Scottish Football Historical Archive
Site maintained by Brian McColl (2002-2012)
Please acknowledge the SCOTTISH FOOTBALL HISTORICAL ARCHIVE if using any material from it.
This archive is far from exhaustive as there are still numerous competitions which still need to be more researched. However I do have a substantial offline record, if there is a particular competition you would want to know more about.
Also if you would like to contribute to the contents of this site, have any amendments or have any queries please CONTACT ME
A to Z Index
A growing archive of minor cup results and miscellany
1870 to 1882, 1887-88 to 1924-25
27 Jan - 1887-88 added
These files feature results from many of the regional, county and local cup competitions, as well as a number of reserve competitions and miscellaneous information such as county FA meetings and inter county matches. The files are, in the main, incomplete, and are solely intended as a starting point for other researchers to further their work. However if you can add any more results, or amendments and corrections, please contact me and I’ll update them accordingly. In time, the more complete competitions will be moved to a dedicated page within the SFHA site. League competitions for these seasons can already be accessed through the A-Z Index link above.
Renfrewshire Cup
DOWNLOADS
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SCOTTISH CUP 1873-1986 by John Byrne. Published in 1986, this book has been criminally out of print for a quarter of a century. It holds a whole raft of details from the very first competition in 1873-74 through to the 1985-86 season. Dates, results, half-time scores, goalscorers and attendances for most of the games are given along with line-ups and venues for all the semi finals and finals. I have copies of this book available as a scanned pdf download. If you would like a copy, please email me and I’ll send you details on how to obtain this seminal publication.
South Ayrshire Junior League by Jim McCaulay
Excellent history of this league that operated in the 1920s and early 1930s.
All-time Scottish Football Club Directory
Last updated on 25 Jan 2012
For copies of the Club Directory, click on the link above for the spreadsheet which contains information on nearly 7000 Senior and Junior clubs to have existed since the 1820s. The lists are by A-Z,with othershowing the clubs by grade, location, county, by formation and Scottish Cup entries.
This Directory has been growing slowly over the last 25 years, having started out as a personal all-time index of Senior clubs, initially those entering the Scottish Cup. The catalyst for the project was the publication of John Byrne’s seminal work ‘The Scottish Cup 1873-1986’. Thanks to numerous contributions, the original directory has been greatly expanded upon and also now includes nearly every Junior club to have existed. The Directory now has over 6500 clubs in its database. In particular I am most grateful to the following individuals for their invaluable help...
Stuart Robertson, for giving me access to his own list of Junior clubs
Alick Milne, for sharing his research of colours for a great many Senior clubs.
Tom Thornton (East Lothian), Graeme McGinty (West Lothian), Brian Reilly (clubs in Maryhill in the 1890s), John Meffen (Stirlingshire) and Malcolm Pagan (Dumfries & Galloway) who have all shared their research to greatly expand the number of clubs included.
I also have to thank Alan McCabe, and Stewart Davidson who kindly loaned me copies of club lists compiled by the late Jackie Heaney.
Where a name has been used on several occasions, these clubs have been differentiated by a number ie [1], [2] etc.
All dates given are inclusive ie 1890-1892 means seasons 1890-91 and 1891-92.
Where a date is unknown, this has been marked with an asterisk (*). Eg 18** denotes sometime between 1870 and 1890. 189* denotes sometime in the 1890s and so on. Any confirmed dates of formation and/or disbanding are given in bold, while all other dates are given as italics
Glasgow Cup, last competed for by Senior clubs in 1988
Spreadsheet charting the league careers of clubs in the pre-WWI era
JUNIOR LEAGUES 1891-2012
Updated 9 Jan 2012
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Norman Nicol has been using information from both the Club Directory and the SFHA site in general to create an excel spreadsheet which follows the varying league careers of Junior clubs in the West of Scotland from 1891 to the present day. This superb file can be downloaded from the above link. If you have any amendments, corrections or even additions, please email me.
