Rovers Football Club was a 19th-century football club based 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 ...

History

The club was founded on 22 April 1873. The club may have emerged from a rugby club known as Queen's Park Rovers which is recorded to have had a fixture at the start of the year. It was very active in its first season of football, claiming 10 wins from 19 games. Rovers was one of the original 16 teams to participate in the inaugural season of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Eastern F.C. Eastern Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. It was one of the founder members of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and one of the sixteen teams to participate in the inaugural season of the Scottish ...

second XI. It took part in Scottish Cup tournaments between 1873–74 and 1877–78, reaching the quarter-finals on two occasions. The first time the club reached the last eight was in 1874–75, and it did so without playing a match in the tournament - accepting a walkover from Hamilton F.C. in the first round and receiving a bye in the second round, before scratching to eventual winners Queen's Park. The following season the club reached the quarter-finals - that season, the final seven - on merit, with wins over the Glasgow side West End and the 3rd Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers F.C., but losing to

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 ...

; the game 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 ...

ended early because of bad light but Rovers agreed that the result should stand. In 1877, the club took over the Winton club of

Mount Florida Mount Florida () is an area in the south-east of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Origins The Glasgow district of Mount Florida originated on the "Lands of Mount Floridon", which were described in detail when offered for sale at auction on 21 ...

. However the club does not seem to have survived the season, with Winton reforming as Apsley; in its final season, its membership had dropped to 40, making it one of the smaller sides in Glasgow. Rovers F.C. should not be confused with other Scottish teams of the same name, such as Rovers F.C. (1872–1882) in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, or Rovers F.C. (1888–1889) in the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands (; , ) is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Scottish Lowlands, Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Scots language, Lowland Scots language replaced Scottish Gae ...

Colours

The club originally played in blue jerseys with a white cross, white knickerbockers, and blue stockings, supplied by Forsyths of Renfield Street. It is not known whether the cross was a

Maltese cross The Maltese cross is a cross symbol, consisting of four " V" or arrowhead shaped concave quadrilaterals converging at a central vertex at right angles, two tips pointing outward symmetrically. It is a heraldic cross variant which develope ...

, which was a popular design on football jerseys at the time, or a

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a Heraldry, heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French , Medieval Latin ("stirrup"). From its use as field sign, the saltire cam ...

. In 1877 it changed its stockings to blue and white.

Grounds

The club played at the following grounds: *1873–75: South Side Park/

Queen's Park, Glasgow Queen's Park (, ) is a park situated on the south side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, between Strathbungo, Shawlands, Battlefield, Mount Florida, and Crosshill. The park lies about south of the city centre, and gives its name to a nearby ...

*1875–76: Lorne Park, also the home of

Ramblers The Ramblers' Association, branded simply as the Ramblers, is Great Britain's walking charity. The Ramblers is also a membership organisation with around 100,000 members and a network of volunteers who maintain and protect the path network. T ...

*1876–78: Victoria Road, Glasgow

External links

Scottish Football Club Directory

References

{{Football in Scotland Defunct football clubs in Scotland Football clubs in Glasgow Association football clubs established in 1873 Association football clubs disestablished in 1878 1873 establishments in Scotland 1878 disestablishments in Scotland Govanhill and Crosshill