Victoria Football Club was an association football club from Helensburgh, in Dumbartonshire, which twice entered the Scottish Cup.

History

The Victoria club - often referred to as Helensburgh Victoria, or Victoria (Helensburgh), to distinguish it from others with a similar name - was founded in 1878. It was the second club to be founded in the town, four years after the Helensburgh Football Club. The first reported meeting of the two clubs, at Helensburgh's Kirkmichael Park in November 1879, ended 4–0 to the older club. After winning 11 of 16 matches in 1879–80, the club 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 ...

in 1880, entitling it to play in the

1880–81 Scottish Cup The 1880–81 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the eighth season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Defending champions Queen's Park retained the cup and won the competi ...

. With the Cup being drawn on a regional basis, and with the Dumbartonshire area containing the three best sides in the country at the time, the club was unlucky to be drawn to visit Dumbarton, one of the trio. Nobody gave Victoria a chance, but, with several new players in the Dumbarton line-up, it took time for the home side to gel, and Victoria was able to frustrate the home side for a while, going in at half-time 2–0 down; however Dumbarton scored five without reply in the second half. However the club did not survive long as a senior club. Its entry to the

1881–82 Scottish Cup The 1881–82 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the ninth season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. A total of 147 teams entered the competition, five more than the previ ...

was its last appearance in the game. It obtained a bye in the first round, and was drawn to face Helensburgh in the second round, but scratched. A Junior club with the same name started up in 1884.

Colours

The club wore navy blue, in common with many of the Dumbartonshire clubs at the time.

Ground

Before turning senior, the club played at the Public Park in Helensburgh. The club's private Victoria Park ground was on the Old Luss Road, 7 minutes' walk from

Helensburgh railway station Helensburgh railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the South Coast railway line in New South Wales, Australia. It serves the town of Helensburgh. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April ...

. The first match at the new ground was a 7–0 victory over Bowling in February 1880, Paterson having the honour of the first goal.

References

{{Defunct Scottish football clubs Defunct football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1874 Association football clubs disestablished in 1882 1874 establishments in Scotland 1882 disestablishments in Scotland Helensburgh Football in Argyll and Bute Football in West Dunbartonshire