South Western Football Club (sometimes referred to as Glasgow South Western) was a Scottish
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 active in the 19th century.
History
The club was founded in 1875, the first known match being against Govan F.C. at Fairfield Park that December. The club became a member 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 ...
at the start of the 1876–77 season, in time to enter the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,that season to 1883–84.
The club's furthest run was to the quarter-finals, which it achieved twice. In 1877–78 the S.W. won (to general surprise) the initial quarter-final match against the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, before losing 2–1 when the tie was replayed following a protest by their opponents; the protest being that the ropes around the ground were not secure enough to keep the spectators back, and there was therefore interference with play, although the Volunteers did not protest before the match. South Western protested about the Scottish FA's decision, to no avail.
The club reached the same stage again in 1879–80, losing 6–1 to
Pollokshields Athletic
Pollokshields Athletic F.C. was a Scottish football team, based in the Pollokshields district of Glasgow (at the time a separate burgh).
History
The club was founded in 1875, originally as a rugby union club, and was playing association footba ...
Arthurlie
Arthurlie is an area of the town of Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, Scotland.
History of Arthurlie
The lands of Arthurlie were held in medieval times by the Stewart family, a branch of the noble Stewarts of Darnley. Later the lands became the prop ...
in the third round, but protested on the basis that the final half-an-hour was played in the dark, and "the home team again and again claimed to have scored, and every run, no matter where it finished, was hailed with shouts of a goal by the spectators". The protest was successful, and the tie re-played, with South-Western scoring a last-minute equalizer with a shot from Allan going in off the bar. However no further replays took place as South-Western was disqualified for an unknown reason.
Despite joining 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 ...
in April 1883,Chapter XXV—Glasgow Association History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917 (via Electric Scotland) South Western made its final appearance in the Scottish Cup in September of that year, losing 8–1 against
Battlefield
A battlefield, battleground, or field of battle is the location of a present or historic battle involving ground warfare. It is commonly understood to be limited to the point of contact between opposing forces, though battles may involve troops ...
in the first round. Shortly afterwards, it was reported that the South-Western was considering amalgamating with another local club, Pilgrims, for whom some of the South Western players had been guesting. Within the next couple of months, South Western had been absorbed by Pilgrims, who took over the use of Copeland Park.
A club of the same name re-emerged in the area in 1885 (a merger of two local teams, Beaconsfield and Woodbourne) and joined the newly founded
Scottish Junior Football Association
The Scottish Junior Football Association (SJFA) is an affiliated national association of the Scottish Football Association and is the governing body for the junior grade of football in Scotland. The term "junior" refers to the level of football ...
a year later; they survived until 1894.
Colours
The club's initial colours were black and orange one-inch stripes and white knickerbockers. In 1878 the club changed to cardinal and white, and in 1880 to navy shirts and white shorts.
Ground
The club's home ground was Copeland Park in
Govan
Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...
, situated close to
Ibrox railway station
Ibrox railway station was a railway station in Ibrox, a district of Glasgow, Scotland. The station was originally part of the Glasgow and Paisley Joint Railway.
History
The station opened on 6 November 1843 and was known as Bellahouston.Butt, ...
. The club planned to hire a new ground off the Paisley Road for the start of the 1876–77 season but it did not move.
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 ...
in an international match against
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
in March 1880.
*John Belger, "the Goalkeeper Smasher", who became captain of
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
in the 1880s, and whose career was ended by a broken leg in 1884.