Queen's Park Football Club is a Scottish professional

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 ...

club based in

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 ...

, which plays in the , the second tier of the Scottish football pyramid. Queen's Park is the oldest association football club in Scotland, having been founded in 1867, and is the 10th oldest in the world. The club was fully amateur for the first 152 years and has played in white and black hoops as shirt colours for the vast majority of its existence. For many years, the club was the only fully amateur club in the Scottish professional leagues, until its membership voted to end that status in November 2019. The club's amateur status was reflected by its Latin motto, 'Ludere Causa Ludendi' – 'To Play for the Sake of Playing'. Queen's Park is also the only Scottish football club to have played in the English

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

, achieving this feat in both

1884 Events January * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London to promote gradualist social progress. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera '' Princess Ida'', a satire on feminism, premières at the Savoy The ...

and

1885 Events January * January 3– 4 – Sino-French War – Battle of Núi Bop: French troops under General Oscar de Négrier defeat a numerically superior Qing Chinese force, in northern Vietnam. * January 17 – Mahdist ...

. With 10 titles, Queen's Park has won the

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 ...

and

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

, although their last such win was in 1893. Having also been the first winners, Queen's were the record holders of the Scottish Cup for 51 years until Celtic claimed the trophy for the 11th time in

1925 Events January * January 1 – The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria (1925–1930), State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini m ...

. For over a century, the club's home has been

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

in south-east Glasgow, a Category 4 stadium which is also the home of the Scotland national team. The club have alternated playing games there with playing at their previous reserve and training ground adjacent to the main stadium,

Lesser Hampden Lesser Hampden is a football stadium in Mount Florida, Glasgow, Scotland, owned by Queen's Park F.C. and located immediately beside the western end of the national stadium, Hampden Park. Since 2023 its sponsored name has been The City Stadium ...

, with plans to fully redevelop it into a 1,774-seat stadium.

History

Beginnings (1867–68)

The Queen's Park Football Club was founded on 9 July 1867 with the words: "Tonight at half past eight o'clock a number of gentlemen met at No. 3 Eglinton Terrace for the purpose of forming a football club." Gentlemen from the local

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

took part in football matches in the local Glasgow area which gave the club its name. During the inaugural meeting, debate raged over the club's name. Proposals included: 'The Celts'; 'The Northern', and 'Morayshire'. Perhaps such choice of names suggest a Highland influence within the new club. After much deliberation, 'Queen's Park' was adopted and carried, but only by a majority of one vote. Although Queen's was not the first club in Britain, that honour going to Edinburgh's

Foot-Ball Club The Foot-Ball Club was a football club in Edinburgh, Scotland, formed in 1824. The club met in the summer months to play a form of football. Nevertheless, the organization can claim to be the earliest recorded club playing football of any kind. A ...

, formed in 1824, they can certainly claim to be the first Association club in Scotland. Opposition first came in the form of a now defunct Glaswegian side called

Thistle F.C. Thistle Football Club (also known as Glasgow Thistle and Bridgeton Thistle) was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow. The club was briefly a member of the Scottish Football League Division Two, and has been described as the most insig ...

and Queen's won 2–0 on 1 August 1868.

Early domination (1868–1900)

Within the context of the emerging Association game in Scotland, the historian and broadcaster

Bob Crampsey Robert Anthony Crampsey (8 July 1930 – 27 July 2008) was a Scottish football historian, author, broadcaster and teacher, described as a "much loved Scottish cultural institution" by ''The Times''. Early life and career Crampsey was born in Gl ...

compared the role of the Queen's Park club with that of the

Marylebone Cricket Club The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's, Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London, England. The club was the governing body of cricket from 1788 to 1989 and retain ...

in cricket and

The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews is one of the oldest golf clubs in the world. It is a private members-only club based in St Andrews in Scotland. It was previously known colloquially as "The R&A", but in 2004, a new organisation kn ...

in golf. The Glasgow club's control of the early playing rules in Scotland, early management of the Scotland national team, and instigation of the Scottish Football Association and Scottish Challenge Cup provide evidence of its status as the 'Premier' or 'Senior' club of Scotland. On 30 November 1872, Scotland faced England at the

West of Scotland Cricket Club The West of Scotland Cricket Club is a cricket club based in Glasgow, Scotland. The club's home ground is Hamilton Crescent, located in the Partick area of Glasgow's West End. West of Scotland, traditionally, are one of the working class cric ...

ground at

Hamilton Crescent Hamilton Crescent is a cricket ground in the Partick area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the home of the West of Scotland Cricket Club. It was previously also used for association football and hosted the first international football match in ...

. For the one and only time all eleven Scots players were from Queen's Park and they wore blue jerseys, as those were the current colours of Queen's. 4,000 spectators watched Scotland play with a 2–2–6 formation and England with a 1–1–8 line-up. Queen's Park formed the

Scottish Football Association The Scottish Football Association (; also known as the Scottish FA and the SFA) is the governing body of football in Scotland and has the ultimate responsibility for the control and development of football in Scotland. Members of the SFA incl ...

on 13 March 1873, with seven other clubs. The match against

Dumbreck Dumbreck (; or ) is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated south of the River Clyde The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the Uni ...

on 25 October was the first match to be played at the first Hampden Park. It was also the first match which saw Queen's Park players wear their custom black and white hooped jerseys, which lent the club the nickname of 'The Spiders'. David Wotherspoon, a Queen's Park player and committee member, has been credited with the introduction of the black and white hoops. Most importantly, it was the first

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Renton and

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 ...

. In drawing 2–2 with Clydesdale in the 1875 semi-final, Queen's conceded their first ever goals. Defeat for the club was first experienced with a 2–1 defeat to

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

in the 5th round in December 1876. Third Lanark and

eliminated the Spiders before Queen's reclaimed the cup in 1880 with a win over Thornliebank.

