football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
in Scotland. The club was of the founder members of the
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) is a defunct league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4&nbs ...
in 1890, and played at Springvale Park during their time in the league.
History
Cowlairs F.C. was formed in 1876 by craftsmen from the Hyde Park and Cowlairs railway works in
Springburn
Springburn () is an inner-city district in the north of the Scottish city of Glasgow, made up of generally working-class households.
Springburn developed from a rural hamlet at the beginning of the 19th century. Its industrial expansion began ...
, an area that was growing rapidly due to its importance to Glasgow's railway industry. In its early years, the club was a member of the Glasgow FAChapter XXV—Glasgow Association History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917 (via Electric Scotland) and was looked on as a junior club, at a time when "junior" clubs were simply smaller and of limited standing in the game, and prior to the establishment of a separate Junior grade of competition. The club entered the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1880–81, reaching the fourth round.
By the latter part of the decade, Cowlairs' reputation was growing. In 1886–87 they entered the English
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
(which was open to Scottish clubs at this time), beating Darwen Old Wanderers in the first round and Rossendale in the second; Cowlairs beat the latter by a record away score of 10–2. As the competition was regional in the first few rounds, the Scottish teams that had won through were all within the same division, and Cowlairs were drawn to fellow Glaswegians Rangers in the third round, losing 3–2 at
Kinning Park
Kinning Park is a southern suburb of Glasgow, Scotland. It was formerly a separate police burgh between 1871 and 1905 before being absorbed by the city. In 1897, it had a population of 14,326.Govan Parish School Board, ''The Members' Year Book ...
, Cowlairs showing "dashing play, but unfortunately their play was not free from roughness". With the Scottish FA taking a dim view of Scots clubs playing English professional clubs, Cowlairs did not enter the FA Cup again.
The club had players of sufficient standing in this period to have two of their number gain international recognition for
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
: Tom McInnes, capped once in 1889, and John McPherson, who won two of his nine caps while at Cowlairs, in 1889 and 1890.
Cowlairs was one of the clubs which together formed the Scottish League, but finished bottom of the table at the end of its first season, not helped by having four points deducted for fielding ineligible players. With the club also facing accusations of professionalism (which had yet to be legalised in Scottish football) following an inspection of clubs' books by the League, it was unsurprising that Cowlairs was unsuccessful in its re-election vote, losing out to Leith Athletic. Despite not being in any league competition the following season, the club enjoyed its longest
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
*Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Foot ...
in the quarter-finals.
Prior to the 1892–93 season, Cowlairs joined the Scottish Alliance, finishing as champions. Although they club failed to be elected back to the top flight of the Scottish League at the season's end, it was instead chosen to join the new Division Two for the 1893–94 season. Cowlairs were joined by relegated clubs Clyde and Abercorn, Scottish Alliance League clubs
Thistle
Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp spikes on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. T ...
Motherwell
Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...
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 rule ...
to Rangers.
Cowlairs' return to League football started well, securing runners-up spot that season to Hibernian; however, the club were not promoted to Division One, missing out following a ballot to third-placed Clyde. They continued to be beset by financial and administrative problems, and after finishing bottom of Division Two in 1895–96, the club were again voted out of the league. They subsequently left Springvale Park and returned to Gourlay Park. The club closed down in 1896.
Petershill Juniors were formed in summer 1897, just after Northern folded and a year after Cowlairs; due to the circumstances they could be seen as a successor representing the Springburn area, albeit their club history does not mention either club, only linking their formation to the demise of St Mungo's Juniors in the area.
Colours
Cowlairs utilised a wide variety of colour schemes in its short existence, including:
* 1876 Light blue shirts, white shorts.
* 1876–1880 White shirts, white shorts, black socks.
* 1880–1886 Royal blue shirts, white shorts, red socks.
* 1886–1888 Chocolate and light blue halved shirts, white shorts, chocolate socks with light blue trim.
* 1888–1892 White shirts, dark blue shorts, dark blue socks.
* 1892 Red shirts, white shorts.
* 1893–1895 Red shirts, navy blue shorts, navy blue socks.
Ground
The club played at Gourlay Park, on the Cowlairs Road, a 3 minute walk from Cowlairs Station, at least from 1880 and including its League run, until the club's demise. The ground was also referred to as Springvale Park in the media in the 1890s, although the club's returns to the Scottish FA always called it Gourlay Park.
* Bob Crampsey (1990) ''The First 100 Years'', Scottish Football League
*Dave Twydell (1993) ''Rejected FC Glasgow & District'', York Publishing
*John Aitken (2013) ''The Scottish Football League 125'', Scottish Non League publishing