Cambuslang F.C.

Cambuslang F.C.
Full name	Cambuslang Football Club
Nickname(s)	the Villagers
Founded	1874
Dissolved	1897
Ground	Whitefield Park; Cambuslang; South Lanarkshire
Home colours	Away colours

Cambuslang Football Club was a Scottish football club, based in the Cambuslang area (Greater Glasgow). Cambuslang was one of the founding members of the Scottish Football League, but left the league after just two seasons.^[3]

History

The club was founded in 1874. The new football club was named Excelsior with a pitch being laid out in Cambuslang Public Park, known locally as Bogshole Park.^{[citation needed]}

The new club were challenged by the lads from the village of Halfway to play for the right to call themselves Cambuslang, so the Excelsior team went to Halfway and in their first match at Clyde Street Park won by the scoreline of 6–0; from then on the Excelsior name was scratched and Cambuslang Football and Athletic Club were formed.^{[citation needed]}

In 1879 at a meeting at the Cross Hotel in Hamilton the secretary of Cambuslang was joined by those of Airdrie, Airdriehill, Drumpellier, Hamilton Academical, Glengowan, Clydebank, Uddingston, West Benhar, Benhar and Stonelaw where it was agreed that each club would pay 10 shillings (50p) towards a county cup and the new district would be known as the Lanarkshire County Football Association. Cambuslang won Lanarkshire Cup in 1883–84 and 1884–85, the latter by beating Benhar 5–3 in a replay in front of 2,500 at Hamilton.^[4] The club was also runner -up four times before falling out with the Lanarkshire Football Association and joining the Glasgow Football Association for the 1887–88 season; the club officially left the Lanarkshire Association, while Mr Park a club board member, also stepped down as the association president, in March 1887,^[5] and an attempt to bring the club back into the Lanarkshire fold before the new season foundered.^[6] For the new season the club also moved to a new ground, Whitefield Park, opening with a match against Dumbarton Athletic in August.^[7]

Cambuslang reached the Scottish Cup Final in 1888, having beaten Abercorn 10–1 in a semi-final replay after a 1–1 draw with a goal from Billy Mortimer, but lost the final 6–1 to Renton^[8]^[9] in what remains the joint-largest margin in the competition's history (matched in 1972). The two clubs also met in the final of the Glasgow Charity Cup three months later, Renton winning 4–0.^[10] In between, however, Cambuslang had the consolation of winning the inaugural Glasgow Cup, beating Rangers 3–1 in the final in front of 12,000 at Hampden Park.^[11]

Cambuslang joined the Scottish Football League at its inauguration in 1890 and finished fourth in the 1890–91 season.^[3] The club finished last in the eleven team league in 1891–92, however, and did not seek re-election to the league.^[3] They made no effort to re-join the league when it added a Second Division.^[3]

Cambuslang's demise came at the end of the 1896–97 season, playing in the Scottish Alliance League.

The Junior team Cambuslang Rangers have nothing whatsoever to do with the former defunct club but they shared the ground for the first year in 1896–97 before moving on. They were called Cambuslang Rovers from 1896 to 1899 before changing to Rangers in 1899 (they were a merger of three local Junior teams), the other junior side was Cambuslang Hibernian who were formed in 1884 and used Bogshole, later renamed Mains Park.

Stadium

1874–1876 Bogshole
1876–1887 Westburn Green/Westburn Park
1887–1897 Whitefield Park

Colours

The club played in dark blue, with varying amounts of white (knickers in 1874, knickers and socks from 1879 to 1886, and knickers again from 1893 to the club's end).^[12] The club's change kit was white shirts.^[13]

Honours

Scottish Cup: Runners-up 1887–88
Lanarkshire Cup: 1884, 1885^[14]
Glasgow Cup: 1888
Glasgow Charity Cup: runners-up 1888

References

^ "Cambuslang v Glasgow Perthshire". Rutherglen Reformer: 3. 23 September 1892.
^ "Lanarkshire notes". Scottish Referee: 3. 7 September 1896.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d (Bob Crampsey 1990, p. 293)
^ "Lanarkshire Cup - Final Tie". Rutherglen Reformer: 1. 15 May 1885.
^ PASTIME Motherwell Times. 5 March 1887. Retrieved 9 September 2021. (via) British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required)
^ "Football". Coatbridge Express: 4. 24 August 1887.
^ "Football". Dumbarton Herald and County Advertiser: 2. 17 August 1887.
^ Scottish Cup Final Tie Renton V. Cambuslang, The Glasgow Herald, 6 February 1888
^ Renton v Cambuslang 6-1, Scottish Football Association
^ "Glasgow Charity Cup - Final Tie". Glasgow Herald: 11. 14 May 1888.
^ "Saturday's football". Glasgow Herald: 10. 30 January 1888.
^ Historical Kits - Cambuslang FC
^ "Glasgow Association". North British Daily Mail: 7. 12 November 1890.
^ Scottish Football Historical Archive - Lanarkshire Cup