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 from the
Possilpark
Possilpark, colloquially known as Possil,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 ...
in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
History
The club was founded in 1878, with the name originally stylized as Possil Blue Bell. With 28 members in its first season, the club was the second-smallest known senior club in Glasgow, only Union known to have been smaller. The club still only had 38 members in its second season.
Notwithstanding its size, the club entered the
1878–79 Scottish Cup
The 1878–79 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the sixth season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Defending champions Vale of Leven met Rangers in the final but, afte ...
, and enjoyed an 8–0 win over the 19th L.R.V. in the first round. The club lost 2–1 at
Partick
Partick (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Partaig'') is an area of Glasgow on the north bank of the River Clyde, just across from Govan. To the west lies Whiteinch, to the east Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Park (across the River Kelvin), and to the north Broo ...
in the second, the home side having a third chalked off and the Blue Bell goal being a consolation with ten minutes to go - the Partick goalkeeper only touched the ball on two other occasions.
The club made the second round again the following season, albeit thanks to the
Telegraphists
A telegraphist (BrE, British English), telegrapher (AmE, American English), or telegraph operator is a person who uses a telegraph key to send and receive Morse code messages in a telegraphy system. These messages, also called telegrams, can be ...
ceding the first round tie. Given little chance against the 3rd L.R.V., the Bluebell put up a remarkable fight, holding the Hi-Hi to a goalless draw at the original Cathkin Park thanks to "capital back play" and only losing 1–0 in the replay, held at
Govanhill
Govanhill () is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated south of the River Clyde between Pollokshields, the Gorbals, Strathbungo, Crosshill, Polmadie and Queen's Park. Historically part of Renfrewshire, Govanhill had the status of a police ...
; the Volunteers' superior fitness told as the Blue Bell dominated the first half, the Hi-Hi the second.
However that was as good as it got for the club; with other clubs in Glasgow and its environs emerging, a small club like the Bluebell was simply swamped. Indeed, the last record of the club playing is in a match against the Good Templars Harmonic in February 1880 for which it needed to borrow players from the unknown Possil Park United.
It entered the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1880–81, even a first round bye not persuading the side to play its second round tie. In 1881–82, the club was drawn to play Alexandra Athletic, but had dissolved before the tie could take place. The name was revived in 1886 for a side playing out of Overnewton.
Colours
The club wore dark blue jerseys and knickers, and red hose with a white stripe.
Ground
The club played at Hamilton Hill Park, a 15-minute walk from
Cowlairs railway station
Cowlairs railway station served the Cowlairs area of Glasgow, Scotland, from 1858 to 1964 on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.
History
The station was first opened on 1 April 1858 by the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, although it first appea ...
.
Notable players
Two Blue Bell players went on to win the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,George McArthur with
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
1883
Events
January
* January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States.
* January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people.
* January 16 – ...
, and Tom Robertson (who made his Blue Bell debut in the replay against the 3rd L.R.V.), with Queen's Park in
1890
Events
January
* January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa.
* January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House.
* January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...
and
1893
Events
January
* January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America.
* January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...
1895
Events January
* January 5 – Dreyfus affair: French officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his army rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island (off French Guiana) on what is much later admitted to be a false charge of tr ...