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 the
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 ...
of
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 ...
(now part of the city of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
),
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. The club was founded in 1875 and played their home games at
Inchview
Inchview was a football ground in the Whiteinch area of Glasgow, Scotland. It was the home ground of Partick F.C. from the 1870s until 1885, and of Partick Thistle from 1885 until 1897.
History Partick FC
Partick F.C. were formed in 1875, with t ...
on Dumbarton Road in the
Whiteinch
Whiteinch ( gd, Innis Bhàn) is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly north of the River Clyde, between the Partick and Scotstoun areas of the city. Whiteinch was at one stage part of the burgh of Partick, until that ...
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 ...
)
History
In the early uptake of football in the west of Scotland, many clubs were formed in conjunction with the practice of
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
Hamilton Crescent
Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club.
Hamilton Crescent hosted the first international football match, between Scotland and England, played on 30 ...
cricket ground in Partick in 1872. Partick F.C. were formed for enthusiasts of both sports on 23 March 1875, and developed their basic grounds during that summer. The
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...
would not be formed for some years, but Partick immediately applied for membership of 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 Sport governing body, governing body of association football, football in Scot ...
and entered the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1875–76 season.
Through connections of players including William Kirkham, matches were organised between Partick and
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
teams
Darwen
Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners".
The A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to the sout ...
and
Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...
– among the earliest cross-border fixtures – with the Scottish team winning most of them, some by large margins. Although officially amateur, the English clubs enticed some of Partick's players south to play for them, including Jimmy Love and Fergie Suter, now recognised as the first professional footballers, and William Struthers (a guest player from
Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
) who became one of the first managers of
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
.
Partick had little impact on the Scottish Cup, and found an emerging local rival in the form of
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. ...
who also moved to Whiteinch (though a different ground) in 1880. Partick won their first meeting that year at Inchview by a 5–1 scoreline, but Thistle also began to compete in the Scottish Cup, won the next meetings 5–2 and 3–1, continued that run the following year and increased their popularity among locals after moving nearer to the heart of the burgh at Muir Park (close to Hamilton Crescent) in 1883.Muir Park Partick Thistle - The Early Years That year, both clubs joined the newly formed
Glasgow Football Association
Founded in 1883, the Glasgow Football Association, based in the city of Glasgow, Scotland and affiliated to the national Scottish Football Association, is one of the oldest such bodies in football. In the modern game its influence is limited, th ...
.Chapter XXV—Glasgow Association History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917 (via Electric Scotland)
In summer 1885, it was announced that Partick F.C. had gone defunct and Partick Thistle would be moving in as tenants at Inchview; they continued to play there until 1897 (although not stated as a
merger
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
or takeover at the time, effectively that is what occurred).1884-85 Takeover Partick Thistle - The Early Years
The Partick F.C. colours of red, yellow and black were too eventually adopted by Thistle around 1930, via the acquisition of a set of kits from the West of Scotland rugby club,Partick Thistle Historical Football Kits also originally from Partick and formed from a local cricket club in the 1870s.