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This year’s SCOTTISH NON-LEAGUE REVIEW, in its 24th year, is now on sale for just £3 plus p&p. As well as featuring the usual final tables and results of every Junior and Senior competition from the 2010-11 season, this edition also has all the tables for the principal amateur leagues and a number of extra features. A bargain at the price and a must for all fans, contact Stewart Davidson for this and numerous other important historical publications.
John Aitken has also compiled a list of Scottish Newspapers that have been published through the years.
BRITISH RECORD? - Alistair Hay, who’s researching the history of St Anthony’s, has come up with a grand total of 88 competitive games played by the club in 1935-36 season.
Aberdeenshire Cup
Stewart Davidson has issued a new needs list for the Scottish Junior Cup project. He writes:
This is my current listing of queries from the Scottish Junior Cup (as at June 2011) between 1886 and 1950.
For many of the seasons, I have traced all or almost all the fixtures/results and have been able to list actual known queries.
I have recently been working on the pre-1920s era and compiled actual queries lists for most of these seasons, meaning that only a few seasons remain where I still have too many queries, and so I have listed the actual results I have.
For a handful of seasons, I currently have so few results that there is nothing listed.
This is an ongoing project with the Sunday/Monday papers still to be checked for some seasons, and the Victorian sports press (i.e the Scottish Referee / Umpire) for several seasons.
It is, I appreciate, a lengthy list but with the help of club historians and local newspapers and the like, most of these queries will be able to be traced.
I intend to continue updating this listing as and when there are a number of changes to be made. If anyone can help in any way, even with just one result, it would be very much appreciated. If possible, also note the source where this was obtained.
Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.
Thank you
Stewart Davidson 12/6/2011
Please have a look at the amended list, and if there is anything you can help with, however small, please get in touch, either with me, or directly to Stewart via the email address given in the file.
Stuart Robertson and Stewart Davidson are in the process of compiling a statistical record of the above competition, but still need a number of results to complete the project. Please take a look at the list of games and if you can help with anything, please contact me and I’ll pass all the material on to them.
Tom McGouran is looking for help to complete his research of reserve league football since WWI. If you can help in any way, please contact me and I’ll pass on all info to Tom.
Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr, the two clubs which merged together as Ayr United in 1910.
Recent Updates
JUST PUBLISHED- The Same Old Game: The Complete Story of the Origins of Football by Mike Roberts. An excellent two volume study telling the origins of the various codes from ancient times to the modern game.
For full details on how to order in either book or kindle format,go to Mike's webpage at Football Origins.
27 Jan - 1887-88 results added to the Edinburgh Cup, Ayrshire 2nd XI Cup, Dumbartonshire 2nd XI Cup, Forfarshire 2nd XI Cup, Clackmannanshire Charity Cup(including the Alva Band Badges), Linlithgowshire Cup, and Linlithgowshire 2nd XI Cup.
25 Jan - many thanks to John Aitken for supplying additional dates for numerous Perthshire Junior clubs. These hav all been added to the updated Club Directory.John wrote thebook on the East of Scotland Juniors copies of which are still available from Stewart Davidson's Scottish Non League Review.
22 Jan - Tom McGouran has added a number of results to the Ayrshire Intermediate League in Norman Nicol's Ayrshire Junior's spreadsheet.
Also, Jim Gardiner, in the course of his research into Leith Athletic, has unearthed a couple more results for the 1921-22Western League
19 Jan - Norman Nicol has added a spreadsheet giving the tables of the various Ayrshire Junior leagues of the pre-WWII era. It's intended that the results grids will be filled in gradually to realise more exact final tables.
Colin Connolly would like to know more about the above club. Densfield were probably an amateur or juvenile Dundee club, and a successful one judging by the impressive trophies.
