| Full name | Hamilton Harp F.C. | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | the Harp | |
| Founded | 1890 | |
| Dissolved | 1896 | |
| Ground | West End Park | |
| Match Secretary | Patrick McInerney, John Lynas | |
Hamilton Harp F.C. was anassociation football club fromHamilton, Lanarkshire,Scotland, active in the 1890s.
The club was founded in 1890, after the demise of the previous Irish diaspora club in the town,Hamilton Hibernians. Shortly after formation the club had already amassed nearly a hundred members.[1] It joined the Lanarkshire Association in May 1890[2] and theScottish Football Association in August 1890.[3] The first match for the club was a surprising 4–3 win in a friendly atHamilton Academical the same month; however the Harp was bolstered by the presence of threeCeltic players.[4]
The Harp's first competitive match was in the first round of the1890–91 Scottish Cup, atUddingston, in a match that was expected to be tight.[5] However the home side was 3–0 up at half-time and added another three, without reply, in the second half.[6] The club's debut in theLanarkshire Cup the same season was also unsuccessful, the club losing its two ties; 5–4 atGlengowan in the first round of the competition itself, in a game reported to be a "cracker",[7] the winner coming in the final minute;[8] and 8–0 at home toMotherwell in the Coatbridge Express Cup,[9] which was a consolation competition for clubs eliminated from the main tournament.
The first senior season set the tone for the Harp's competitive career. The Scottish FA introduced qualifying rounds (and later theScottish Qualifying Cup) for clubs to play through before playing in the Scottish Cup properfrom the 1891–92 season, and Harp lost every tie it played until 1894–95, when it gained an unexpected 0–0 draw withNorthern in the first round,[10] losing in the replay. Even more surprisingly the Harp earned its only win in the competition the following season, 5–2 against the same club,[11] considered "one of the best results of the day",[12] but lost 3–1 atAnnbank in the second round.[13]
The Harp did not fare much better in the Lanarkshire Cup, only ever winning two ties in the main competition; 8–4 againstDykehead in 1892–93,[14] and 4–3 against Glengowan in 1895–96 - the Glengowan tie seeing a fight between M'Namee of Harp and Griffin of Glengowan, for which they were both sent off, and suspended for a month.[15] A Glengowan protest for crowd encroachment, and the winning goal being offside, was dismissed.[16] By this second win, the decimation of senior clubs meant that the Harp reached the semi-final of the county cup, losing 4–0 toMotherwell in the last four, despite borrowing M'Keown from Celtic to play in goal.[17]
The "decadence" of professionalism was too much for the Harp, and, although it formally "ceased to be" in August 1897,[18] the club had dissolved in July 1896. The club's final act was writing toCameronians to say that it was scratching from its 1896–97 Scottish Cup preliminary tie, allowing the Cameronians to arrange a friendly withAlloa Athletic.[19] The club had hoped to turn toJunior status in 1896 but found the debt accrued too much of an obstacle.[20] The final match for the club, in the Coatbridge Express Cup in April, summed up the club's issues - only 7 players turned up atAlbion Rovers, so the Harp scratched, and borrowed four players for a friendly instead, which the Rovers won 6–2 despite an " altogether lifeless" display.[21]
The club originally wore white shirts and blue (serge) knickers,[22] but briefly adopted blue and white shirts in March 1891[23] which appear to have been dropped by the start of the next season.[24] From 1894 the club wore green shirts and white knickers.[25]
The club played at West End Park, owned by the council.[26] Its first home match was against a 2–2 draw with Celtic XI in May 1890 in front of a "splendid" crowd.[27]
