Clyde F.C.

Clyde Football Club is a Scottish semi-professional football club who play in Scottish League One. Formed in 1877 at the River Clyde in Glasgow, the club host their home matches at New Douglas Park, having played at Broadwood Stadium from 1994 until 2022. Their biggest accomplishments were winning the Scottish Cup, 1955 and 1958; they reached the final a further three times, all during a long period based at Shawfield. They have not played in the top division of Scottish football since 1975.

The team are currently managed by Jim Duffy who was appointed in November 2022.

History

1877–1898

The Clyde Football Club was founded and played on the banks of the River Clyde at Barrowfield. Documentary evidence from the SFA and indeed match reports in the Glasgow press clearly show it all began in 1877, and the thread continues unbroken to this day.

Here's how the SFA recorded Clyde's origins:

Sitting on the edge of Bridgeton, Barrowfield Park lay in a triangle of land enclosed by Carstairs Street, Colvend Street and the river Clyde. The area was an intense mix of chemical, engineering and textile work with a high population density to provide the labour. Although no stadium photographs have emerged, it appears the ground consisted of a grandstand running north–south, a pavilion and tennis courts at the southern end and a bicycle track surrounding the pitch.

Today this area is dotted with industrial units, but also contains a large grassed area, so it may be possible to stand upon a corner of the original Barrowfield pitch. Barrowfield got initially shared with a short-lived team called Albatross.

The club founded then has no resemblance to a modern professional football club. Clyde F.C. was a private members club more akin to a present-day golf or bowling club. Clyde's Secretary, John Graham, was also a noted rower and it seems the club had other sporting and cultural activities besides football.

The first mention of Clyde was in Monday's Evening Times and the Glasgow Cup which in their time were hotly contested major competitions. Clyde entered the 1st Round of the Scottish Cup on 29 September 1877 along with one hundred and one other teams. Third Lanark were the visitors once again, and triumphed 1–0.

On 6 March 1883, the Glasgow Football Association was established (formed to compete with the older - 1877 - rival Edinburgh Association), with Clyde one of the six clubs represented at that first meeting. The club are one of only three founding members clubs still in existence today (with Queen's Park and Rangers).

Clyde joined the Scottish Football League in 1891, its second edition. Following acceptance, Vale of Leven provided the opposition for Clyde's first League fixture on Saturday, 15 August 1891. In a dream introduction to the format Clyde triumphed 10–3, and a mid-table finish saw the club complete a confident season in League football. While it was an undoubted success, Barrowfield revealed its limitations and could not cope with the crowds as many gained illegal entry. Opposition teams complained about the facilities, and it was clear that Clyde would have to do something to appease the League.

The club had the pitch dug up in the off season in 1893 to have the clayey surface replaced by ashes to lend additional facilities to the draining powers of the field.

The club enjoyed cup success in local competitions as the 19th century drew to a close. The team won the North Eastern Cup and Graham Cup four times apiece. Both tournaments featured teams from the East End of Glasgow. However, Clyde endured a terrible final season at Barrowfield, finishing bottom of Division 1 with only 5 points, but remained in the top division. The last action at Barrowfield was a friendly against crack opposition in the form of Sunderland on 30 April 1898, ending in a 3–3 draw.

1899–1919

The club left Barrowfield in 1898 and purchased some open ground (Shawfield) directly across the river between the Glasgow neighbourhood of Oatlands and the Lanarkshire town of Rutherglen. The move was largely financed by the club becoming incorporated and issuing shares in "The Clyde Football Club Limited". On the eve of a new season, Clyde F.C. Ltd had an enclosed area of about . A grandstand seating of 1500 was nearing completion and embankment works around the pitch were well underway.

Local rivals Celtic provided the first opposition at Shawfield Stadium on 27 August 1898. An attendance of 10,000 witnessed a goalless draw and return gate receipts of £203. The 1899–1900 season saw the team relegated by finishing bottom of top division.

They were Division Two champions in 1904–05 (and runners up in 1903–04 and 1905–06), but there was no promotion until the latter second-place finish. Automatic promotion and relegation was not established until 1921. The following seasons up to World War I would be far more successful and represented the most consistent period of success for the club.

