Shaftesbury only played senior football for 2 seasons, despite having a large membership (it operated two XIs throughout most of its existence),[5][6] joining the Scottish Football Association in 1877.[7] It duly entered the 1877–78 Scottish Cup, losing in the first round at home to Rosslyn 3–1.[8]
The club was more enthusiastic than technical; for one friendly at Clydesdale in 1877, only ten players turned up, and the club's solution to the problem was to play without a goalkeeper. Shaftesbury changed its approach for the second half, by which time the club was 5–0 down, and the game ended 6–2.[9]
The club had been active in 1877–78, winning 10 out of 22 matches,[10] and entered the 1878–79 Scottish Cup. The club was unlucky to be drawn away to Rangers, and lost 3–0,[11] the defeat - following on from a 4–0 reverse at Beith[12] - seeming to dispirit the club to the extent that it did not survive the season. It did try out a match under electric lights against Parkgrove in November 1878 but the experiment was not a success.[13]
Colours
The club played in dark blue jerseys, white knickers,[14] and red stockings.[15]
Ground
The club played at Ashton Park. This became the ground of City after Shaftesbury ceased playing regular football.[16]
^Dick, William (1877). Scottish Football Annual 1877–78. Cranstonhill: Mackay & Kirkwood. p. 91.
^Dick, William (1878). Scottish Football Annual 1878–79. Cranstonhill: Mackay & Kirkwood. p. 55.
^Fleming, J. S. (1880). Scottish Association Football Annual 1880–81. Gillespie Brothers. p. 37.
^Joannou, Paul; Candlish, Alan (2017). "The early development of a football hotbed: the onset of the game in Tyne and Wear, 1877–1882". Soccer & Society: 8.