association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
club based in the Scottish town of
Yoker
Yoker () is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, located on the northern bank of the Clyde east of Clydebank, west of the city centre. The name is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic ''Eochair'' meaning a river bank.
From the fourteenth centur ...
, now part of
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
Yoker claimed a foundation date in 1876 and its earliest fixture recorded is a 6–0 defeat by Jordanhill in 1878.
The club originally played within the purview of
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...
, and its first entry to the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1879–80, saw the club drawn to visit
Thornliebank
Thornliebank ( Scots: ''Thonliebank'', Scottish Gaelic: ''Bruach nan Dealgan'') is a suburban area in East Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, it is located on the Auldhouse Burn about ...
, the holders of 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 team ...
, the home side winning 4–0. Perhaps considering that 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 team ...
was a step too far, Yoker played more local competitive football, and twice played in the final of the low-key Yoker Cup.
Yoker finally entered the Renfrewshire Cup in 1882–83 and 1883–84, but only won one tie, and twice went out to Southern of
Greenock
Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...
.
Yoker's Scottish Cup performances had been unremarkable, until, in 1884–85, the Dumbartonshire Association was founded, and Yoker switched allegiance. This put it in the
Dumbartonshire
Dunbartonshire () 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 Perthshire to the north, Stirling ...
area of the Scottish Cup draw, which included
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties.
It borders Perthshir ...
from the second round. In the first round, Yoker beat
Rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...
of
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
, 2–0, away from home; in the second, the club hammered Tayavalla 17–0; this broke the previous Scottish Cup record of 16–0, for
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 ...
against
Milngavie
Milngavie ( ; ) is a town in East Dunbartonshire, Scotland and a suburb of Glasgow. It is on the Allander Water, at the northwestern edge of Greater Glasgow, and about from Glasgow city centre. It neighbours Bearsden. Milngavie is a commuter t ...
in 1882, and was also higher than the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
record of the same score, set by Wanderers against
Farningham
Farningham is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located south-east of Swanley.
It has a population of 1,314.
History
Farningham is believed to be home to Neolithic human occupancy – flint and othe ...
in 1874. This performance may have been due to the presence of John Christie, a former
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
and
Rangers
A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...
player who had recently joined the side, and who played in the club's third round defeat at
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 ...
.
Yoker took part in the first
Dumbartonshire Cup
The Dumbartonshire Cup was the championship trophy of the Dumbartonshire FA from its inception in 1884 until the organization disbanded in 1938. There was however an 'extra' playing of the competition in 1939, immediately after the outbreak of the ...
in 1884–85, and reached the semi-final, away at
Dumbarton
Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...
. The young Yoker side took the lead after 20 minutes by rushing Dumbarton goalkeeper M'Aulay through the goal, but three Dumbarton goals in the second half put the home side through. It was the only time the club reached so far.
Yoker lost its ground temporarily before the
1885–86 Scottish Cup
The 1885–86 Scottish Cup was the 13th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Queen's Park won the competition for the eighth time after they beat defending champions Renton 3–1 in the final.
Arbroath set a wor ...
got under way and Yoker the club had to host its tie with Union at the Dalmuir Thistle ground, which proved disastrous, as, despite Yoker winning 5–1, Union successfully obtained a replay, on the basis that the ground was 7 feet too narrow at one end. Union won the replayed tie (at Dumbarton Athletic's Burnside Park) 1–0, the heavier Yoker side suffering from a lack of practice, and missing out on an equalizer when the referee inadvertently stopped a goalbound Yoker shot late on.
Yoker gained revenge in the first round in the following season, coming from 2–0 down at half-time to beat Union 4–2, although Union tried to get some recompense by protesting that Yoker had not paid out a fair share of the gate money; the protest was dismissed on the Nelsonian basis that Yoker had not put any checks in place. In the second round, Yoker lost 4–0 at Dumbarton, all of the goals coming in the second half. The clubs met one month later in the second round of the Dumbartonshire Cup, this time Yoker losing 9–0, the first five goals coming in a burst between the 30th and 45th minute.
1886–87 was the club's last season; the club's final two matches were against the new Blairvaddick club for the Govan Jubilee Cup, which Blairvaddick won at the second time of asking 1–0. Yoker was struck from the roll for non-payment of subscriptions in August 1887.
Colours
The club's colours were navy shirts, white knickers, and red hose, apart from between 1885 and 1887 when the knickers were also navy.
River Clyde
The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...
.
Notable players
* John Christie, formerly of Bolton and Rangers
* Richard Hunter, later capped for Scotland, and who was the club's match secretary for its final season
{{Defunct Scottish football clubs, state=collapsed
Yoker
Yoker () is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, located on the northern bank of the Clyde east of Clydebank, west of the city centre. The name is an Anglicisation of the Scottish Gaelic ''Eochair'' meaning a river bank.
From the fourteenth centur ...