| Full name | Cameronians Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | the Cams,[1] the Sodgers[2] | |
| Founded | 1893 | |
| Dissolved | 1914 (as a senior club) | |
| Ground | Maxwell Park | |
| Hon. Secretary | Alex. Mackay | |
| Match secretary | John McDonald | |
TheCameronians Football Club was anassociation football club, formed out of theCameronians (Scottish Rifles) regiment of theBritish Army.
The regiment's side emerged from the4th Volunteer Battalion of the Scottish Rifles, and was formally called as the4th V.B.S.R. as a result, theCameronians name being official from 1897.[3]
The club was founded in 1893 and, with the regiment being based in north-east Glasgow,[4] entered theScottish Cup,Glasgow Cup andGlasgow North Eastern Cup (the last edition of the latter) in the 1893–94 season. The club beatShettleston Swifts 7–1 in the first preliminary round of the national competition[5] (the tie being drawn to be played at Shettleston, but actually played at Maxwell Park),[6] but lost in the second toCowlairs.
The club continued to enter theGlasgow Cup and the Scottish Cup - from 1895 to 1896, theScottish Qualifying Cup - until 1902–03. It lost every single competitive cup fixture it played, other than a win overGlengowan in the first round of the Qualifying Cup in 1898–99,[7] and a 3–2 replay win over the fallen giants ofRenton in the same competition in 1900–01, with goals from Hill, McKnight, and Denholm. The score slightly flattered Renton, which scored its second on the whistle.[8]
Despite the poor cup record, the club applied to join theScottish Football Alliance in 1896, and was accepted, ahead ofMossend Swifts andBathgate; albeit this was a sign of the Alliance's decline, as many of its clubs had been recruited into theScottish League, and it was only by a margin of 6 votes to 3 that the Alliance was not disbanded.[9] Cameronians finished bottom of the 5 clubs, with only one win, 4–1 at home toBlantyre,[10] and the Alliance did not continue afterwards.[11]
From 1904 to 1912, the regiment was stationed outside the United Kingdom, and it had considerable success in competitions; from 1906 to 1909, it won four trophies in India (including theDurand Cup twice), and, having been re-deployed to South Africa in 1910, it won theOrange Free State Cup, the Orange Free State 2nd division, and the Dewar Trophy.[12]
In 1912, the regiment returned to Scotland, and re-entered the Qualifying Cup, but again with the same lack of success; its one win in the competition was 3–2 atBabcock & Wilcox in 1913–14.[13] However, the club did achieve its greatest success in Scottish football that season, by winning theScottish Amateur Cup, beating the Albert Road Former Pupils atHampden Park.[14] The outbreak of theFirst World War meant this was the club's last competitive match; it had to withdraw from the 1914–15 Qualifying Cup and never returned to senior football.
The club's original colours were red and white jerseys with blue knickers.[15] From 1900 to 1904, the club wore maroon, and while stationed in India reverted to red and white stripes, but with white shorts. From 1912 to 1915, a combination of black, green, and blue,[16] the colours of the regimental tartan.[17]
The club's ground in Scotland was Maxwell Park[18] off Alexandra Parade.[19]
