Upper Clydesdale Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in

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 ...

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark ( gd, Siorrachd Lannraig; sco, Lanrikshire), is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the central Lowlands of Scotland. Lanarkshire is the most populous county in Scot ...

, Scotland.

History

The Strathclyde F.C. was one of the earliest senior clubs in

, 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 ...

soon after the club's founding in 1877. It entered the

1877–78 Scottish Cup The 1877–78 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the fifth season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. For the first time, over 100 teams took part in the competition whi ...

, and beat

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

5–1 in the first round, but lost 8–1 at

Partick Partick ( sco, Pairtick, 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 t ...

in the second, being 2–1 down at half-time but conceding six in the second half. The last fixture recorded for Strathclyde is a return fixture West End in January 1878. Before the 1878–79 season the club was re-founded as Upper Clydesdale, playing in almost the same colours, at the same ground, and with the only two known Strathclyde players (Coulter/Colthart and Williamson, also the Strathclyde secretary) playing for the Upper Clydesdale as well. There is one reference to a Strathclyde club playing against

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air L ...

in October 1879 but as the game took place at Kelvinbank it refers to a different side. By this time, the club had a membership of 70, making it second in Lanarkshire only to

Drumpellier Drumpellier Country Park is a country park situated to the west of Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The park was formerly a private estate. The land was given over to the Burgh of Coatbridge for use as a public park in 1919, and was desig ...

, which was a long-standing cricket club as well as football club. 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, aft ...

and in the first round was drawn away at the established

Newmains Newmains is a village and former mining community on the eastern edge of Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, south-east of Glasgow. Although it is considered by the local authority to have a town centre in its own right. History The story of ...

club. Upper Clydesdale ran riot, winning 12–0 and three of its players (Williamson, Muir, and Robert Colthart) scoring hat-tricks. However the club never won another competitive match. It lost 7–0 at Jamestown in the second round, illustrating the strength of the game in

Dumbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Pe ...

, and 3–0 to

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...

in the second round the following year, conceding the first goal after 2 minutes, after a first-round walkover. The club was a founder member of the Lanarkshire Association and entered the first

Lanarkshire Cup The Lanarkshire Cup was an annual competition open to football teams in the Lanarkshire area. The competition is now defunct. List of winners 1879–80 - Stonelaw 1880–81 - Thistle 1881–82 - Hamilton Academical 1882–83 - West Benhar 1883� ...

in 1879–80, going out to Larkhall in the second round, having gained a walkover in the first when

Cambuslang Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...

did not turn up. By 1880 its membership had reduced to 50, with many other Lanarkshire clubs now overtaking the club. It scratched from the next two editions of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1880–81 returning the favour to Cambuslang, who walked over into the second round - which meant it was automatically expelled from the

Colours

Strathclyde wore royal and navy blue hooped jerseys, and white knickers. As Upper Clydesdale, the club wore the same colours, but with a red star added to the left breast. The club's change colours were white and blue, probably in hoops.

Grounds

The club played at Shawfield Park,

Rutherglen Bridge The Rutherglen Bridge or the Shawfield Bridge is a bridge which was built 1893–96, which crosses the River Clyde, in Scotland. It connects Shawfield, the most northerly district in the town of Rutherglen, and the south-side Glasgow distri ...

, a five-minute walk from

Bridgeton Cross Bridgeton ( sco, Brigtoun, gd, Baile na Drochaid) is a district to the east of Glasgow city centre. Shires of Scotland, Historically part of Lanarkshire, it is bounded by Glasgow Green to the west, Dalmarnock to the east and south, Calton, Gla ...

. From 1880 the ground was shared by

Glasgow Thistle Thistle Football Club (also known as Glasgow Thistle and Bridgeton Thistle) was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow. The club was briefly a member of the Scottish Football League Division Two, and has been described as the most insig ...

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1877 Association football clubs disestablished in 1881 1877 establishments in Scotland 1881 disestablishments in Scotland Football in South Lanarkshire Rutherglen