Vale of Gala F.C. was an association football club from

Galashiels Galashiels (; , ) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive history in the textile in ...

Selkirkshire Selkirkshire or the County of Selkirk is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. It borders Peeblesshire to the west, Midlothian to the north, Roxburghshire to the east, and Dumfriesshire to the south. It de ...

History

The club is first recorded in November 1889, losing 2–1 at home to Selkirk. Its first competitive football came in the first Border Cup in 1890–91, losing 4–2 at Kelso Athletic in the first round, and rage-quitting the association after the rejection of a protest against Kelso's "mixed colours". Despite this, Vale of Gala stepped up to the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

in 1891, and entered the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,East of Scotland Shield The East of Scotland Shield is a Scottish football trophy awarded by the East of Scotland Football Association. The only older cup competition in Scottish football is the Scottish Cup. The tournament is the third-oldest in world football st ...

, and

King Cup The King Cup (sometimes spelled King's Cup) (), officially known as The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' Cup (), is the Saudi Arabian football knockout cup competition. The King's Cup is the second-oldest knockout competition in Saudi Arabian ...

as well as the Border in 1891–92. The Border counties were more partial to

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

, so while the Vale was competitive against its local rivals, it was generally heavily beaten in other competitions. 1891–92 was its only entry in the King Cup (the club losing 10–5 at Hawick Rangers in the first round), 1892–93 its final entry in the Border, and 1893–94 its final entry in the Scottish Cup and East of Scotland Shield. Its only successful season came in the 1891–92 Border Cup, when wins over Selkirk and Kelso put it in the final, which it lost 1–0 against

Duns Duns may refer to: * Duns, Scottish Borders, a town in Berwickshire, Scotland ** Duns railway station ** Duns F.C., a football club ** Duns RFC, a rugby football club ** Battle of Duns, an engagement fought in 1372 * Duns Scotus ( 1265/66– ...

at Kelso's Springwood Park, having spent most of the match playing with ten men after an eye injury to a forward. Its three attempts at the Scottish Cup all ended in defeats in the first qualifying round. In 1891–92, the club lost 4–3 to Selkirk at Mossilee, the Vale having taken the lead three times in the match. In 1892–93, it was beaten 10–0 at home by

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

, and in 1893–94 lost 8–0 at Selkirk. That seems to be the club's last match, although the name at least was revived - albeit briefly - in 1897. The club was struck from the Scottish FA roll in August 1894.

Colours

The club wore royal blue and white "striped" (in the context, hooped) jerseys and white knickers.

Ground

The club's earliest home matches were on the Galashiels Public Park, By the end of the season it had obtained a tenancy of Mossilee. For the 1892–93 season, the club moved to Hollybush, which may have been foisted on the club by losing Mossilee; it was noted that the club had been unable to practise over the summer, which contributed to the club's double-figure defeat to Kirkcaldy in its first match of the season.

External links

Border Cup

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1889 Association football clubs disestablished in 1894 Football clubs in the Scottish Borders 1889 establishments in Scotland 1894 disestablishments in Scotland Lowland Football League teams Galashiels