| Full name | Johnstone Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | the Johnstonians[1] | ||
| Founded | 1878 | ||
| Dissolved | 1927 | ||
| Ground | Newfield Park,Johnstone | ||
| |||
Johnstone Football Club was afootball club based at Newfield Park inJohnstone,Renfrewshire in Scotland.[2] The club was a member of theScottish Football League in two spells between 1912 and 1915, then 1921 and 1926.
The club was formed in 1878. By 1880 there were four senior clubs in the town, and in 1881 the Johnstone chairman, Bailie Love, made tentative suggestions of combining the Johnstone andJohnstone Athletic sides.[3] Athletic folded in 1884, but in 1885 Johnstone merged withJohnstone Rovers;[4] despite Rovers being the bigger side (its 200 members being double that of Johnstone's membership),[5] the merged club used the simple Johnstone name, Johnstone's navy colours, and Johnstone's Cartbank Park.[6] This may have been because Johnstone had been the most successful side in the town, having won the first three Johnstone & District Cups.[7] The merger may not have received unanimous support, as theJohnstone Harp club was founded in 1886 (many of the figures involved in the Rovers had Irish roots); however Harp did not survive into the 1890s.[8]
The club had reached the fourth round of theScottish Cup in1881–82 and1882–83 (one of the last 22 clubs in both seasons); it lost 3–1 atQueen's Park in the former year, albeit aided by the Q.P. losingHarry McNeil to injury early in the game,[9] and at home toPollokshields Athletic by the same score in the latter, the Johnstonians conceding the decisive goal when disputing the award of a throw-in.[10] It did not renew its subscription after the 1886–87 season.[11] It rejoined in 1891, after Harp folded,[12]
After spending time in minor leagues, Johnstone joined theScottish Football Alliance in 1894 after most of its membership had moved to the newScottish League Division Two. In the same year the club moved toNewfield Park. During this time the club demonstrated its potential in theScottish Cup by beating Greenock Abstainers 20–0 in a first round tie on 5 September 1891.[13] In subsequent seasons they would play in theNorth Ayrshire Football League and, from 1898 until 1905, theScottish Football Combination. It was also a regular entrant into theRenfrewshire Cup and the Renfrewshire Victoria Cup (the latter originally for smaller sides); it reached the final of the former in 1906–07, 1910–11, and 1924–25, but won the latter in 1899–1900, 1908–09, 1910–11, 1914–15, and 1919–20. In 1914–15, Johnstone andMorton reached the final of both tournaments, and instead of separate finals, a two-legged tie was used as the final for both. Johnstone won the first leg 3–0, and at half-time atCappielow Park, the second leg was still goalless; however Morton scored four goals in a second-half burst - one a penalty - to take both titles.[14]
Johnstone joined theScottish Football Union in 1908 and from this league, one of the strongest leagues outside the Scottish League at the time, the club were admitted to theScottish Football League when Division Two was expanded for the1912–13 season.[15] When the league was reduced to a single division in 1915, due toWorld War I, Johnstone played in the Western League.[15] Johnstone returned to the Scottish League when the second division was reinstated in 1921.[15] Johnstone were relegated to the new Third Division at the end of the1924–25 season.[15] When this division was disbanded at the end of thefollowing season, Johnstone returned to the Football Alliance.[15] They remained in this league until 1927 when they were wound up.
The club lost its Cartbank ground in 1886 after the landlords, Finlayson Boutsfield & Co, required it for business purposes; the club had to move temporarily to the oldGlenpatrick ground, not an ideal solution as the ground was inElderslie, a slight distance from the town.[16] By 1891 it was playing at Mossbank Park (the former Athletic ground),[17] but at the end of the 1891–92 season faced an interdict after a Mr J. B. Stirling, living nearby, complained about the crowd noise.[18] In 1893 it moved toNewfield Park, the former Harp ground.[19]