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

were beaten in the final in successive years. In 1881, Queen's had to beat them twice after Dumbarton successfully appealed that the crowd at Kinning Park had encroached following a 2–1 defeat. Dumbarton got revenge in 1883 but Queen's won again in 1884 without even having to play the final after Vale of Leven refused to play on the date stipulated by the SFA. In the early days of England's

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 ...

, Scottish clubs were often invited to compete. As a result, Queen's Park twice finished runners-up in this competition, in

, when they lost 2–1 to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and in

, when they lost 2–0, again to Blackburn Rovers. 1886–87 was the last time that they entered the FA Cup competition. This remained the only instance of the same teams meeting in consecutive FA Cup finals until

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

met in both the

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and

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FA Cup finals. Afterwards, the domination in the competition that the club had enjoyed began to lessen as more teams strengthened. The trophy was reclaimed in 1890 with a replay win over Vale of Leven and the club's 10th and final success came in 1893 with a 2–1 win over

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 ...

at Ibrox. In the same year, professional football was acknowledged by the SFA. Three years previously, 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 ...

had been formed but Queen's declined to join, stressing their

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

principles. Queen's Park joined the Scottish League in 1900 and took part in the 1900–01 season (being added directly to the top division rather than the lower division). Nevertheless, the Queen's players of the time were held in high regard throughout the country and some are still remembered today. Charles Campbell won eight Scottish Cup winners medals with Queen's and earned 13 Scotland caps. Wattie Arnott was a near ever-present in the successful teams of the 1880s.

Robert Smyth McColl Robert Smyth McColl (13 April 1876 – 25 November 1959) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre forward. Playing career McColl started his career with junior club Benmore in 1892 and moved to Queen's Park in 1894. He represented ...

scored a remarkable number of goals for Queen's and soon moved on to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

and Rangers. In an unprecedented move, he returned to Queen's and scored six goals in his final match. Andrew Watson was the first black football player in Britain. He won three Scotland caps and starred in one of the club's earliest sides. J.A.H Catton, a notable sports editor, named Watson in his all-time Scotland team in 1926.

Pioneers of the modern passing game

Queen's Park are accredited with introducing a collective and 'scientific' form of team based passing which would become known as 'combination' football. Although rudimentary forms of passing existed prior to 1872, and Queen's themselves appear to have indulged in this, the combination game as a systematic form of passing was being played by the club at the time of the first official international match between Scotland and England. This changed the nature of the Association game as the culture in London at this time was largely one of dribbling and 'backing up'. Scotland's promotion of the combination game would ultimately lead to the introduction of professionalism in England in 1885, due to the large importation of Scottish players (known as

Scotch Professors The Scotch Professors were Scottish football players of the late 19th century who moved south to play for clubs participating in the English Football League during the period when football had become professional in England but remained (theoreti ...

) into the midlands and the north of England. During the late 1860s and early 1870s the club practised regularly and experimented with playing styles. According to Richard Robinson, who wrote the club's official 50th anniversary history,

Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays were fixed upon as the nights for play... Whoever selected the teams on practising nights had the power to place their men on the field, or appoint substitutes, and the players shall be bound to adhere to their instructions.

Robinson also explains the means by which the passing game was developed,

The club... never neglected practice, and this practice was indulged in systematically. Sides were arranged— North v. South of Eglinton Toll, Reds v. Blues, Light v. Heavy Weights, President's Team v. J. Smith's Team (a series of six games), and Clerks v. The Field, etc. In these games the dribbling and passing, which raised the Scottish game to the level of a fine art, were developed. Dribbling was a characteristic of English play, and it was not until very much later that the Southerners came to see that the principles laid down in the Queen's Park method of transference of the ball, accompanied by strong backing up, were those which got the most out of a team. Combination was the chief characteristic of the Queen's Park play.

Queen's were certainly playing a passing game by the time of their FA Cup tie (March 1872) with Wanderers, the most successful English side of the 1870s. Of the Queen's Park team, ''The Field'' magazine notes that, "They dribble little and usually convey the ball by a series of long kicks, combined with a judicious plan of passing on." It is the first official international match, played on 30 November 1872, where the first reference is given to their style as a culture of passing. ''The Graphic'', a London-based weekly illustrated newspaper, provides the following insight into the game,

Individual skill was generally on England's side, the dribbling of Kirke-Smith, Brockbank and Ottaway being very fine, while Welch, half-back, showed himself a safe and good kick. The Southrons, however, did not play to each other so well as their opponents, who seem to be adepts in passing the ball.

''The Glasgow Herald'' report on the game makes the following observation of the differences between both sides,

The Englishmen had all the advantage of weight, their average being about two stones heavier than the Scotchmen and they had also the advantage in pace. The strong point of the home club was that they played excellently well together.

The newspaper article which features Queen's Park's 5–0 victory over Wanderers in October 1875 (a match in which C.W. Alcock and the Anglo Scot A.F. Kinnaird played in for Wanderers) gives a concise description of the style of combination adopted by the club, particularly in the section which describes the second and third goals,

After a "hand" within thirty yards of the Wanderers' lines,
Weir A weir or low-head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the water level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...
got possession, and, successfully charging the English forwards, passed it on to Herriot, who in turn placed it to Campbell, who by a well judged kick dropped the ball just below the bar, thus securing another goal for the Scotsmen in sixteen minutes. No sooner had the English captain started the ball than Herriot, Weir and Lawrie, by neat passing sent it back, and after the backs and half backs had shown good play, the two M'Neills brought it along the left side, and passing it to Lawrie, the latter made a shot for goal, but the ball passed just outside the goal post. The play was now in the centre, the Queen's Park men dribbling and passing, while their opponents indulged chiefly in heavy kicking. In 33 minutes from the commencement of operations H. M'Neill, obtaining possession, kicked the ball to Herriot, who unselfishly serving it to Lawrie, the latter again made a shot for goal, this time with more success, as the ball, passing above the goalkeeper's head, went clean through thus obtaining the third goal.

