| Full name | Cowlairs Football Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1876 | |||
| Dissolved | 1896 | |||
| Ground | Gourlay Park,Glasgow | |||
| ||||
Cowlairs Football Club was a 19th-centuryfootball club from theCowlairs area ofGlasgow in Scotland. The club was of the founder members of theScottish Football League in 1890, and played atSpringvale Park during their time in the league.
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Cowlairs F.C. was formed in 1876 by craftsmen from the Hyde Park andCowlairs railway works inSpringburn, an area that was growing rapidly due to its importance to Glasgow's railway industry. In its early years, the club was a member of theGlasgow FA[1] and was looked on as a junior club, at a time when "junior" clubs were simply smaller and of limited standing in the game, and prior to the establishment of a separateJunior grade of competition. The club entered theScottish Cup for the first time in1880–81, reaching the fourth round.
By the latter part of the decade, Cowlairs' reputation was growing. In1886–87 they entered the EnglishFA Cup (which was open to Scottish clubs at this time), beatingDarwen Old Wanderers in the first round andRossendale in the second; Cowlairs beat the latter by a record away score of 10–2.[2] As the competition was regional in the first few rounds, the Scottish teams that had won through were all within the same division, and Cowlairs were drawn to fellow GlaswegiansRangers in the third round, losing 3–2 atKinning Park, Cowlairs showing "dashing play, but unfortunately their play was not free from roughness".[3] With the Scottish FA taking a dim view of Scots clubs playing English professional clubs, Cowlairs did not enter the FA Cup again.
The club had players of sufficient standing in this period to have two of their number gain international recognition forScotland:Tom McInnes, capped once in 1889, andJohn McPherson, who won two of his nine caps while at Cowlairs, in 1889 and 1890.
Cowlairs was one of the clubs which together formed the Scottish League, but finished bottom of the table at the end ofits first season, not helped by having four points deducted for fielding ineligible players. With the club also facing accusations of professionalism (which had yet to be legalised in Scottish football) following an inspection of clubs' books by the League, it was unsurprising that Cowlairs was unsuccessful in its re-election vote, losing out toLeith Athletic. Despite not being in any league competition the following season, the club enjoyed its longestScottish Cup run, losing toCeltic in the quarter-finals.
Prior to the 1892–93 season, Cowlairs joined theScottish Alliance, finishing as champions. Although they club failed to be elected back to the top flight of the Scottish League at the season's end, it was instead chosen to join the newDivision Two for the1893–94 season. Cowlairs were joined by relegated clubsClyde andAbercorn, Scottish Alliance League clubsThistle,Greenock Morton,Motherwell,Northern,Partick Thistle andPort Glasgow Athletic, as well asHibernian. Cowlairs lost 1–0 in the final of the 1894Glasgow Cup toRangers.
Cowlairs' return to League football started well, securing runners-up spot that season to Hibernian; however, the club were not promoted to Division One, missing out following a ballot to third-placed Clyde. They continued to be beset by financial and administrative problems, and after finishing bottom of Division Two in1895–96, the club were again voted out of the league. They subsequently left Springvale Park and returned to Gourlay Park. The club closed down in 1896.
Petershill Juniors were formed in summer 1897, just after Northern folded and a year after Cowlairs; due to the circumstances they could be seen as a successor representing the Springburn area, albeit their club history does not mention either club, only linking their formation to the demise of St Mungo's Juniors in the area.[4]
Cowlairs utilised a wide variety of colour schemes in its short existence, including:
The club played at Gourlay Park, on the Cowlairs Road, a 3 minute walk from Cowlairs Station, at least from 1880[5] and including its League run,[6] until the club's demise. The ground was also referred to as Springvale Park in the media in the 1890s,[7] although the club's returns to the Scottish FA always called it Gourlay Park.
