Shawfield Football Club was a Scottish football team that competed in the Junior set-up and won the

Scottish Junior Cup The Scottish Junior Cup is an annual football competition organised by the Scottish Junior Football Association. The competition has been held every year since the inception of the SJFA in 1886 and, as of the 2022–23 edition, 108 teams compete ...

in 1946–47. There are also a number of references to them being called Shawfield Juniors.

History

Shawfield was founded in 1918 and disbanded in 1960. Their home ground was

Rosebery Park Rosebery Park was a football ground in the Oatlands area of Glasgow, Scotland. It was the home of Shawfield F.C. from 1918 to 1960, before being acquired by Glasgow Corporation as a venue for schools' football matches. The discovery that the sit ...

, located in the Oatlands area of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

– this is close to, but not within, the

Shawfield Shawfield is an industrial/commercial area of the Royal Burgh of Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located to the north of the town centre. It is bordered to the east by the River Clyde, to the north by the Glasgow neighbourhood of Oatl ...

district of the town of

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

which includes

Shawfield Stadium Shawfield Stadium is a closed greyhound racing, football and speedway venue in the Shawfield district of the town of Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, located close to the boundary with Glasgow. Originally a football ground, Shawfield ...

. The club's first season in the

Glasgow Junior League The Glasgow Junior Football League (GJL) was a football league competition operated under the Scottish Junior Football Association between 1895 and 1927.

was in 1921–22. They remained a mid-table finishing side through five seasons in that league and four in its successor competition, the

Scottish Intermediate League The Intermediate dispute was a major split in Scottish football which lasted from 1925 to 1931 and concerned the compensation that Junior clubs received when one of their players moved to a Senior football league side. Although largely confined t ...

. In 1931–32, the first season of the next reorganisation — the '' Central Junior League'' — Shawfield won the championship, beating Yoker Athletic in the deciding match. In 1937, they were overall runners-up to

Arthurlie Arthurlie is an area of the town of Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, Scotland. History of Arthurlie The lands of Arthurlie were held in medieval times by the Stewart family, a branch of the noble Stewarts of Darnley. Later the lands became the prop ...

, but in 1944 they finished dead last, only improving by one place the following year. They were bottom again in 1954, but generally were a middle-ranking club up to their last season, 1959–60. In the knockout competitions, Shawfield lost the 1939

final by 2–1 to neighbours

Rutherglen Glencairn Rutherglen Glencairn Football Club is a Scottish football club based in Rutherglen, South Lanarkshire, near Glasgow. Nicknamed ''The Glens'' and formed in 1896, they play at The Hamish B Allan Stadium (New Southcroft Park). Glencairn currentl ...

(whose ground was in Shawfield itself) in the final at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

, watched by 22,363 although they gained some consolation that year by winning the

West of Scotland Cup The West of Scotland Cup was an association football cup competition for clubs in Scotland which were barred from the Scottish Football Association which was played in 1877–78 and 1878–79. Format The competition was a single-elimination tou ...

in a 2–0 victory over Clydebank Juniors. They got their hands on the biggest prize of the Junior grade in 1947, defeating

Bo'ness United Bo'ness United Football Club is a Scottish football club, based in the town of Bo'ness. The team plays in the after winning the East of Scotland and gaining SFA membership in 2020. They presently play their home games at Newtown Park, which ...

in the Scottish Cup Final at

Hampden Park Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...

, The first match before a crowd of 56,410 finished 1–1; the replay drew 26,521 with Shawfield prevailing 2–1. Bo’ness would go on to lift the trophy the following year. One of Shawfield’s players, Tommy Farrell, played in both the 1939 and 1947 finals either side of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The club disbanded in 1960, having lost much of their local base for players and supporters – Glasgow's housing improvement programme was in full swing, with much of the population of the crowded, substandard tenements decanted to new

overspill estate An overspill estate is a housing estate planned and built for the housing of excess population in urban areas, both from the natural increase of population and often in order to rehouse people from decaying inner city areas, usually as part of th ...

s on the edge of town – for residents of the areas surrounding Rosebery Park like Oatlands,

Hutchesontown Hutchesontown is an inner-city area in Glasgow, Scotland. Mostly residential, it is situated directly south of the River Clyde and forms part of the wider historic Gorbals district, which is covered by the Southside Central ward under Glasgow ...

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

and

Polmadie Polmadie (; gd, Poll Mac Dè, lit=Son of God pool) is a primarily industrial area of Glasgow in Scotland. Situated south of the River Clyde, Polmadie is close to residential neighbourhoods including Govanhill (to the west) and Toryglen (south- ...

this typically meant

Castlemilk Castlemilk ( gd, Caisteal Mheilc) is a district of Glasgow, Scotland. It lies to the far south of the city centre, adjacent to the Croftfoot and Simshill residential areas within the city to the north-west, the town of Rutherglen - neighbourh ...

and

Pollok Pollok ( gd, Pollag, lit=a pool, sco, Powk) is a large housing estate on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate was built either side of World War II to house families from the overcrowded inner city. Housing 30,0 ...

, although no new Junior teams were established in these vast schemes ( Pollok F.C. are not based in the residential district of that name). Shawfield were only the first Junior club in that part of the city to fold, followed by Bridgeton Waverley (1962),

Parkhead Parkhead ( sco, Pairkheid) is a district in the East End of Glasgow. Its name comes from a small weaving hamlet at the meeting place of the Great Eastern Road (now the Gallowgate and Tollcross Road) and Westmuir Street. Glasgow's Eastern Necrop ...

(1963),

Strathclyde Strathclyde ( in Gaelic, meaning "strath (valley) of the River Clyde") was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government ...

(1965) and Dennistoun Waverley (1968). Clyde also suffered from a diminishing fanbase and would leave the area in the 1980s.

Former players

''See: :Shawfield F.C. players'' The Post-war Scottish internationals that had played for Shawfield were

Bobby Dougan Bobby Dougan (3 December 1926 – 7 February 2010) was a Scottish footballer, who played as a centre half for Heart of Midlothian and Kilmarnock in the Scottish Football League, having started his career with Shawfield. Playing career Dougan ...

and

Frank McLintock Francis McLintock MBE (born 28 December 1939) is a former Scotland international footballer, football manager and businessman. He also worked as a sports agent and football pundit in his later life. He began his career in Scottish Junior footb ...

Honours

''List of Shawfield honours;'' *

: 1946–47 ** Runners-up: 1938–39 * Central Junior League: 1931–32 ** Runners-up: 1936–37 *

West of Scotland Junior Cup The West of Scotland Junior Challenge Cup was an annual Football in Scotland, Scottish football competition played in a one-leg Single-elimination tournament, knockout format (played at 'home' team grounds as drawn, until the final at a neutral v ...

: 1938–39 *

Glasgow Junior League The Glasgow Junior Football League (GJL) was a football league competition operated under the Scottish Junior Football Association between 1895 and 1927.

Cup: 1925–26 * Glasgow Junior Cup: 1931–32, 1938–39 * North Eastern Junior Cup: 1923–24, 1935–36, 1946–47 * Glasgow Junior Charity Cup: 1933–34 * Glasgow Eastern Charity Cup: 1933–34, 1950–51 * Smyllum Charity Cup: 1931–32, 1932–33 * Elder Cottage Hospital Cup: 1926–27

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs Football clubs in Glasgow Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1918 Gorbals Association football clubs disestablished in 1960 1918 establishments in Scotland 1960 disestablishments in Scotland Scottish Junior Football Association clubs