United Abstainers Football Club was a

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 from

Crosshill Cross Hill or Crosshill may refer to: Places * Cross Hill, Cornwall, England *Cross Hill, Derbyshire, England * Cross Hill, Gloucestershire, England * Cross Hill, South Carolina, USA * Crosshill, East Ayrshire, Scotland *Crosshill, Fife, Scotland * ...

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 ...

History

The club, sometimes referred to as the United Abstainers Athletic Club, was formed by William Shanks, agent and collector for the Scottish Temperance League. Although the club was nicknamed the Teetotallers, the players were not complete abstainers; their refreshment of choice at at least one game was noted as being

stout Stout is a dark, top-fermented beer with a number of variations, including dry stout, oatmeal stout, milk stout, and imperial stout. The first known use of the word ''stout'' for beer, in a document dated 1677 found in the Egerton Manuscript ...

. The Abstainers joined 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 the

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 ...

for the 1887–88 season. The club's first competitive fixture, in the first round of the

1887–88 Scottish Cup The 1887–88 Scottish Cup was the 15th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Renton won the competition for the second time after they beat Cambuslang 6–1 in the final. The result set a new record as the largest m ...

, was a 4–1 defeat at

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 ...

. In 1888–89 however the team caused "a bit of a surprise" by getting revenge against a "strong" Pollokshields in the first round, beating the Athletics 2–1 at Victoria Park, the winning goal coming about ten minutes from time. In the second round however Battlefield F.C. swept the Abstainers aside, scoring 5 in the first half and 6 in the second, without reply. The club lost in the first round of the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Rangers F.C. in 1889–90 (managing to hold the home side to 3–2 in the first half) and 11–0 at

Burnbank Swifts F.C. Burnbank is an area in the town of Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It was formerly a separate mining village before being absorbed into the town. Location and governance Burnbank, previously an independent settlement, then part of Hamil ...

in 1890–91. After qualifying rounds were introduced, the Abstainers entered for the next three seasons, but, drawn once against

Glasgow University F.C. Glasgow University Football Club are a Scottish football team that represents the University of Glasgow. The club was founded at a meeting of students "dissatisfied that the Rugby game alone has been played at College" on 7 December 1877, un ...

and twice against Battlefield in the first stage, withdrew every time before playing. The club could not even muster one win in the

Glasgow Cup The Glasgow Cup is a football tournament open to teams from Glasgow, Scotland. Operated by the Glasgow Football Association, it was competed for annually by senior Glasgow clubs from 1887 until 1989. It is now (since the 2019–20 amended rules ...

. Its first match in the competition in 1887 was a 10–0 defeat at home to

Shettleston F.C. {{Disambiguation Shettleston F.C. may refer to: * Shettleston F.C. (1880), Scottish association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily us ...

, being 1–0 down after four minutes and 4–0 down after a quarter of an hour. After first round defeats by both Rangers and Celtic F.C. in the next two seasons, the club scratched from its last four entries. The last references to the club in the media relate to its being drawn against Pollokshaws F.C. in the Glasgow Cup in 1893.

Colours

The club played in blue and gold vertical stripes, with white shorts.

Ground

The club's home ground was Victoria Park in Crosshill.

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs, state = collapsed Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1887 Association football clubs disestablished in 1893 Football clubs in Glasgow 1887 establishments in Scotland 1893 disestablishments in Scotland Govanhill and Crosshill Temperance movement in the United Kingdom

History

Colours

Ground

See also

References