Benburb Football Club is a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club, based in Govan, Glasgow. Formed in 1885, the club is a member of the Scottish Junior Football Association and currently competes in the West of Scotland Football League. Benburb's colours are blue and white. The team have been managed since July 2015 by former Airdrie defender

Paul Lovering Paul Lovering (born 25 November 1975 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former professional footballer and is currently the manager at Glasgow West of Scotland Football League club Benburb. Throughout his career he played for five clubs in the Scottish ...

. Paul succeeded his father Frank who had been in the job for the previous thirteen seasons.

History

The origins of the club name are not fully documented, although it has been suggested that the club's name indicates roots in Northern Ireland, with a village of the same name being located there, and a significant battle taking place there during the 1640s. The suggestion is that the club was formed by Northern Irish immigrants to Glasgow, but this is not clear. It appears the first team known as Benburb was formed in the Govanhill area of Glasgow (then a separate

burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...

) in about 1885. After an aborted merger with a Gorbals team, Crown Athletic, in 1895, a reformed Benburb FC played in the nearby Oatlands neighbourhood until June 1898, when its ground, Braehead Park, was taken over by

Glasgow Corporation The politics of Glasgow, Scotland's largest city by population, are expressed in the deliberations and decisions of Glasgow City Council, in elections to the council, the Scottish Parliament and the UK Parliament. Local government As one of ...

to be incorporated into the new Richmond Park. That team disbanded, but a 'new' Benburb FC played during the new season later that year and there is thought to be a strong connection between the two clubs.2009 Updates: 25 August
Scottish Football Historical Archive (archived version, 2009) The new Benburb FC eventually found its home in the Govan area, some miles to the north-west of Oatlands. Initially taking over

Govandale Park Govandale Park was a football ground in the burgh of Govan, Scotland. It was the home ground of Linthouse F.C. between 1894 and their disbandment in 1900. History Linthouse moved to Govandale Park in 1894 from their Langlands Park ground.Paul ...

(situated between the south bank of the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

and

Govan Old Parish Church Govan Old Parish Church is the name of the original parish church serving Govan in Glasgow from the 5th or 6th century AD until 2007. In that year, the Church of Scotland united the two Govan congregations with Linthouse and established the paris ...

) from the defunct

Linthouse Linthouse is a neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly south of the River Clyde and lies immediately west of Govan, with other adjacent areas including Shieldhall and the Southern General Hospital to the west, a ...

club in 1900,Photo of Benburb F.C. Finalists in the Intermediate Cup 1929-30
Acumfaegovan, 14 July 2018, via Facebook they moved south as the demands of industry for the land in central Govan increased, first in 1911 to a park on Broomloan Road owned by Govan Police Force,Glasgow Town Plans, 1914
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National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS) ( gd, Leabharlann Nàiseanta na h-Alba, sco, Naitional Leebrar o Scotland) is the legal deposit library of Scotland and is one of the country's National Collections. As one of the largest libraries in the ...

) then in 1925 to an open plot at Craigton Park,

Drumoyne Drumoyne ( gd, Druim Uaine) is now a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde and is part of the former Burgh of Govan. It is the birthplace of Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United football ...

, immediately north of the Inverclyde Line railway tracks.Glasgow Town Plans, 1930
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) In spite of the upheaval, they remained members of the various Junior leagues covering the Glasgow area continuously since 1905. From 1932 until 29 March 2014, Benburb was based at the purpose-built Tinto Park,OS National Grid Maps, 1944-1967
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) which in its heyday could hold 10,000 spectators but latterly fell badly into disrepair. After the final match on that day – a 2–1 victory against Johnstone Burgh in a Central League Division 1 game – the land was prepared for housebuilding.Lease of Craigton Park to Benburb Juniors FC

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

, 12 December 2013 The 2014–15 season was spent ground-sharing with

Neilston Juniors Neilston Football Club are a Scottish football club based in Neilston, East Renfrewshire who currently play in the . History The club was formed on Monday 4 June 1945 when a public meeting was held in the old wooden clubhouse at Brig O’Lea. ...

while a new ground was built adjacent to the old one (on the same land which was previously Craigton Park). New Tinto Park, now just north of both the railway and the M8 motorway and fitted with 3G

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

, became the new home for the club in summer 2015 (although the facilities were not fully completed until a few months later). New Tinto Park has also been used as the home ground for

Rangers W.F.C. Rangers Women's Football Club is a Women's association football, women's football team that plays in the Scottish Women's Premier League, the top division of women's football in Scotland. The team is affiliated with Rangers F.C. in Glasgow, uses ...

from 2015 to 2019, and for Rossvale (originally from Bishopbriggs) since 2019.Rossvale to quit Huntershill and groundshare with Benburb
Kirkintilloch Herald, 5 May 2019 Harmony Row Juniors now ground share at New Tinto Park

Honours

Scottish Junior Cup *Winners (2): 1933–34, 1935–36 *''Runners-up (3):'' 1937–38, 1942–43, 1979–80

Other Honours

* Central League: 1999–00 * West of Scotland Cup: 1940–41, 1941–42, 1982–83, 2001–02 *

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

: 1913–14

References

External links

*
Daily Record article about new ground plans

Daily Record article about last match at Tinto Park

Video clip of match at old ground from 2013
{{Football in Glasgow Football clubs in Scotland Govan Association football clubs established in 1885 Scottish Junior Football Association clubs Football clubs in Glasgow 1885 establishments in Scotland West of Scotland Football League teams