Southern Football Club was a Scottish football team located in the town of
Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of ...
,
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.
Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...
.
History
The club was founded in 1877, under the name Greenock (Southern). It turned senior in 1881 by joining the
Scottish Football Association
The Scottish Football Association (also known as the SFA and the Scottish FA; sco, Scots Fitba Association; Scottish Gaelic: ''Comann Ball-coise na h-Alba'') is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility fo ...
under the name Southern.
The club entered the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1881–82 to 1885–86. Its best run in the competition was in 1884–85, when it reached the third round for the only time. In the first round the club beat Paisley Athletic 3–2 away; in the second, it drew twice with
Pollokshaws
Pollokshaws ( sco, Powkshaws) is an area on the South side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is bordered by the residential neighbourhoods of Auldhouse to the east, Eastwood and Hillpark to the south and Shawlands to the north, with the Gl ...
, which, under the rules of the competition, meant both sides passed into the third round of fixtures. At that stage the club was drawn at
Morton Morton may refer to:
People
* Morton (surname)
* Morton (given name)
Fictional
* Morton Koopa, Jr., a character and boss in ''Super Mario Bros. 3''
* A character in the ''Charlie and Lola'' franchise
* A character in the 2008 film ''Horton ...
and lost 5–0, a turning point having a goal disallowed for a prior foul when 3–0 down.
It first entered the
Renfrewshire Cup
The Renfrewshire Cup was an annual association football competition between teams in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The final was generally a Renfrewshire derby contested between the two largest teams ...
in 1882–83, and that year was its best run, reaching the quarter-finals; however that was after one win and one bye. In the last eight, the club lost 8–0 at St Mirren.
The club's 1885–86 season demonstrated the gap between the top clubs and the rest had grown to an impossible extent. In the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Neilston
Neilston ( sco, Neilstoun, gd, Baile Nèill, ) is a village and parish in East Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is in the Levern Valley, southwest of Barrhead, south of Paisley, and south-southwest of Renfrew, at t ...
; an early indication of the erosion in the team's resources being that Southern only had ten men. In the Renfrewshire, the club gained its best competitive win in the first round, 9–2 against Glenpatrick, but in the second round suffered its worst defeat, 14–1 at Morton.
Southern's problem was that the Greenock football market was saturated. In 1884, the town had a number of clubs, including senior clubs
Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
, Greenock Rovers, Lyle Athletic, Northern (Greenock), Morton, and the 1st R.R.V.; between them, they had 320 members, but St Mirren in nearby Paisley had 300 members alone. Southern had but 40 members that season and by 1887 all but three of these clubs had folded. Southern was one of them - along with geographical stablemates Northern, Southern was struck from the Scottish FA membership roll in August 1886, and the Renfrewshire the following month.
Colours
The club originally wore navy jerseys, white knickers, and navy stockings. In 1883 the club changed to 1" hooped black and white jerseys, white knickers, and black and white stockings.
Ground
The club originally played at Finnart Park, a 10-minute walk from the station. In 1882 the club moved to West End Park. In 1884 it moved to Berrylands Park, a 2-minute walk from
Upper Greenock railway station
Upper Greenock railway station was a railway station serving the town of Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, Unite ...