| Full name | Possil Bluebell Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | the Blue Bell[1] | |
| Founded | 1878 | |
| Dissolved | 1881 | |
| Ground | Hamilton Hill Park | |
| Secretary | John Wren, William Robertson | |
Possil Bluebell Football Club was a 19th-centuryfootball club from thePossilpark area ofGlasgow inScotland.
The club was founded in 1878,[2] with the name originally stylized asPossil Blue Bell. With 28 members in its first season, the club was the second-smallest known senior club in Glasgow, onlyUnion known to have been smaller. The club still only had 38 members in its second season.[3]
Notwithstanding its size, the club entered the1878–79 Scottish Cup, and enjoyed an 8–0 win over the19th L.R.V. in the first round.[4] The club lost 2–1 atPartick in the second, the home side having a third chalked off and the Blue Bell goal being a consolation with ten minutes to go - the Partick goalkeeper only touched the ball on two other occasions.[5]
The club made the second round againthe following season, albeit thanks to theTelegraphists ceding the first round tie. Given little chance against the3rd L.R.V., the Bluebell put up a remarkable fight, holding the Hi-Hi to a goalless draw at the original Cathkin Park thanks to "capital back play"[6] and only losing 1–0 in the replay, held atGovanhill; the Volunteers' superior fitness told as the Blue Bell dominated the first half, the Hi-Hi the second.[7]
However that was as good as it got for the club; with other clubs in Glasgow and its environs emerging, a small club like the Bluebell was simply swamped. Indeed, the last record of the club playing is in a match against theGood Templars Harmonic in February 1880 for which it needed to borrow players from the unknown Possil Park United.[8]
It entered theScottish Cup for the next two seasons, but scratched from its first tie in1880–81, even a first round bye not persuading the side to play its second round tie. In1881–82, the club was drawn to playAlexandra Athletic, but had dissolved before the tie could take place.[9] The name was revived in 1886 for a side playing out of Overnewton.[10]
The club wore dark blue jerseys and knickers, and red hose with a white stripe.[11]
The club played at Hamilton Hill Park, a 15-minute walk fromCowlairs railway station.[12]
Two Blue Bell players went on to win theScottish Cup -George McArthur withDumbarton in1883, andTom Robertson (who made his Blue Bell debut in the replay against the 3rd L.R.V.), withQueen's Park in1890 and1893, andSt Bernards in1895.[13]
