| Full name | Uphall Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1907 | |
| Dissolved | 1909 | |
| Ground | Goschen Park | |
| Secretary | John Carlyle | |
Uphall Football Club was afootball club fromUphall inWest Lothian.
The club was the second senior football club to bear the name of the town; an earlierUphall had played in theEast of Scotland League in 1893–94. The second club was founded on 1 May 1907 by gentlemen wishing to see senior football return to Uphall, and office holders and a committee were immediately chosen.[1] The club signed a number of players very quickly, including Peter Greig ofDunfermline Athletic, two junior internationals, and the former international goalkeeperM'Wattie, subject to clearance to play as an amateur.[2]
Uphall was admitted to theScottish Football Association in time for the 1907–08 season[3] and the club's first match was a 4–4 draw against the third incarnation ofBroxburn Shamrock, Uphall throwing away a four-goal lead.[4]
The club's first competitive match was a 4–2 defeat toWest Calder Swifts F.C. in theEast of Scotland Cup's qualifying section in September.[5] Having failed to qualify for the main section of a regional tournament, the club unexpectedly qualified for the main section of thenational tournament. In the first round of theScottish Qualifying Cup in 1907–08, the club beat Broxburn Shamrock in a replay,[6] which, like the original tie, was held at Goschen Park, as Shamrock's new ground was not ready.[7] In the second qualifying round, Uphall beatClackmannan F.C. 2–1 in a replay, with a freak winner from Forbes as Clackmannan goalkeeper Paterson wrongly thought his weak shot was going wide.[8]
By beatingAberdeen University 3–0 in the third round, Uphall guaranteed entry into the Scottish Cup proper; despite the importance of the match there was only a "small attendance".[9] The club's Qualifying Cup run ended atDumfries F.C. in the next round,[10] and in the first round proper the club was unlucky to be drawn atGalston F.C. rather than aScottish League club. The club went down to a 6–0 defeat.
The 1907–08 season had been a good one for the club in local competition. It had reached the semi-final of the King Cup, for members of the East of Scotland FA,[11] and was runner-up in the Free Gardeners' Cup, an invitational charity competition, albeit not having to play a semi-final as Broxburn Shamrock's East of Scotland Cup tie took precedence;[12] Uphall lost 2–0 toBathgate F.C. in the final.[13] The club did however win one trophy, namely the East of Scotland Consolation Cup competition, drawing 2–2 withSelkirk F.C. in the original final atWhitestone Park inPeebles, equalizing with 3 minutes to go by bundling Selkirk goalkeeper Hewitson over the goal-line while he was still holding the ball.[14] The replay atGalashiels was a 3–2 win for Uphall; MacRitchie (2) and Gibland putting Uphall 3–0 to the good, but a Souters comeback saw the club rely on Sam Paton in goal to hold onto the lead.[15]
For the 1908–09 season, the club brought in three players from the now-defunct Broxburn Shamrock,[16] but Uphall lost in the first round of the King Cup, the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup,[17] and the Scottish Qualifying Cup, all by mid-September. The starting line-up in the Qualifying Cup defeat to Broxburn Athletic was entirely different to the side which had reached the first round the season before.[18]
Without the income from competitive matches, the club was in a shambolic state by the start of 1909. In January 1909, the club was set to host Bathgate in theScottish Consolation Cup. Only a handful of spectators - mostly from Bathgate - attended; the Uphall side entered the pitch ten minutes late; there was no sign of a match ball; and three of the regular Uphall players were replaced by juniors. Uphall therefore scratched from the tie and the match was played as a friendly, with "the players indulging in a lot of tom-foolery", and, although the game only ran to an hour, Bathgate won 9–0.[19]
Two months later, the club failed to turn up for a home tie in the Linlithgowshire Cup againstBroxburn Athletic F.C., not only being unable to raise a team, but not even notifying the Athletic.[20] Before the start of the 1909–10 season, theScottish Football Association struck the club off for non-payment of subscriptions.[21]
The club played in blue and white striped jerseys.[22]
The club's home ground was Goschen Park, midway between Uphall and Broxburn; it had previously been the home of Broxburn Shamrock.[23]
