foo ...
and Thistle a bye at the next stage. However, perhaps to avoid giving a bye, a second replay was held, which Thistle won 8–0, Bridge of Allan only turning up with 9 men. Thistle duly took Bridge of Allan's place against Strathblane in the second round, and won 3–2; Strathblane protested against the competence of the referee, but the SFA took the dimmest view, refusing the protest and retaining Strathblane's protest deposit money. The run came to an end against
Falkirk
Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a 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 resident population of 32,422 at the ...
with a 2–0 home defeat, the Thistle being accused of playing a "very rough game".
Reversion to Milngavie
In 1882, the club changed its name (back) to Milngavie, although it remained within the Stirlingshire region. It was the club's final season as a senior club; although it enjoyed a fine win at home to
East Stirlingshire
East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins can b ...
in the first round of the
1882–83 Scottish Cup
The 1882–83 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the tenth season of Scotland's most prestigious Association football, football knockout competition. Dumbarton F.C., Dumbarton won the cup for the f ...
, it was hammered 16–0 by
Vale of Leven
The Vale of Leven () is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ''fie ...
in the second round, which equalled the world record defeat in competitive football (set by Wanderers against
Farningham
Farningham is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located south-east of Swanley.
It has a population of 1,314.
History
Farningham is believed to be home to Neolithic human occupancy – flint and othe ...
in the
1874–75 FA Cup
The 1874–75 FA Cup was the fourth edition of the annual FA Cup, the oldest national football tournament in the world. Entrants increased to 29 teams, one more than the previous season; four would never contest a match. It began on 27 February ...
).
The club was struck from the Scottish FA membership roll in August 1883. Milngavie carried on for two seasons, being one of the first clubs to join the Stirlingshire Association in early 1884, and played twice in the
Stirlingshire Cup
The Stirlingshire Cup is an association football cup competition for clubs in the counties of Stirlingshire, Clackmannanshire & Dunbartonshire, Scotland. The competition was founded in 1883 and was contested annually by senior member clubs of the ...
. Its first entry, in 1883–84, ended with a 5–0 defeat to Falkirk in the second round, but the club was particularly unlucky in its last entry in 1884–85. Milngavie beat
Camelon
Camelon (; , ) is a large settlement within the Falkirk council area, Scotland. The village is in the Forth Valley, west of Falkirk, south of Larbert and east of Bonnybridge. The main road through Camelon is the A803 road which links th ...
2–1 in the first round, but the tie was re-played on the basis that "the referee was in an intoxicated state". Camelon won the replay, at neutral ground in
Stenhousemuir
Stenhousemuir (; ) 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 nearest rail access is located ...
, 4–1; Milngavie put in a successful protest on the basis that one of the Camelon players had already represented Tayavalla in the competition, but the Stirlingshire committee ordered another replay, and Milngavie appears to have disbanded before the replay could take place. Camelon went on to win the trophy.
The Milngavie name was used from 1888 for an unconnected
Junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Aircraft
* Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft
* PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft
* SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider
Arts and entertainment Characters
* Bowser Jr., ...
club.
Colours
As Milngavie, the club played in 1" blue and white hooped shirts, white knickers, and red hose. As Thistle, the club played in 2" red and yellow hooped jerseys and dark blue knickers.
For the club's final incarnation, from 1882–83, it wore all white.
Ground
The club played at Drumclog, ten minutes' walk from
Milngavie railway station
Milngavie railway station serves the town of Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, near Glasgow in Scotland. The station is sited from Glasgow Queen Street, measured via Maryhill. The station is managed by ScotRail, who also operate all services at t ...