From 1908 to 1913, Clyde were at the top end of Division One and reached the Scottish Cup and 1912. The team placed third in 1908–09 (three points behind champions Celtic) and in 1911–12 and reached further semi finals (in 1908–09 and 1912–13).

The 1910 final was a bitter disappointment. For 83 minutes Clyde (McTurk; Watson & Blair; Walker, McAteer & Robertson; Stirling & McCartney; Chalmers; Jackson & Booth) held a 2–0 lead (Chalmers and Booth both scored). However, Robertson fluffed a clearance off Blair and into his own net. Dundee then netted a last minute equalizer from Langlands. The replay was far more cagey and ended goalless after extra time, but with Dundee looking physically stronger. Chalmers struck after three minutes to give Clyde a 1–0 lead in the third match. Dundee equalized before half time, and as Clyde looked jaded, John Hunter won the cup for Dundee. The 1912 final was a 2–0 defeat to Celtic.

International honours were awarded to Clyde for the first time in March 1909, as William Walker represented Scotland against club mate Jack Kirwan of Ireland at Ibrox (5–0 to Scotland). The Glasgow Charity Cup (in 1910) and Glasgow Cup (in 1914) were won for the first time. Both were highly prestigious competitions before European football was introduced. All six clubs (Celtic, Clyde, Partick Thistle, Queen's Park, Rangers and Third Lanark) were more often than not resident in Division One.

In September 1914, a fire destroyed the grandstand, and with it much of the club's early history. After the war broke out in November 1914, the Scottish League would continue playing. Many players signed up for 'King & Country' – some never returned, such as C. Clunas (2nd Royal Fusiliers), T. Cranston (Black Watch) and W. Sharp (1st Battalion Royal Scots) – and teams like Clyde found it increasingly difficult to field competitive sides and the League eventually reduced back to a single division.

1920–1945

The club had managed to sustain football through the war years, but the Scottish League continued through 1919–21 with only one division. Division Two restarted in 1921–22, with automatic promotion and relegation adopted. Benefits were evident for ambitious teams, but the financial penalties for falling out of the top tier were extremely severe.

Relegated in 1923–24, Clyde spent two seasons playing teams like Armadale, Arthurlie, Bathgate, Bo'ness, Broxburn, and King's Park until promotion (and another Glasgow Cup) in 1925–26. From 1926 to 1939, Clyde remained a Division One club, as the team maintained a respectable mid-table status. International honours returned to Shawfield, as Danny Blair was a prominent Scotland full back of this era and leading goalscorer Billy Boyd (with 32 goals in 1932–33) earned two international caps.

Liquidation was narrowly averted in 1930. Greyhound racing was booming in the 1920s and many clubs used this a way to supplement their income. A company offered to lease Shawfield in 1926 and also give a percentage of the gate money to Clyde, but animal racing was forbidden in the deeds of Shawfield and the League was dead set against the sport in general. Chairman John McMahon would not let go of the idea. After years of wrangling, the Shawfield Greyhound Racing Company Ltd started racing in 1932 and a few years later purchased the stadium from Clyde.

The team conceded a solitary goal on the run to the 1939 Scottish Cup final. Clean sheets were kept against St Johnstone (2–0), Dundee (0–0 at Dens Park, followed by 1–0 in a replay), city rivals Third Lanark (1–0), and the Hibernian semi final match (1–0 at Tynecastle). The single goal against came at Rangers in the 3rd Round, where prolific centre forward Willie Martin set a record for an opposition at Ibrox by scoring all four goals in a 4–1 win.

Clyde (Brown; Kirk and Hickie; Beaton, Falloon and Weir; Robertson and Gillies; Martin; Noble and Wallace) faced Motherwell, who had scored the most goals on route to the final, in front of 94,000 at Hampden on 22 April 1939. After losing the coin toss, Clyde goalkeeper Brown was under the most pressure early on. Assisted by a Robertson delivery, Wallace fired the opener in the roof of the net. Despite further opposition pressure before the interval, Martin doubled the lead with an opportunistic strike after the break. Late goals from Noble (netting from a rebound) and Martin (assisted by Noble for his second) sealed an emphatic 4–0 win and a maiden Scottish Cup