Cathkin Park was a football ground in the

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 * ...

area 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 Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It was the home ground of

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

from their foundation in 1872 until they moved to New Cathkin Park in 1903. It also hosted

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scotland national team.

History

were founded in 1872 by members of the Third Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers and began playing on a piece of land that formed part of a drilling field for the regiment. As the stadium developed, a grandstand was built on the western side of the pitch, a pavilion in the north-west corner, open seating on the northern and eastern sides of the pitch, and embankments at the southern end.Paul Smith & Shirley Smith (2005) ''The Ultimate Directory of English & Scottish Football League Grounds Second Edition 1888–2005'', Yore Publications, p152 An early experiment in

floodlight A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...

ing was conducted there in October 1878. The ground was considered good enough to host the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

in 1881–82, as well as its replay, with 14,000 turning up to watch Queen's Park beat

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

4–1. It was also selected as the venue of the 1883–84 final, although the match did not happen as

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning ' ...

did not have enough players available, and was used again for the 1885–86 final. In 1884 it hosted two British Home Championship international matches, with

beating

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

1–0 in front of 10,000 spectators on 15 March (the first ever all-ticket match) and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

4–1 in front of 5,000 on 29 March. Third Lanark were founder members of the Scottish Football League in 1890, and the first league match was played at Cathkin Park on 23 August 1890, with Dumbarton winning 3–1. At the end of the 1890–91 season it hosted a championship play-off between Dumbarton and Rangers, who had finished level on points. Following a 2–2 draw in front of 10,000 spectators, the clubs were jointly awarded the championship. The ground was used for play-offs again on 20 May 1896 when a match took place to decide which club would finish third and fourth in Division Two; Renton beating Kilmarnock 2–1. The ground's highest league attendance of 16,000 was set on 19 August 1899 when Rangers visited, with the visitors winning 5–1. This was equalled for another game against Rangers on 28 September 1901, this time the game ending 2–2. In June 1902 the final of the first major Anglo-Scottish club competition, the British League Cup, took place at Cathkin (att: 10,000), won by Celtic against Rangers 3–2 after extra time. At the end of the 1902–03 season the club left the original Cathkin Park to move to a new ground. Queen's Park had built a new stadium to replace their leased Hampden Park ground – which was about south of Cathkin – but had also named the new stadium Hampden Park. Third Lanark took over the older Hampden, renaming it New Cathkin Park, although it later became known as simply Cathkin Park. Third Lanark's final league game at the old Cathkin Park was played on 4 April 1903, with the club losing 1–0 to Dundee. However, the final league match played at the ground was played on 17 October 1903, when Queen's Park used it as a home ground for their game against Partick Thistle (a 1–1 draw) as the new Hampden Park was not yet ready. After the new Hampden opened, Third Lanark used it for much of the 1903–04 season (which ended with them winning the league title) whilst building work was carried out at New Cathkin Park.Smith & Smith, p186 The site of the original Cathkin Park was subsequently used for housing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cathkin Park (1872-1903) Defunct football venues in Scotland Third Lanark A.C. Scottish Football League venues Scotland national football team venues Demolished buildings and structures in Scotland Sports venues completed in 1872 Football venues in Glasgow Govanhill and Crosshill