| Full name | Babcock & Wilcox Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | B & W, the Babbies[1] | ||
| Founded | 1908 | ||
| Dissolved | 2010? | ||
| Ground | Moorcroft Park | ||
| |||
Babcock & Wilcox Football Club was the works football team of theBabcock & Wilcox Limited company, based inRenfrew, Scotland.
The club was founded in 1908, with the first opponents beingSt Mirren's "A" side,[2] and became a member of theScottish Football Association in 1912. As a senior member of the association, the club was entitled to enter theScottish Cup, and did so until 1988. For many years the club also fielded two sides in the Scottish Amateur and Greater Glasgow leagues.
As a works side with a limited pool of players, the club usually failed to reach the competition proper, instead being knocked out in the qualifying rounds. The club's first appearance in the first round proper was in1935-36, losing 6–0 toDundee F.C.
The club's best Cup season was in 1938–39. That season, the club had an experienced line-up, made up entirely of former professional players, thanks to the parent firm being able to offer better working wages than the semi-professional sides.[3] including Tierney (former goalkeeper withCrystal Palace F.C., Frame (formerManchester United andCowdenbeath F.C. player), M'Millan (formerThird Lanark left-back), Bourhill (former Morton right-back), Pope (formerPartick Thistle outside-right), Smith (former inside-left forHeart of Midlothian),Jimmy Leonard (former centre-forward for Hibernian and Cowdenbeath), and Kavanagh (former outside-left withCeltic F.C.). The club reached the final of thequalifying cup competition (losing toInverness Clachnacuddin), and gained its only Scottish Cup win against aScottish League side, beatingKing's Park in a first round replay. The original tie at Park's Forthbank ground, in front of a crowd of 1,630, ended 5-5; the "speed and the amazing accuracy of the to-grade passing of the entire Babcock front line that bewildered all the King's Park defenders" as the club came from 2–0 down after 15 minutes to lead 4–2 at half-time and only concede a final equalizer in the final ten minutes.[4]
In the replay, in front of 1,267 spectators paying a gate of £61, Babcock & Wilcox was helped by an injury to King's Park goalkeeper Giannandrea; after dropping a cross which led to the winning goal by Leonard, he swapped out of goal with right-back Kennedy and played on the right-wing.[5]
The club went out toQueen of the South in the second round, and were on top for half-an-hour, before the fitness of the top division club proved decisive.[6]
The club's success in the competition led to some thought of the club joining theScottish League, an appointed George M'Loughlin of Queen of the South to manage the side,[7] and as a back-up approaching other clubs (such asVale Ocoba to form a separate competition,[8] but World War 2 ended any such hopes.
The club's only other qualifying cup final was in the southern section in 1957–58, losing over two legs toEyemouth United. After beatingForres Mechanics in the first round of the competition proper in1958-59, the club lost in the second to fellowRenfrewshire sideMorton.
The club's last appearance in the competition proper was in1972–73, losing in the first round toBerwick Rangers in front of a crowd of 808.
The last tie the club played was a 6–0 defeat toAnnan Athletic in the 1987-88 qualifying rounds.[9] At the end of the season, the club lost access to its ground, and as a result lost its membership of the Association; with the loss of membership came the loss of entitlement to entering the Scottish Cup. The club changed its name toMoorcroft A.F.C. and continued briefly as an amateur side.[10]
As senior members of the Scottish FA, the club was entitled to participate in theRenfrewshire Cup, which was generally dominated byScottish League clubs St Mirren and Greenock Morton. The club first entered in 1912, and won the competition for the only time in 1953–54, when Morton was the only other entrant.
The club's ground was Moorcroft Park. The highest attendance at the ground was 2,000 for the Scottish Cup second round tie with Morton on 14 February 1959.
The club's colours were black and white. Leading up to the Second World War, the arrangement was an all black kit, with a white band on the shirt.[11] By the 1970s the club wore black and white 1" hooped jerseys with white shorts and socks.[12]
Category:Babcock & Wilcox (soccer) players