Queen's Park in the Football Association

In 1870 Queen's joined

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

which is based in London – the only football governing body in existence at the time. Their main attraction was to the new Challenge Cup and contributions were made to pay for the trophy. Queen's reached the first semi-finals in 1872 but had to withdraw due to lack of funds after drawing their first competitive match 0–0 with The Wanderers at the

Kennington Oval Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

. Financial constraints meant that Queen's played little part in the competition until 1884 where they stormed to the final before losing 2–1 to

at The Oval. Another loss to Blackburn the following year was the closest Queen's got to winning the English trophy. In 1887, Scottish clubs were banned from entering by the Scottish Football Association. Although the solid crossbar first appeared in the

Sheffield Rules The Sheffield Rules was a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1858 and 1877. The rules were initially created and revised by Sheffield F.C., Sheffield Football Club, with responsibility for the laws pa ...

code, Queen's Park was responsible for its use in Association football when the club successfully put forward a motion for its introduction at a meeting of the Football Association in 1875. Queen's Park were invited to play in the annual

Sheriff of London Charity Shield The Sheriff of London Charity Shield, also known as the Dewar Shield, was a football competition played annually between the best amateur and best professional club in England, though Scottish amateur side Queen's Park also took part in 1899. Th ...

, a precursor of the

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

in 1899 which pitted the best amateur and professional sides of the season against each other. They would play the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

champions

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. The amateur side was usually represented by Corinthian, however Queen's Park had defeated them 4–1 at Hampden Park earlier that year and the trophy committee decided that they deserved the honour. The match ended in a scoreless draw which saw the sides share the honour, holding the trophy for six months each.

Queen's in the Scottish League top flight (1900–58)

However, as the 20th century drew nearer, Queen's found themselves playing in only cup competitions and the Glasgow League. A remarkable run to the

1900 Scottish Cup final The 1899–1900 Scottish Cup was the 27th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by holders Celtic when they beat Queen's Park in the final at the newly built Ibrox Park by a 4–3 scoreline to claim ...

saw Queen's only narrowly lose 4–3 to Celtic. The previous 25 years had Queen's achieve great success in cup competition but after ten years of resistance they finally took the big step to the Scottish League, first entering Division One in 1900–01. Queens park fc 191718

Queen's struggled with top-flight football and the professional sides which surrounded them. An early high-point was a 1–0 victory over Celtic at the opening of the new Hampden Park in 1903. By previous standards, however, unspectacular seasons followed and the club even finished in the relegation zone on five occasions. Queen's were spared by vote until 1922 when, after a few solid seasons, the team were eventually relegated in second-last place. Queen's bounced back immediately, winning Division Two at the first attempt. In a league season of 24 victories and only five defeats, the Spiders even managed a 4–3 win over Celtic 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 rule ...

, with James McAlpine scoring a hat-trick. McAlpine's fine play inspired Queen's to their greatest ever placing in the Scottish League, when they finished 5th in Division One in 1929. He would go on to set a goal scoring record for the club and his appearance record was only beaten by Ross Caven at the turn of the next century. In 1928, the same side also came closest to any Spiders team since 1900 to winning the Scottish Cup but lost 2–1 to Celtic in the semi-finals. Queens Park FC League Performance

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

helped Queen's stay in the top league a little longer as at the end of 1938–39 season, the club were relegated. Six seasons in the Southern League followed, and it gave youth and many new players a chance to develop at Hampden as the players of before left to serve their country.

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown Sr. (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer. Alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, he is recognized as a pioneer of new jack swing: a fusion of hip-hop and Contemporary R&B, R ...

was one such player who started at Queen's in 1939 but left in 1941 to serve as a pilot. When he returned at the end of the War, he found his goalkeeping position occupied by a teenage

Ronnie Simpson Ronald Campbell Simpson (11 October 1930 – 19 April 2004) was a Scottish football player and coach. He is mainly remembered for his time with Celtic, where he was the goalkeeper in the ''Lisbon Lions'' team that won the European Cup in 1967. ...

who had made his debut at the age of 14. Although obviously a bleak time for everyone, this period gave many footballers at Queen's Park an opportunity to play at the highest level under little pressure. When War ended, Queen's joined the Scottish 'A' Division, where they stayed for three seasons, before relegation in 1948. The next few years were erratic but gradually a great team came together. Fourth place in 1954–55 was followed by first in 1955–56. The side was composed of players familiar with each other and the success was a reward for such longstanding legends as Charlie Church and Bert Cromar. Cromar played in every league game, as did goalkeeper Frank Crampsey (brother of journalist and Queen's fan Bob), who kept 17 clean sheets. Queen's only lasted two seasons in the top Division and were relegated in 1958, having only won four league games all season, and losing heavily on many occasions.

League reconstruction (1958–1994)

With stalwarts such as Cromar, Hastie and Omand all having moved on, the mid-1960s saw a new side which promised much. Future Scotland Internationalist Bobby Clark played in goal in 1964–65 season as Queen's finished fourth. That finish was again achieved in 1968, with Queen's winning 20 games (eight in succession towards the end) and scoring 76 goals. It was a formidable side which featured established Spiders Malky Mackay Sr. (the father of

Malky Mackay Malcolm George Mackay (born 19 February 1972) is a Scottish professional association football, football coach and former player, who is the sporting director at Scottish Premiership club Hibernian F.C., Hibernian. Mackay, who played as a Defe ...

), Peter Buchanan and

Eddie Hunter Eddie Hunter may refer to: * Eddie Hunter (footballer, born 1928) (1928–2002), Scottish footballer (Falkirk FC) * Eddie Hunter (footballer, born 1943), Scottish footballer and manager (Queen's Park) * Eddie Hunter (baseball) (1905–1967), Maj ...