18 Jan - Andrew Hulett and Tom McGouran have bothadded and amended a number of results for the Eastern League. Tom has also added a few more results to the Penman Cup, Scottish Combination, Stirlingshire Cup and Stirlingshire Consolation Cup
15 Jan - 1945-46 Eastern League results grids added.
1888-89 results added for the Edinburgh Cup, Ayrshire 2nd XI Cup, Dumbartonshire 2nd XI Cup, Forfarshire 2nd XI Cup, Clackmannanshire Charity Cup, Glasgow 2nd XI Cup, Lanarkshire 2nd XI Cup, Linlithgowshire Cup, Linlithgowshire 2nd XI Cup
Steve Doyle has been researching Montrose's history, hopefully this will realise the first seriously published history of the club in over 60 years. In doing so, Steve has been able to amended some entries in the Forfarshire Cupand Penman Cup.
10 Jan - Robert Rogers has added some more information to the Club Directory
9 Jan - Tom has added more results and Cup winners to the Forfarshire 2nd XI Cup. Norman Nicol has updated the Junior Clubs' League Careers spreadsheets, below
8 Jan - Tom McGouran has added updates to the Perthshire 2nd XI Cup, Midland League, Perthshire Cup, Forfarshire Cup, Penman Cup, Forfarshire 2nd XI Cup, Scottish Combinationand Northern League
6 Jan - most of the missing results added to the Stirlingshire 2nd XI Cup
5 Jan - Linlithgowshire Cup added
4 Jan - Jim Gardiner has added more of Leith Athletic's results to the 1890-91 and 1893-94 Edinburgh Cup
3 Jan - Robert Guthrie has added some more details regarding clubs from New Cumnock which have been added to the Club Directory.
1 Jan - Robert Guthrie has added some final results to the Ayrshire 2nd XI Cup.
30 Dec - Dave Beattie has added the final of the 1884-85 Edinburgh Cup.
28 Dec - I've added/updated anumber of reserve competitions from the late 19th and early 20th centuries-
Stirlingshire 2nd XI Cup, Edinburgh Cup, Ayrshire 2nd XI Cup, Dumbartonshire 2nd XI Cup, Forfarshire 2nd XI Cup, Glasgow 2nd XI Cup, Lanarkshire 2nd XI Cup, Linlithgowshire 2nd XI Cup, Perthshire 2nd XI Cup and Renfrewshire 2nd XI Cup
22 Dec - The NORTH JUNIORSspreadsheet by Norman Nicol added.
21 Dec - Clackmannanshire Charity Cupresults added for 1889-90. Jim Gardiner has also noted an erronous result in the 1915-16 Gardeners' Cup.
17 Dec - Gardeners' Cup, a charity competition for West Lothian clubs added.
14 Dec - Norman Nicol has added two new spreadsheets featuring the league memberships of SOUTH JUNIORSand EAST JUNIORSclubs.
13 Dec - Clackmannanshire Charity Cupdates added and introduction to the Midland Leagueamended. Forfarshire Charity Cup and Perthshire Cup updated.
8 Dec -1895-96 results grids all updated for the Ayrshire Combination, Midland Leagueand Scottish Alliance. Seasonal Archive for 1895-96 added.
The Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup, last played for in 1961.
Publications
East of Scotland Juniors by John Aitken. In 2005, John published a book featuring league and cup winners from the West of Scotland. He has followed this up with a comprehensive look at the East of the country ranging from Kincardinshire and Angus in the north, southwards through to the Borders. Like his previous book, this one also features the winners, runners-up and league members of almostevery the league since 1891.Copies of this important research are available for only 10 (including P&P) from the Scottish Non League Review.
To help complete his research for the forthcoming 125 Years of Scottish Junior Football, John also needs help on the Dumbartonshire Junior Cup 1909 - 1914 and 1920 - 1930, the Greenock & District Junior Cup between 1919 and 1935 and the Dumbartonshire & Renfrewshire Cup up to 1933. If you can help please contact me and I'll forward any material onto John.
Scottish Non League Review
As well as publishing the only annual dedicated to non-League football in Scotland since 1988, Stewart Davidsons Scottish Non League Review has also issued numerous booklets covering a huge range of subjects.
