Scottish Football Historical Archive

 All-time Scottish Football Club Directory

Last updated on 8 May 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 the seminal work by John Byrne,  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

Season-by-season research

A growing archive of minor cup results and miscellany

1870-71 to 1924-25

14 May - 1878-79  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 by the AFS, 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. Follow the above link to access copies of this essential work.

South Ayrshire Junior League by Jim McCaulay

 Excellent history of this league that operated in the 1920s and early 1930s complete with narrative and final tables.

History of Queen's Park FC 1867-1917 

by Richard Robinson, published in 1920

Football in Buckie 1889-2010

Taken from the buckieheritage site

Glasgow Cup, last competed for by Senior clubs in 1988

 SENIOR LEAGUE CAREERS

Spreadsheet charting the league careers of clubs in the pre-WWI era

JUNIOR LEAGUES 1891-2012

Updated 8 May 2012

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JUNIOR LEAGUE SPREADSHEETS

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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The 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



Scottish Junior 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.

West of Scotland Junior Cup

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.

Reserve League results

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.

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 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.

Forrest Robertson has also updated his 30 year old seminal work on Scottish football records. The updated ebook is available via download at Scottish Football Facts 

The Encyclopedia of Scottish Football (2nd Edition) by David Potter and Phil Hulme-Jones is an exceptional book covering a multitude of topics ranging from, amongst many others,  abandoned games, senior non-league football, the junior and amateur scene and  defunct clubs and leagues. Some encyclopedias focus too readily on more modern topics, but this book hits the spot, and is the perfect publication for those wishing to delve more deeply into the wealth Scotland's footballing history. Copies are available from Amazon

Recent Updates

19 May - Scottish 2nd XI Cup added, and Glasgow Reserve Cup updated.

Thanks go to Brian Doyle, the St Johnstone historian who co-wrote the club's history in 'Bristling with Possibilities', who has now added more results to the Northern League results grids.

17 May - Barry Stevens has added numerous results and amendments to the Forfarshire Cup during the 1880s and 1890s period. I've also added a new page on the Lanarkshire Cup, with many of the results up to 1915 included.

16 May - From Gordon Hunter, seasons +1888-89, 1889-90 and 1890-91 of the Seasonal Archive section has been updated, as has the 1888-89 season of theEdinburgh Cup

14 May -1878-79 has been added to the Seasonal Archive section. A number of other results have also been added to the Edinburgh Cup. Thanks also go to Gordon Hunter for adding a few more results to these files.

11 May - 1879-80 has been added to the Seasonal Archive section. As I've stated below, these files are incomplete, and should be used as a starting point for future research. Major competitions of the time such as the Edinburgh (EOS) Shield,Lanarkshire Cup and various charity cups are allfeatured, but more work needs to be done. Any help in this would be most welcome.

8 May - John Aitken has updated several eastern junior clubs' details in the Club Directory, and Norman Nicol has updated the Fife Junior leagues spreadsheet (now covering most results up to 1968). Have a look at all Nic's files, if you can add any more results to them, please get in touch.

3 May - In August 1880, a Scottish Junior FA was formed in Glasgow, preceding the present day association by six years. Not much is known about it at present, but it ran a Scottish Junior Cup competition in 1880-81, before apparently disbanding.

2 May - Jim Gardiner has added another result (in 1912-13) to the Dunedin Cup. Tom has also added a few more final tables to the Central Junior League. Finally, I've made some amendments andupdated the Scottish League re-elections page.

1 May - Tom McGouran has added more missing results for the Dunedin Cup, Central League (1919-1921 version), Forfarshire Cup, North-eastern League Cup and Provincial League.

26 Apr - Forrest Robertson has supplied some more Inter County matches.

24 Apr - I've added a list of County FA and other representative matches from 1873 to 1925. This is by no means exhaustive, so I'd be delighted if any more games could be added; also any from after 1925 would be more than welcome.

I've also re-added the old TOURS pages. These were once part of the old Geocities version of the site, and can still be accessed via the Web Archive site. Iintend to reincorporate them back fully into the site soon.