. Ultimately, no success was gained, however, and as that side splintered, the club toiled until the mid-70s. The 1975–76 season saw the reconstruction of the Scottish Leagues and Queen's entered the Second Division (third tier). Coinciding with this, Queen's appointed a head coach for the first time.

Davie McParland Davie McParland (5 May 1935 – 14 July 2018) was a Scottish football player and manager. He played for Partick Thistle for his whole senior career, making over 400 league appearances. After retiring as a player, he took over from Scott Symon ...

led Queen's to 4th place but left at the end of the season to join

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

Joe Gilroy Joseph Gilroy (born 19 October 1941) is a Scottish former football forward. Joe Gilroy began his career with Queens Park, where at 16 years old he made 8 appearances alongside Sir Alex Ferguson. He studied at The Scottish School of Physical ...

was his successor and Queen's finished 5th, 7th and 13th under his guidance before his departure at the end of 1978–79. Former player Eddie Hunter took charge and within two seasons, Queen's had been promoted as 1980–81 champions. The talent in the side was obvious. Derek Atkins was an ever-present in goal, John McGregor a high scoring defender and Jimmy Nicholson and Gerry McCoy netted a combined tally of 28 goals. Much of the side was inexperienced, with full-back Bobby Dickson one of the few who had been a mainstay in previous years. After a highly respectable finish of 8th the following season, Queen's finished bottom and were relegated in 1983. The main reason for this was the loss of some of the best players who had won promotion. In particular, John McGregor and Alan Irvine departed, leaving for Liverpool and Everton respectively. During the same season, Queen's lost 2–1 to Rangers at Hampden in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals. Recovery took a while but eventually a good side featuring Stevie Ross, Kenny Brannigan, Ian McCall and Ross Caven finished 4th in 1985–86 – winning three more games than the Championship side of 1981. Queen's lost narrowly by 2–1 at Celtic Park in the Fourth round of the Scottish Cup in the February 1986. 1987–88 was a further improvement but 21 victories was only enough for 3rd place. 1990–91 was another season of frustration as Queen's squandered a chance for promotion after having been in contention for so long and finished 5th, only four points behind 2nd place Montrose.

Modern history (1994–2019)

Eddie Hunter was fired as the club's manager in December 1994 as Queen's failed to recapture the achievements of the previous decade. Former

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. They compete in as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. According to the official club hist ...

manager Hugh McCann was appointed as his successor but after an 8th-place finish in the new 10 team Third Division, he left the club. Graeme Elder took over as player/coach but the team continued their disappointing run and he eventually resigned. A happier memory from this time was the 5–1 demolition of

Albion Rovers Albion Rovers Football Club is a semi-professional football team from Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. They play in the , the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. Founded in October 1882, the club joined the Scottish Foot ...

at Hampden in August 1997, the opposition finishing the match with seven players. There was also an incredible 5–5 draw at East Fife in Hunter's last season, with fan favourite

Brian McPhee Brian McPhee (born 23 October 1970 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a Scottish retired footballer who last played for Wishaw Juniors. He had a long career as a striker in the Scottish Football League with several clubs. Career McPhee joined Queen's P ...

scoring four goals for Queen's.

Constitutional change

The club's

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

was changed prior to the appointment of the next manager, which meant that Queen's could sign former professionals provided they were not paid by the club. Former Dundee manager John McCormack was unveiled in July 1998 as the new head coach. Like Eddie Hunter, McCormack succeeded in winning the league after just two seasons. The new boss used the new legislation to great effect and even persuaded the club to allow the loaning of professionals. The ex-pros and the committed amateurs combined to give Queen's a superb start to the league season and it was November before defeat was felt. A 4–0 loss to challengers Forfar Athletic towards the end of the season was quickly forgotten as Queen's won their last five matches, clinching the Championship at Cowdenbeath on the final day of 1999–2000. The addition of ex-pros such as Neil Inglis,

Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. Th ...

, Graham Connell and Johnny Whelan helped. The late loan signing of

Paul Walker Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise. Paul Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gainin ...

from

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; ), also known as The Toon or The Cleyhole, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on Loch Ryan and the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland. Stranraer is Dumfries ...

also proved to be very shrewd as he scored two winning goals in the final run-in. After nearly 20 years of service to the club, Ross Caven won a Championship medal and there was also success for the hard-working

Danny Ferry Daniel John Willard Ferry (born October 17, 1966) is an American executive and former professional basketball player who played the forward position. Considered one of the most celebrated basketball players in the United States from the high sc ...

who had been with Queen's through the lean spells of the 90s.

Promotions and relegations

Having won promotion, the Spiders only lasted one season in the Second Division. A good start was made but after the New Year results became increasingly hard to come by and Queen's were relegated on the last day on goal difference. The following season featured a new and largely inexperienced team and Queen's did not win a match until November. There was a period of revival for the team and some great results were achieved, but the poor start meant that Queen's finished bottom of the Third Division, and thus, bottom of Scottish football, for the first time in their history. The start to the following season was unspectacular but the team managed to get to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup before losing 4–3 to

Brechin City Brechin City Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the townDespite the name of the football club, Brechin is not an official city. Brechin was historically known as a city because it has a cathedral. of Brechin in Angus. The club w ...

at Hampden. Months before, McCormack had been made part-time by Queen's. When Morton made an approach for his services in November 2002, he left to take the full-time position. After a lengthy wait, former player Kenny Brannigan was announced as the new manager of Queen's Park in January 2003. His short term at the club was unsuccessful and only a couple of memorable results were achieved, notably a 2–1 win over

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

in the League Cup. A reasonable start to season 2004–05 came to a halt when Brannigan physically confronted a player and a supporter during a match against Elgin City. Queen's lost the match 1–0 and Brannigan lost his job.