Stuart Robertson has compiled a series of booklets which gives the results of every Junior game played in Ayrshire between 1933 and 1968. An excellent addition to any library, these indispensible records can be obtained by emailing Stuart through the SFHA.
Soccer History magazine, which is edited by Ian Nannestad, is a quality publication covering football history over Britain with in depth coverage of the Scottish game.
The Carry Cup, awarded to the winners of the Forfarshire County League between 1897 and 1911
Scottish Football Historian Each edition comprises 28 pages and contains original research on the history of the game in Scotland, its personalities, players and clubs. Reproductions of long-forgotten articles on Scottish Football History, book reviews, obituaries, exchange of information, and news and views of interest to all those with an interest in the history of Scottish Football.
Northern League Championship Trophy 1891-1920
External Links
London Hearts Superb database of all things Hearts and Scotland.
Scottishleague.net Historical questions raised and answered.
Scottish Non League Review Stewart Davidsons invaluable books on the non League game, including the annual Scottish Non League Review.
Neil Browns Scottish player records charts all players careers since 1946.
Historical Football Kits Superb archive showing strips for every SFL/SPL club since 1867.
Tribal ColoursAntony Borrett's archive of Scottish strips going back to 1980.
RSSSF The world football database.
Jamie Wires Non League Scotland Records and photographs from all of Scotlands non League clubs, with league details going back to 1990.
Fitbastats Bobby Sinnet and Thomas Jamiesons excellent historical resource
Ayrshire Junior Football Archive Historical records going back to 1939.
Falkirk & District Football Excellent historical site covering football in Stirlingshire.
Football in Stevenston Short history of football in the Ayrshire town.
Football in Douglasdale Great historical site relating to the Junior and Juvenile scene in this part of Lanarkshire.
Fife Junior History, Eric Thomsons superb historical record of Fife Junior football.
East Fife Year by year record on the Methil club, giving results scorers etc.
The Gallant Pioneers focuses on the early years of Rangers.
Dave Beatties two sites have been combined into one at http://www.hibsprogrammes.co.uk/stats.html
Hibernian FC History site another Hibs database which gives complete line-ups, scores etc for every game.
Partick Thistle The Early Years Story of the Glasgow club from 1875 to 1900.
Newtongrange Star Historical site aiming to compile every result from Stars history.
Arbroath History of the Red Lichties.
Arniston Rangers which includes a copy of The History of Arniston Rangers written by Alexander Smith in 1991
Beith History of Beiths Senior and Junior clubs.
Blackburn United Excellent site devoted to the East Superleague club.
St Anthonys Alistair Hays excellent historical work on the Glasgow Junior club.
Celtic Extensive contributory historical site.
Dundee Programme Collector an excellent site by Kris Scrimgeour that has excellent historical content on Dundee FC and their predecessor clubs.
Dundee's Footballing Victorians also by Kris, gives information on Dundees clubs from the 19th Century
Falkirk blogspot John Meffens historical musings on Falkirk FC well worth a look!
Clydebank Programmes Online Stevie McAneneys excellent site devoted to Clydebank FC from 1963.
ArdrossanFootballClubs.net George McGrattans research of football in the Ayrshire town
Bettermeddle Andrew Huletts historical archive of Falkirk FC.
My Airdrie Programmes Andrew Dicks archive of Airdrieonians and Airdrie Uniteds match-day programmes
Dumfries Amateur League contains an excellent historical section which also has final league tables going back to the start in 1954.
Vale of Leithen FC features an in depth history of the Border club.
Third Lanark commemorative site to the long defunct Glasgow club.
FoundItAtLastDescribing itself as 'The bookshop in the middle of nowhere', Steve James' shop is a goldmine of secondhand publications, including a great selection on football. Well worth a visit.
And for English football history...
Non League Football Matters, extensive, growing archive giving the final tables of numerous non-League competitions, this is an epic site.
