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 ...
Renfrewshire
Renfrewshire () (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Renfrewshire is located in the west central Lowlands. It borders East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and West Dunbartonshire, and lies on the southern ba ...
in Scotland. The club was a member 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 two spells between 1912 and 1915, then 1921 and 1926.
History
The club was formed in 1878. By 1880 there were four senior clubs in the town, and in 1881 the Johnstone chairman, Bailie Love, made tentative suggestions of combining the Johnstone and Johnstone Athletic sides. Athletic folded in 1884, but in 1885 Johnstone merged with Johnstone Rovers; despite Rovers being the bigger side (its 200 members being double that of Johnstone's membership), the merged club used the simple Johnstone name, Johnstone's navy colours, and Johnstone's Cartbank Park. This may have been because Johnstone had been the most successful side in the town, having won the first three Johnstone & District Cups. The merger may not have received unanimous support, as the Johnstone Harp club was founded in 1886 (many of the figures involved in the Rovers had Irish roots); however Harp did not survive into the 1890s.
The club had reached the fourth round of the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1881–82 and 1882–83 (one of the last 22 clubs in both seasons); it lost 3–1 at Queen's Park in the former year, albeit aided by the Q.P. losing Harry McNeil to injury early in the game, and at home to Pollokshields Athletic by the same score in the latter, the Johnstonians conceding the decisive goal when disputing the award of a throw-in. It did not renew its subscription after the 1886–87 season. It rejoined in 1891, after Harp folded,
After spending time in minor leagues, Johnstone joined the Scottish Football Alliance in 1894 after most of its membership had moved to the new Scottish League Division Two. In the same year the club moved to Newfield Park. During this time the club demonstrated its potential in the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,North Ayrshire Football League and, from 1898 until 1905, the Scottish Football Combination. It was also a regular entrant into the Renfrewshire Cup and the Renfrewshire Victoria Cup (the latter originally for smaller sides); it reached the final of the former in 1906–07, 1910–11, and 1924–25, but won the latter in 1899–1900, 1908–09, 1910–11, 1914–15, and 1919–20. In 1914–15, Johnstone and Morton reached the final of both tournaments, and instead of separate finals, a two-legged tie was used as the final for both. Johnstone won the first leg 3–0, and at half-time at Cappielow Park, the second leg was still goalless; however Morton scored four goals in a second-half burst - one a penalty - to take both titles.
Johnstone joined the Scottish Football Union in 1908 and from this league, one of the strongest leagues outside the Scottish League at the time, the club were admitted to 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 ...
when Division Two was expanded for the 1912–13 season.Bob Crampsey (1990) ''The First 100 Years'', Scottish Football League, p295 When the league was reduced to a single division in 1915, due to
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, Johnstone played in the Western League. Johnstone returned to the Scottish League when the second division was reinstated in 1921. Johnstone were relegated to the new Third Division at the end of the 1924–25 season. When this division was disbanded at the end of the following season, Johnstone returned to the Football Alliance. They remained in this league until 1927 when they were wound up.
Colours
*1877?–1880? Navy blue shirts, navy blue shorts, navy blue & white hooped socks.
*1880–1896 Navy blue shirts, white shorts, navy blue socks.
*1896–1902 Royal blue shirts, white shorts, royal blue socks.
*1902–1903 Maroon shirts, white shorts, maroon socks.
*1903–1904 Royal blue shirts, white shorts, royal blue socks.
*1907–1909 Black & white striped shirts, white shorts, black socks.
*1909–1920 Black & gold striped shirts, white shorts, black socks with 2 gold bands on top.
*1921–1923 Black & gold striped shirts, black shorts, black socks with 2 gold bands on top.
*1923–1927 White shirts with black collar & cuffs, white shorts, black socks with 2 white bands on top.
Ground
The club lost its Cartbank ground in 1886 after the landlords, Finlayson Boutsfield & Co, required it for business purposes; the club had to move temporarily to the old Glenpatrick ground, not an ideal solution as the ground was in Elderslie, a slight distance from the town. By 1891 it was playing at Mossbank Park (the former Athletic ground), but at the end of the 1891–92 season faced an interdict after a Mr J. B. Stirling, living nearby, complained about the crowd noise. In 1893 it moved to Newfield Park, the former Harp ground.