Billy Stark William Stark (born 1 December 1956) is a Scottish former football player and coach. He made 500 league appearances in total, including successful spells at St Mirren, Aberdeen and Celtic. He then turned to management, which has seen him take c ...

was installed as Kenny Brannigan's replacement in August 2004 and the season ended with Queen's in 4th place. Inconsistency prevented Queen's from reaching the first ever play-offs the following season but in 2006–07 the Spiders were promoted. Not unlike the successful side of 1981, there were few veterans, and the team mostly consisted of young players with little or no experience of football away from Queen's Park. In August 2006, Queen's defeated SPL side

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

in a League Cup penalty shoot-out to record one of their greatest ever victories. League form dramatically improved after the New Year as only one home match was lost in the second half of the season. Queen's went on a run of eight consecutive victories, during which goalkeeper David Crawford set a new club record by keeping seven successive shut-outs. Queen's finished 3rd in the league, acquiring only one less point than the side which had won the Championship 7 years earlier. Promotion was achieved via the play-offs. Queen's defeated Arbroath in the semi-finals 4–1 on aggregate and then East Fife in the final 7–2 on aggregate. Richard Sinclair and Frankie Carroll became the first players in the club's history to win promotion on more than one occasion. Queen's Park's cavalier playing style was one which was lauded by coaches from opposition sides during the season and they were acknowledged as being well worthy of their promotion. Combining the end of the promotion season and the start of 2007–08, Queen's managed 11 consecutive victories (8 league wins) in all competition. Although Billy Stark had signed a new contract in the summer of 2007, he left midway through the following season to take the managerial post of the Scotland under-21s.

Gardner Speirs and young talent

Stark was replaced in February 2008 by Gardner Speirs who secured safety from relegation and an 8th-place finish. Queen's lost many talented players in the summer of 2008 to paying clubs but only narrowly lost 2–1 to Celtic in the Scottish Cup fifth round in February 2009. After finishing 9th in the Second Division in season 2008–09 and then being defeated in the end-of-season play-off semi-finals (losing 1–2 on aggregate v Stenhousemuir), Queen's Park were relegated to the Third Division. In January 2010, David Murray scored the ''Spiders'' 3000th competitive home goal. Despite poor starts in their last two Third Division campaigns, on both occasions Queen's Park did enough to qualify for the end of season playoffs. They lost at the semi-final stage in both ties, firstly to

Arbroath Arbroath () or Aberbrothock ( ) is a former royal burgh and the largest town in the Subdivisions of Scotland, council area of Angus, Scotland, Angus, Scotland, with a population of 23,902. It lies on the North Sea coast, some east-northeast of ...

and then to Albion Rovers. In season 2012–13, faced with greater public scrutiny due to Rangers being accepted into the bottom tier, Queen's had their best season in years, finishing third and playing attractive attacking football. They failed to achieve promotion in the play-offs, losing to

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

, and the side, which contained players such as

Andrew Robertson Andrew Henry Robertson (born 11 March 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays at left-back for club Liverpool and captains the Scotland national team. He is regarded as one of the best left-backs of his generation and one of th ...

Lawrence Shankland Lawrence Shankland (born 10 August 1995) is a footballer who plays as a striker for club Heart of Midlothian and the Scotland national team. Shankland began his career at Queen's Park before moving to Aberdeen in 2013. He played on loan wi ...

Aidan Connolly Aidan Charles Patrick Connolly (born 15 August 1995) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Queen's Park. Connolly began his career with Queen's Park before joining Dundee United in 2013, and also played for ...

Paul McGinn Paul McGinn (born 22 October 1990) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a right-back for club Motherwell, whom he captains, and for the Scotland national team. Starting his career at Queen's Park in the youth team, McGinn has spent the majo ...

and

Blair Spittal Blair Thomas Spittal (born 19 December 1995) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a midfielder for side Heart of Midlothian. He has previously played for Motherwell, Queen's Park, Dundee United, Partick Thistle and Ross County. Ear ...

was broken up in the close season. In season 2014–15 Queen's Park finished 2nd and qualified for the Scottish league one playoffs. In the first leg, the Spiders drew with

2–2 at

Gayfield Park Gayfield Park, commonly known as Gayfield, is a football stadium in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish Professional Football League team Arbroath F.C. The club have played at Gayfield since 1880, although the pitch has ...

before defeating them in the home leg thanks to a 118th minute winner from Queen's defender Tony Quinn. In the second leg, which would determine the winner of the playoff and subsequent promotion, Queen's Park were defeated 1–0 by

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located ...

in the first leg at

. In the away leg at

Ochilview Park Ochilview Park is a association football, football stadium in Stenhousemuir in the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Stenhousemuir F.C., Stenhousemuir. The stadium has a c ...

, Queen's Park would draw 1–1 with the Warriors, meaning Queen's Park would play League Two football the following season.

150th anniversary

After finishing fourth in the 2015–16 league season, they were promoted after beating Clyde in the playoff final. Queen's Park celebrated their 150th birthday on 9 July 2017, with events held to mark the occasion. Following a ninth-place finish in 2017–18, they were relegated to

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

at the end of the season after a 3–2 aggregate loss to Stenhousemuir in the play-offs. In the

2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup The 2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup, known as the IRN-BRU Cup due to sponsorship reasons, was the 28th season of the competition. The tournament took on a similar format from the previous season with the addition of two teams from England's Na ...

, the Spiders recorded a 4–2 penalty win over Champions League regulars,

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, commonly known as The New Saints () or TNS FC, are an English professional football club that play in the , but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They a ...

of the

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...

in the second round of the competition.

