Page 8 - Clydesdale origins (Autosaved) #3_Neat

By 1860, Clydesdale had become one of the premier cricket teams in Scotland Clydesdale had Scottish international players Frederick Anderson, John
and THE premier cricket team in the west of the country. Later in the same McPherson, James J Lang, James Tassie Richmond in the forward line, David
decade, the cricketers had begun to play association football during the winter Wotherspoon in defence and Robert W Gardner as captain and goalkeeper,

months. It was originally seen as a way to keep fit during the off-season, use the and were viewed as favourites for the initial cup, along with Queen’s Park.
ground and also keep the club, and its members, together all the year round.

Before long, Clydesdale had established themselves with a reputation as a leading
Clydesdale, were at the time,
club within association football. Queen’s Park Football Club, the original pioneers
the only club strong enough
of association football in Scotland, and freshly enthused about the sport after
to be expected to give
their sortie as a Scotland team against England in the first football international in
Queen's Park a good game.
November 1872, were finding it increasingly difficult to find opposition to play
Clydesdale beat Granville 6-0
against domestically and asked a number of football playing cricket clubs to
in the first round and having
attend a meeting within the Dewars Hotel in Bridge Street, Glasgow on 13th
faced Third Lanark in the
March 1873 with a view to founding an association of like-minded clubs who
quarter-final and two replays,
would introduce a governance structure for the sport and its member clubs.
eventually beat them 2-0.

Clydesdale then played
The clubs in attendance were Queen's Park, Clydesdale, Vale of Leven, Dumbreck,
Blythswood in a home semi-
Third Lanark, Eastern and Granville with Kilmarnock sending a letter of interest to
final in December 1873 and
join. This meeting saw the foundation of the Scottish Football Association, and
won 4-0 to face Queen's Park
during this meeting, Archibald Campbell, founder of Clydesdale Cricket Club, was
in the first Scottish Cup Final.
elected the first president, and two other Clydesdale members, Ebenezer Hendry

and William Gibb, were elected onto the first committee. The first office-bearers
of the Scottish Football Association were:—President, Mr. Archibald Campbell
(Clydesdale); hon. treasurer, Mr. William Ker (Queen's Park); hon. secretary, Mr. Clydesdale's goalkeeper and Captain, Robert W Gardner, had enjoyed seven

Archibald Rae (Queen's Park); committee—Messrs. James Turnbull (Dumbreck), unbroken years of clean sheets as the Queen's Park goalkeeper, however, in
st
Don. M'Farlane (Vale of Leven), Eben Hendry (Clydesdale), W. E. Dick (Third the final at Hampden on 21 March 1874, he lost his record against his old
Lanark), John Mackay (Granville), James M'Intyre (Eastern), Robert Gardner club, the score being 2-0. By way of consolation, 1874 saw Clydesdale break
(Queen's Park), and William Gibb (Clydesdale). Queen’s Park’s perfect clean sheet record and also saw them also thump
Notts County 6-0.
In October of the same year, 16 clubs including 13 cricket clubs, embarked on the
quest for the first Scottish Cup. The original clubs were Alexandra Athletic, In the 1874/75 Scottish Cup, Clydesdale lost to Queen’s Park 1-0 in a second
Blythswood, Callander, Clydesdale, Dumbarton, Dumbreck, Eastern, Granville, semi-final replay and in the 1875/76 Scottish Cup campaign, Clydesdale again

Kilmarnock, Queen's Park, Renton, Rovers, Southern, 3rd Lanark Rifle Volunteers, met their nemesis, Queen’s Park, in the third round and lost 2-0. Clydesdale's
Vale of Leven and Western. football fortunes faded and the section was discontinued in 1890 after being
thrashed 6-1 by Northern in the first round of the Scottish Cup.