football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
club based in
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...
, now in
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 ...
, active in the 19th century.
History
The club was founded in March 1880 with 40 members; in what remained of the 1879–80 season, the club played two matches, with a scoring record of 7–2. It was a resolutely amateur side, in common with neighbouring sides Queen's Park,
Battlefield
A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troop ...
, and Pollokshields Athletic; occasionally players from all four teams would form an exhibition side under the name Glasgow Wanderers.
The club was also boosted in 1880 by the admission of many of the members of the Parkgrove club, which was also faced with having to give up its Trinidad Park ground.
The Pilgrims entered the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1880–81 until 1885–86. Its best run came in its first entry. The club beat
Lancefield
Lancefield is a town in the Shire of Macedon Ranges local government area in Victoria, Australia north of the state capital, Melbourne, 33.6km south of Puckapunyal and had a population of at least 2,743 at the 2021 census.
History
The are ...
at Middleton Park in the first round, S. Lyall scoring all 4 goals in a 4–2 win, despite the "great credit" of visiting goalkeeper Boyd, who "used both hands and feet cleverly, and saved his charge repeatedly". In the second round the club gained its biggest Cup win - 7–0 over
City
A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
- but in the third round it was brought down to earth by its record defeat, 8–1 against fellow travellers Queen's Park.
Despite this promising start, the club only won one more Cup tie - in the first round in 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 ...
, beating
Possilpark
Possilpark, colloquially known as Possil,South Western, which was also using Copeland Park, the Pilgrims name evidently carrying more of a cachet as South Western had over 80 members compared to the Pilgrims' 46.
The club was still prominent enough in the 1884–85 season to be invited to open Beresford Park, the new ground of
Ayr
Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...
, the home side winning the inaugural match 3–1. Towards the end of the season, Walter Lamont, a left-winger, became the only Pilgrims player to earn an international cap; Lamont had a dream debut, scoring the first goal in Scotland's 8–2 win over Ireland, but was not capped again.
With the rise of professionalism in England, and south Glasgow being saturated with amateur clubs, the Pilgrims fell away; the club failed to pay its subscription for the 1886–87 season and was therefore struck off the Scottish Football Association member roll.
Colours
The club's initial colours were 1" white and ½" black hooped jerseys with blue knickers, and stockings of any colour. In 1881 the club changed to a more regular 1" black and white hooped jersey, and in 1883 to white knickers.
In 1884, perhaps in honour of the takeover of South Western, the club changed its jerseys to South Western's orange and black, albeit in stripes.
Ground
The club's first home ground was Middleton Park. After a season the club moved to Copeland Park. On the club's dissolution, Copeland Park was hired out to the new St Peter's club.
Notable players
* Walter Lamont, the club's only international player