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| Full name | Maryhill Hibernians Football Club (1923–1939) Maryhill Harp Football Club (1939–1967) |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Hibs,Harp |
| Founded | 1923 |
| Dissolved | 1967 |
| Ground | Kelvinvale Park[1] Glasgow |
| League | Scottish Junior League 1923–1941 Central Junior League 1941–1967 |
Maryhill Harp Football Club were aScottishfootball club based in theMaryhill area ofGlasgow, who played inScottish Junior Football Association competitions from 1923 until they went out of business in 1967. Before 1939, the club were known asMaryhill Hibernians. They won theScottish Junior Cup once, in 1928.
Maryhill Hibernian were formed in 1923 and admitted to theScottish Junior League (SJL), using Kelvinvale Park in Maryhill as their home ground. Their greatest season came in 1927–28 and coincided with theIntermediate dispute in the Junior game. With several more successful clubs such asBaillieston,Duntocher Hibs andYoker Athletic defecting from the SJL to the Intermediates, plus no Intermediate representation in the Junior Cup, Hibernians won a league and cup double. Their 6–2 victory overBurnbank Athletic atFirhill remains the highest scoringJunior Cup final in the competition's history. Willie Gray, who scored four of the goals, was already Hibs firstScotland Junior internationalst, being capped against Ireland in March 1928. He and fellow scorer Joe Riley both joinedCeltic the following season along with goalkeeper David Nicol.[2]
Hibs added a second SJL championship title in 1932–33 but the dispersed nature of the league, with clubs from towns such asDunoon andRothesay, and the ebbing away of local opposition to other leagues, was becoming financially untenable. After a few struggling years, the club submitted their resignation to the league in May 1939 and declared their intention to apply for membership of theCentral League. The SJL however, refused to accept the resignation and the incumbent Hibs committee chose to close the club down in early June 1939.[2]
Immediately, a new club Maryhill Harp was founded by former Hibernians officials and by the end of June 1939, they had intimated their intention to apply for the Central League using Hibs' former Kelvinvale Park. At the Central League AGM however, the Harp application surprisingly failed at the first ballot and the club were obliged to re-apply to the SJL, who readmitted the club. Within months, the outbreak ofWorld War II affected football activities dramatically. Wartime travel restrictions badly hampered the running of the SJL and by February 1940, the league announced it would close down. A small wartime league was constituted in March 1940 and this ran for a second year in 1940–41 before the SJL went into complete abeyance for the rest of the war.[2]
The club were finally admitted to the Central League in 1941–42. Their first season was a relatively successful one, winning their league section only to lose toClydebank in the championship play-off. Latterly, Harp enjoyed moderate success, although they reached the final of theWest of Scotland Cup in 1954–55, losing in a replay toDouglas Water Thistle. The end for the club was signalled in January 1967 whenGlasgow Corporation compulsory purchased Kelvinvale Park for new housing. Harp played their final match on 7 June 1967 againstGreenock Juniors losing 1–0. Although the area of the ground has been completely redeveloped, Kelvinvale was located around present day Kilmun Street / Ledgowan Place.[1][2]
Hibs/Harp was generally run on a low cost basis and supplied players for wealthier Junior clubs and Senior teams. The club had a fruitful relationship withCeltic who loaned out many youth prospects and picked up the occasional player themselves. As well as the three aforementioned players from Hibernians' Junior Cup winning side, Celtic also signedCharlie Napier andPeter Scarff the following year with the latter winning one cap for the fullScotland team. In the Harp era, players exchanged between the two clubs includedHugh Long,Willie Miller,Duncan MacKay,Bertie Auld,Frank Haffey andJimmy Quinn with all but Quinn becoming full Scotland internationalists.[2]
55°53′52″N4°17′46″W / 55.897756°N 4.296214°W /55.897756; -4.296214