Queen's turn professional (2019–present)

Back to back promotions, return to the second tier

A major change to the club's constitution was proposed in 2019, with its members asked if they wished to end amateur status and to allow the hiring of professional players. Part of the motivation for the proposal was that several good players had been lost without the club receiving any compensation due to its status. The club's members voted to move to professional status following a motion on 14 November 2019. 91% of QPFC members elected to go pro, enabling the club to sign players to longer-term contracts and collect transfer fees. Former

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

and

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

coach Ray McKinnon was appointed as the club's new head coach in January 2020. He became the first manager of Queen's Park since the 1980s to secure two wins in his first two matches in charge, before the league two season was ended prematurely due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In the summer of 2020, Queen's Park signed many professional players from higher placed Scottish teams, including former Dundee United striker Simon Murray, and the team went on to win the

2020–21 Scottish League Two The 2020–21 Scottish League Two was the 27th season in the current format of 10 teams in the fourth-tier of Scottish football. The season commenced later than usual on 17 October, being played over a shortened 27-game period due to the Coronavi ...

title and gain promotion to League One. On 12 January 2021, former

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 ...

and Hibernian CEO

Leeann Dempster Leeann Dempster is a Scottish football executive. She was the Chief Executive (CEO) of Queen's Park, having previously held the same position at Motherwell and Hibernian. Career Dempster worked in advertising before becoming sales and marketing ...

was appointed as the club's new chief executive. Dempster announced she would be stepping down from her role in January 2024. Ray McKinnon would leave his role as head coach at the end of the 2020–21 season. He was replaced by Queen's stalwart

Laurie Ellis Laurie Ellis (born 7 November 1979) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer who is a coach with the Rangers Academy. He played for Raith Rovers over three spells, as well as St Mirren, Cowdenbeath and Stirling Albion. A ...

in the close season but Ellis would be relieved of his duties in December 2021 following a downturn in form.

Owen Coyle Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Indian Super League club Chennaiyin. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one appearanc ...

was announced as the new manager of Queen's Park in March 2022. Queen's Park were promoted to the

2022–23 Scottish Championship The 2022–23 Scottish Championship (known as Cinch (company), cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth season of the Scottish Championship, the second tier of Football in Scotland, Scottish football. Ten teams contested the lea ...

after beating

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

1–0 in the play–off semi-final and then beating

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

3–2 in the final of the Championship play-off, thus securing back to back promotions from the fourth to the second tier of Scottish football. In their first season back in the second tier, Queen's narrowly missed out on automatic promotion to the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

and were beaten in the Premiership play-offs by city rivals Partick Thistle. Owen Coyle announced he would be stepping down from his role shortly thereafter. In June 2023, in what was hailed as an ambitious move by the club, Queen's Park announced that former

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

and

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

coach

Robin Veldman Robin Veldman (born 24 December 1985) is a Dutch Association football, football manager who is the manager of SC Heerenveen in the Eredivisie. Early life Veldman was born and raised in the Flevopolder. He played for SV Markesse. Career Yout ...

had been appointed as their new head coach. After a slump in form following a promising start to the league campaign, Veldman left his position on 9 December 2023. Former

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

manager

Callum Davidson Callum Iain Davidson (born 25 June 1976) is a Scottish professional football player and coach who recently managed Scottish Championship club Queen's Park. Davidson played as a left-back for St Johnstone, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City and P ...

was announced as the club's new head coach in January 2024. He would go on to make multiple high profile signings such as Danny Wilson,

Cammy Kerr Cameron Kerr (born 10 September 1995) is a Scottish football player and coach who plays as a defender for club Livingston. Kerr spent the majority of his early career with his hometown club Dundee, coming through the youth ranks and making ...

, and Zak Rudden. On 3 May 2024, Queen's Park finished the

2023–24 Scottish Championship The 2023–24 Scottish Championship (known as Cinch (company), cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the eleventh season of the Scottish Championship, the second tier of Football in Scotland, Scottish football. The season began on 4 Aug ...

season in 8th place, narrowly avoiding a relegation play-off spot thanks to a 2–0 win over

at Hampden Park after a difficult season. On 27 July 2024, Queen's Park progressed out of the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup, also known as the Premier Sports Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League cup in ...

group stage for the first time in the new structure after beating Kelty Hearts 6–0. On 17 August 2024 Queen's travelled to

Pittodrie Stadium Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, from which the surrounding residential area has taken its name, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for Association football, football, it has been the home ground o ...

to face

in the cup's second round where they would narrowly lose 1–0 in added time. On 9 February 2025, Queen's Park defeated

1–0 at

Ibrox Stadium Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Scottish Premiership team Rangers, Ibrox is the third-largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated ca ...

in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup. A result that was later described as ''"One of the greatest shocks in Scottish football history"''.

Rivals and friendships

Despite being located midway between

and

, Queen's Park's former resistance to professionalism resulted in the club not competing in the same division as those teams for long periods of time, and thus turning to rivals in lower divisions, such as

, Clyde,

and

(the latter being the Spiders' closest neighbours until they went defunct in 1967). Since the mid-2000s, Queen's Park supporters have had a strong relationship with German

Oberliga Westfalen The Oberliga Westfalen is the highest level football league in the region of Westphalia, which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The league existed from 1978 to 2008, but was then replaced by the NRW-Liga, a new statewide league. W ...

side

SG Wattenscheid 09 SG Wattenscheid 09 is a Football in Germany, German association football club located in Wattenscheid, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club claimed an official founding date of 18 September 1909 as Ballspiel-Verein Wattenscheid out of the me ...

due to the similarities between the two clubs, including the traditional black and white playing colours of each club's home jerseys.

Supporters

Queen's Park have had a supporters' association since 1947 and currently have members around the world in dozens of countries. The Queen's Park Supporters' Association (QPSA) organise bus travel for away fixtures, organise fundraisers, sell unofficial merchandise, organise quiz nights and other social gatherings and publish monthly newsletters to their members. Queen's Parks more vocal supporters go by the alias of the 'Irn Bru Firm' due to the club's previous long standing connection to the

soft drink A soft drink (see #Terminology, § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) Carbonated water, carbonated, and typically including added Sweetness, sweetener. Flavors used to be Natural flav ...

