| Full name | Lennox Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1873 | ||
| Dissolved | 1882 | ||
| Ground | Levengrove Park | ||
| Hon. President | Cllr. John Denny[1] | ||
| Hon. Secretary | James Sword | ||
| Match secretary | William Jardine Jr | ||
| |||
Lennox Football Club was a 19th-century football club based inDumbarton, inScotland.
The club was founded in 1873, and by 1876 had 57 members, 20 more than the local rivalsDumbarton had at the same stage;[2] however, unlike Dumbarton, Lennox was not backed by a local industrial concern, club secretary Joseph Jenkins being a lawyer's clerk.[3] The clubs met in Lennox' firstScottish Cup tie in 1875–76 and Dumbarton won 1–0 in a replay, thanks to a goal in the last five minutes from a Galbraith shot; Lennox protested against the goal on the basis of offside, and even left the pitch rather than play out the full time,[4] but theScottish Football Association dismissed the protest the following week.[5] The original tie at Levengrove had ended 2–2, Lennox losing a two-goal lead in the final 15 minutes.[6] A 3–1 win over a strongRangers XI in March 1876 led to the Lennox being considered one of the "first clubs, and certainly one of the most rising clubs" in Scotland.[7]
Lennox' second entrythe next season was its most successful, and the club reached the quarter-finals, which, given the uneven nature of the regional early rounds, was made up of 6 clubs. The club gained revenge over Dumbarton in the third round, despite the Sons disputing the Lennox winner,[8] and, by the time it went toEdinburgh Swifts in the fourth, had only conceded 2 goals all season.[9] Despite having to play the second half with ten men through injury, Lennox won 4–0, with two goals per half; full-back Kennedy - whose corner led to the first goal - was particularly praised for his play.[10] The run came to an end at home toRangers, Lennox going down by 3 goals, plus one disallowed, to nil, all the goals coming in the second half and being put down to Rangers being a younger side.[11]
In1877–78 the club gained its record win (9–0 overMilngavie) in the second round, but it was the club's final win in the competition. In the third round, it lost 3–0 at eventual winnersVale of Leven, in front of 2,000 spectators.[12] At the time, the club was the second-biggest in the shire, with 96 members, compared to Jamestown's 80, Dumbarton's 68, and Renton's 50; however Vale of Leven had 264.[13] Lennox was also the first club in the town to host the mightyQueen's Park, in February 1878.[14]
Lennox was the beneficiary of an unusual reprieve in the1879–80 Scottish Cup.Jamestown beat Lennox in the third round[15] with the help ofVale of Leven playerRobert Paton, who was not Cup-tied, and, as the Vale was out of the Cup, was free to represent another side.[16] This however meant that Lennox protested on the basis that the Paton, and three other players Jamestown had "borrowed" from the Vale players were not bona members of the Jamestown club, and, after the Scottish FA committee heard the evidence, it decided that Paton had been a member of Jamestown before the first round - but that meant that he was ineligible to referee Jamestown's first-round tie with theStar of Leven club, which had already been the subject of a dismissed protest.[17] With this new evidence, the Scottish FA annulled Jamestown's first round victory over Star of Leven, and re-instated Star to play in the second round against Jamestown's victimsKirkintilloch Athletic, and Lennox was to play the winner in the third round. The reprieve was short-lived as Kirkintilloch (who beat Star in the second round) beat Lennox 6–2.[18]
The club was still good enough in February 1880 to beat Renton,[19] but before the next season started, many of its players, includingJames Meikleham, John Kennedy, and captain Robert Lang were playing forDumbarton,[20] and the club fell away.
Lennox' final match in the competition came in1880–81. It lost 2–1 tothe original Helensburgh club in the first round, but the Scottish FA ordered a replay because of "an irregularity in the appointment of referees".[21] Helensburgh won the replayed tie 8–1. Lennox did not play in the competition again. It entered in1881–82 but when drawn to play Vale of Leven the club scratched rather than face an inevitable defeat.[22] In January 1882 a storm destroyed the Lennox clubhouse and that seems to have been a fatal blow for the club.[23]
The club's colours were originally black and white hoops.[24] From 1877 the club's colours were navy and white one-inch hooped jerseys and stockings, with blue knickers.[25][26]
The club played at Levengrove Park,[27] whose surface the club maintained in better condition than any other in the region.[28]