21 Apr - Churchill Cup and Edinburgh Cup updated.

Glasgow North Eastern Cupadded. This competition has been thought to have began in 1882-83 season, however I have uncovered results involving four clubs in April and May 1882.

17 Apr - Barry Stevens has added the remaining missing results for the Forfarshire 2nd XI Cup. Barry has also uncovered line-ups and other match details which will be added in due course, but thanks to his research, the SFHA now has all the results for this competition bar one: Lochee Athletic's tie with Our Boys which was due on 1 Oct 1881.

15 Apr - Most of the results for the Churchill Cup added. This was a competition open to all the clubs in the present Dumfries and Galloway region from 1881-1895, and the precursor of the present-day Southern Counties Cup. A fuller introductory history to the page will be added in due course.

12 Apr - Senior and Junior football in Buckie and the surrounding county, is catalogued in this excellent PDF file gleaned from the local newspapers. (Taken from the buckieheritage site)

10 Apr - Norman Nicol has updated the Fife Junior Leagues spreadsheet.

9 Apr - results added for the 1886-87 Sauchie Band Charity Badges.

9 Apr - added today is a pdf copy of Richard Robinson's outstanding History of Queen's Park FC 1867-1917. This seminal work from 1920, of which original copies can fetch upwards of 600, features, not only the first 50 years of this famous club, but also the early history of organised football and the various associations and leagues that ran the game in Scotland.

9 Apr - Ian King has added more results grids and amended some information concerning the Irvine & District Junior League.

6 Apr - Gordon has added results from 1931-32 through to 1939-40 seasons of the Perthshire Cup.

5 April - Gordon Hunter has amended a few results in the 1919-20 Central League

30 Mar - Ian King has added a results grids for the 1909-10 and 1910-11 Irvine & District Junior League.

Below is the trophy awarded to both clubs after two challenge matches in 1932. Rangers beat Newcastle United 4-1 at Ibrox on 14 September 1932, but crashed 5-0 inthe away game on the 21st at St James' Park.These were two of several Scottish Cup winners v English Cup winners games stretching way back to the 1880s.

29 Mar - 1886-87 Perthshire Cup updated.

28 Mar - More missing tables from Alistair, this time for the Central Junior League. Also, the 1922-23 Western League table amended (taken from the Encyclopedia of Scottish Football 2nd ed.)

22 Mar - Alistair Hay of the St Anthonys history site, has added the following tables to the Scottish Junior League, 1908-09, 1911-12, 1914-15 to 1920-21, to the Glasgow Junior League, 1921-22 to 1926-27 and the 1906-07 table to the Glasgow District Junior League.

21 Mar - Linlithgowshire Cup, Linlithgowshire 2nd XI Cup, Dumbartonshire 2nd XI Cup, Edinburgh Cup, all updated for 1885-86 season. 1885-86 is also added to the Season-by-season researcharchive.

20 Mar - Norman Nicol has updated the Ayrshire JUNIOR LEAGUE SPREADSHEETS

19 Mar - Ian King has added a results grid for the 1911-12 Irvine & District Junior League.

17 Mar - John Byrne's seminal book, Scottish Cup 1873-1986, is available for all who wish to have a copy of this essential work.

Gordon Hunter has added the 1921-22 final table and more results for the 1922-23 North Perthshire League.

Forrest Robertson has also updated his 30 year old seminal work on Scottish football records.The ebook is available via download at Scottish Football Facts.

Drummond Calder has sent two images of a medal awarded to East Stirlingshire's Peter Steel for winning the 1898-99 Scottish Qualifying Cup.

A medal awarded to the winners ofthe 1888 Ayr Charity Cup (thanks to George Phipps)

... and two pics of the the pocketwatch awarded to A Drysdale of Markinch Victoria Rangers, then an amateur club before their elevation to Junior status in 1938. (Thanks go to Al Smith)

The Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup, last played for in 1961.

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.

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.

Stenhousemuir FC historical site dedicated to 'The Warriors'.

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.

Glasgow FA website

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.

Football Club History DatabaseRichard Rundle's superb stats site giving league and cup records of thousands of clubs.