. The 'Irn Bru Firm' tend to congregate at the back of section P2 in Hampden Park where they will stand and sing traditional chants. At away games, the 'Irn Bru Firm' will stand, chant, clap and hang flags with Queen's Park related text or images. In addition to the 'Irn Bru Firm', a group of Queen's Park supporters have recently banded together to create an ultras group. Known as the 'SouthSide Ultras' and 'Section 67' after the two groups split up, both groups still attend matches home and away with drums and flags and contribute to the atmosphere.

Kit history

Stadium

When Queen's Park was formed in 1867, the club initially played on the Queen's Park Recreation Ground at Crosshill, from where they took their name.Inglis (1996), p. 461. In 1873 they moved to their first enclosed ground, naming it

after a nearby street, Hampden Terrace. A grandstand and pavilion were erected over the next few years and the ground became a regular venue for international matches and cup finals, but in 1883 the club were forced to vacate the site to make way for the construction of the Cathcart Circle railway. After a year playing at

Clydesdale Cricket Club Clydesdale Cricket Club is a sporting club situated at Titwood on the periphery of Pollokshields in the south of Glasgow. History The club was founded in Kinning Park in 1848 by Archibald Campbell. It was formed by members of two previous cl ...

Titwood Titwood is a cricket ground in the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the home of the Clydesdale Cricket Club and is one of four international grounds in Scotland approved by the International Cricket Council (ICC) as a home venue f ...

ground, a second Hampden was opened in October 1884. Whilst the club continued to attract major fixtures, they faced increasing competition as other Glasgow venues such as

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

and Ibrox were developing their facilities more rapidly. To maintain their position in Scottish football, Queen's Park decided to purchase some farmland at

Mount Florida Mount Florida () is an area in the south-east of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Origins The Glasgow district of Mount Florida originated on the "Lands of Mount Floridon", which were described in detail when offered for sale at auction on 21 ...

, where the third Hampden was opened in 1903. Second Hampden was subsequently taken over by

, who renamed it after their previous ground,

Cathkin Park Cathkin Park is a municipal park in Glasgow, Scotland. The park is maintained by the city's parks department, and it is a public place where football is still played. The park contains the site of the second Hampden Park, previously home to the ...

. Hampden celebrated its centenary on 31 October 2003. The stadium also houses the offices of the

(SFA) and the

Scottish Football Museum The Scottish Football Museum is Scotland’s national museum of association football, located in Hampden Park in Glasgow. The museum was established in 1994 being first located in a small section of Glasgow’s Museum of Transport. It was reloc ...

. Despite its large capacity and worldwide profile, it was owned by Queen's Park and leased by the SFA until 2020. It is the national football stadium of Scotland, the venue for all major cup finals and most Scotland international fixtures, and has hosted several UEFA competition finals. Hampden Park was the largest stadium in the world until 1950, when the Maracanã in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

was completed. Many of the record attendances in football were set at Hampden in the mid-20th century. After the release of the

Taylor Report The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...

in the wake of the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the tw ...

, among other football tragedies, it was converted to an all-seater. Hampden's capacity following redevelopment was , although Queen's Park's average league attendance is around 1,800. With matches in the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

having been played there, Hampden was converted into an

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

venue to be the main stadium of the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

. This meant Queen's Park had to move its home games to the

Excelsior Stadium The Excelsior Stadium, officially The Albert Bartlett Stadium, is a football stadium in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the home ground of Airdrieonians of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). Since the 2021–22 season ...

in Airdrie for a full year; the cup finals and Scotland matches also went elsewhere. The stadium has hosted other sports including

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

and

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, as well as many music concerts.

is a smaller ground to the west of the main stadium which Queen's Park traditionally used for training and reserve team or youth matches. In 2018, a deal was made for the SFA to purchase Hampden from Queen's Park upon the expiry of the lease in 2020 for a fee of £5 million, with the club intending to improve Lesser Hampden and play their matches there. In November 2019 the club announced plans to redevelop Lesser Hampden into a 1,774 capacity ground. As of August 2020, ownership of the main stadium had been transferred to the SFA and a new facility was under construction at Lesser Hampden. Queen's Park played their last match at Hampden on 20 March 2021, as their lease on the ground expired at the end of the month. They groundshared at the

Falkirk Stadium The Falkirk Stadium is an all-seater association football, football stadium in Falkirk, central Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish Premiership club Falkirk F.C., Falkirk and Lowland Football League club East Stirlingshire F.C., East ...

for the rest of the 2020–21 season,

Firhill Firhill Stadium, also known as Wyre Stadium at Firhill for sponsorship reasons, is a football and former rugby union, rugby league and greyhound racing stadium located in the Maryhill area of Glasgow, Scotland which has been the home of Partick ...

during 2021–22, and Ochilview in 2022–23. The club released a revised plan in December 2021. On 8 June 2023, Queen's announced that they entered an agreement with the

to use

as their ground for home matches ahead of the upcoming season. This agreement was then extended into the 2024–25 season. From 2025–26 Queen's will return to Lesser Hampden (known as the City Stadium for sponsorship reasons) which has a capacity of 990, much lower than the proposed numbers during construction and lower by a significant margin than the average attendance of games in the 2024–25 season.

Average home attendances

Current squad

First team

Coaching staff

Source:

Managerial history

Records

Most capped player: *All at club:

Walter Arnott Walter Arnott (12 May 1861 – 18 May 1931), sometimes known as Wattie Arnott, was a Scottish footballer who played for Queen's Park F.C., Queen's Park and the Scotland national football team, Scotland national team. Football career Born in Po ...

(14 caps) *Including some at club:

Alan Morton Alan Lauder Morton (24 April 1893 – 12 December 1971) was a Scottish footballer who played as an outside left for Queen's Park, Rangers and Scotland. Playing career Club Morton was born in the Jordanhill district of Glasgow. He grew up in ...

