Renton, West Dunbartonshire
Renton (Scottish Gaelic: ''An Reantan''; Scots language, Scots: ''The Renton'') is a village in West Dunbartonshire, in the west Central Lowlands of Scotland. In the 2001 National Census it had a population of 2,138.
Renton is particularly fam ...
, Scotland. It was the home ground of
Renton F.C.
Renton Football Club was a football club based in Renton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Formed in 1872, they were a prominent team in the early history of Scottish football, and were one of the teams that featured in the first ever Scottish Cu ...
Renton moved to Tontine Park from South Park in 1878.Tontine Park – Renton 1878-1928 Groundtastic, via The Vale of LevenPaul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p225 There were no stands at the ground, only a pavilion on the north-western corner of the pitch.25 inch Scotland, 1892-1949 Explore Georeferenced Maps ( National Library of Scotland
Renton were founder members of the Scottish Football League in 1890, and the first league match was played at Tontine Park on 23 August 1890 with Renton drawing 2–2 with St Mirren; however, the club were expelled from the league later in the season after playing an unauthorised friendly against 'Edinburgh Saints', a nom de plume for St Bernard's, a team who had been suspended by the
Scottish FA
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 governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for ...
for paying their players, against the rules at the time.
Renton were re-instated in season 1891–92, and reached the semi-finals of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Queen's Park at Tontine Park in February 1892, a match in front of a 10,000 crowd which was drawn 1–1 and which saw the temporary trestle stand on the east side of the ground collapse, breaking one person's leg. Queen's Park won the replay a fortnight later.
A few weeks into the 1897–98 season, Renton again resigned from the league. The last SFL match was played at Tontine Park on 16 October 1897, a 3–1 defeat to Leith Athletic.
After the club folded in 1922 the site was used for housing, with Archie McCall, one of the heroes of the 1880s, among the builders involved on the project.