(31 total / 2 at club) *Played for club, international elsewhere: Andy Robertson (82 caps - ongoing as of 23 March 2025) Most league points in a season: *2 points for a win: 57 ( Division Two – season 1922–23) *3 points for a win: 69 ( Third Division – season 1999–2000) Most league points per game in a season: *2 points for a win: 1.5 ( Division Two – 1922–23) *3 points for a win: 2.45 ( League Two – 2020–21) Record appearances: Ross Caven (594 appearances) Record goal scorer: James McAlpine (163 goals) Most league goals in a season: Willie Martin (30 goals – season 1937–38) Record victory: 16–0 vs St Peters (

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 ...

( Division One, 29 April 1930) Record

attendance Attendance is the concept of people, individually or as a group, appearing at a location for a previously scheduled event. Measuring attendance is a significant concern for many organizations, which can use such information to gauge the effective ...

: 95,722 vs

(

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Eddie Hunter Eddie Hunter may refer to: * Eddie Hunter (footballer, born 1928) (1928–2002), Scottish footballer (Falkirk FC) * Eddie Hunter (footballer, born 1943), Scottish footballer and manager (Queen's Park) * Eddie Hunter (baseball) (1905–1967), Maj ...

(15 years) Fastest hat-trick: David Galt (5 minutes vs Elgin City, 16 March 2019) Highest transfer fee received £350,000 (

Callan McKenna Callan Thomas McKenna (born 22 December 2006) is a Scottish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Bournemouth. He is a Scotland youth international. Career From Fernhill, South Lanarkshire, McKenna played age group football for Hibernia ...

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

, 30 January 2024) Highest transfer fee paid £50,000 (est) (

Nikola Ujdur Nikola Ujdur (born 25 January 1999) is an Australian footballer who plays as a defender for club Queen's Park. Career Early career Ujdur started his career with Bosnian Premier League side, NK GOŠK Gabela, rising through the youth ran ...

from Inverness CT, 26 July 2024)

Honours

Major

League

* Scottish second tier **Winners (2): 1922–23, 1955–56 * Scottish third tier **Winners: 1980–81 ***Play-off winners: 2021–22 * Scottish fourth tier **Winners (2): 1999–00,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

***Play-off winners: 2006–07, 2015–16

Cup

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1874 Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe &n ...

1875 Events January * January 1 – The Midland Railway of England abolishes the Second Class passenger category, leaving First Class and Third Class. Other British railway companies follow Midland's lead during the rest of the year (Third C ...

1876 Events January * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. *January 27 – The Northampton Bank robbery occurs in Massachusetts. February * Febr ...

1880 Events January *January 27 – Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the incandescent light bulb. Edison filed for a US patent for an electric lamp using "a carbon filament or strip coiled and connected ... to platina contact wires." gr ...

1881 Events January * January 1– 24 – Siege of Geok Tepe: Russian troops under General Mikhail Skobelev defeat the Turkomans. * January 13 – War of the Pacific – Battle of San Juan and Chorrillos: The Chilean army ...

1882 Events January * January 2 ** The Standard Oil Trust is secretly created in the United States to control multiple corporations set up by John D. Rockefeller and his associates. ** Irish-born author Oscar Wilde arrives in New York at the ...

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

1893 Events January * January 2 – Webb C. Ball introduces railroad chronometers, which become the general railroad timepiece standards in North America. * January 6 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress; th ...

***Runners-up:

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

**Winners:

1899 Events January * January 1 ** Spanish rule formally ends in Cuba with the cession of Spanish sovereignty to the U.S., concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.''The American Monthly Review of Reviews'' (February 1899), p ...

(shared) *

**Runners-up:

Minor/Reserve

Football World Championship The Football World Championship, also known as the United Kingdom Championship or the International Club Championship, was an exhibition association football match played between the English and Scottish club champions (either national cup or lea ...

: **Winners (4): 1876, 1881, 1882, 1893 *

**Winners (4): 1889, 1890, 1899, 1946 ***Runners-up (8): 1896, 1898, 1929, 1932, 1940, 1965, 1985, 2022 * Glasgow League **Winners (1): 1896–97 ***Runners-up (1): 1897–98 *

Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity Cup ...

**Winners (8): 1877, 1878, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1891 ***Runners-up (20): 1889, 1890, 1894, 1896, 1906, 1908, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1953, 1955, 1957 *Ayr Charity Cup **Winners (5): 1918, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1925 *

Scottish Amateur Cup The Scottish Amateur Cup is a nationwide knockout tournament supported and organised by the Scottish Amateur Football Association. The Scottish Amateur Cup is contested by hundreds of football clubs every year. The first and second rounds are re ...

**Winners (12):

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

1933 Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

1947 It was the first year of the Cold War, which would last until 1991, ending with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Events January * January–February – Winter of 1946–47 in the United Kingdom: The worst snowfall in the country i ...

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Queen's win Scottish Amateur Cup Final

Scottish Professional Football League The Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) is the national men's association football league in Scotland. The league was formed in June 2013 following a merger between the Scottish Premier League and the Scottish Football League. As well ...

, 3 June 2009 *SPFL Reserve League **Winners (3): 2013–14, 2023–24, 2024–25 *SPFL Reserve League Cup **Winners (1): 2013–14

References

;Sources * *

External links

;Official Website * ;Unofficial Websites
Spiders Talk – A Forum For Queen's Park FansQPFC.com - A Historical Queen's Park FC Website
;News sites
BBC Queen's Park
;History

{{Authority control Football clubs in Scotland Association football clubs established in 1867 Football clubs in Glasgow 1867 establishments in Scotland Scottish Football League teams Scottish Cup winners Scottish Football Association founder members Scottish Professional Football League teams Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Govanhill and Crosshill