Albion
Full nameAlbion Football Club
Founded1880
Dissolved1886
GroundVictoria Park, Castle Road
PatronArchibald Denny
PresidentAlex Galbraith[1]
Match SecretaryRobert Smith

Albion Football Club was an association football club based in the town of Dumbarton, in West Dunbartonshire.[2]

History

1884–85 Dumbartonshire Cup 2nd Round, Dumbarton Athletic 3–0 Albion, Lennox Herald, 17 January 1885

The club was founded in 1880 with its official name ,Albion. It is sometimes referred by the media as Dumbarton Albion for convenience. As Archibald Denny agreed to patronize the club,[3] and the Albion shipping company commissioned ships from Denny's company,[4] the club may have been in origin a works side for the Albion company.

Given the strength of the three main Dumbartonshire sides (Renton, Vale of Leven, and Dumbarton, as well as other well-established clubs in the area such as Jamestown and the Vale of Leven Wanderers, it was difficult for Albion to establish itself. It spent four years playing minor football before joining the Scottish Football Association in August 1884[5] and being eligible to enter the Scottish Cup in 1884–85, losing 2–0 to Dumbarton in its first tie.[6] The club also entered the Dumbartonshire Cup for the first time, being knocked out in the second round by Dumbarton Athletic in a tie which needed three attempts to complete. Athletic won the first, but Albion put in a protest, and won the second tie 2–1.[7] However, Athletic put in a counter-protest on two grounds - namely the Albion protest had been out of time, and the ball was undersized[8] - and the Dumbarton FA ordered a further replay, which was held at Boghead, and which Athletic won 3–0.[9]

The club's best run in the Scottish Cup was in its second and final entry, in 1885–86. The club drew 4–4 at home with Jamestown in the first round, despite having to rely on four second XI men,[10] perhaps indicating difficulties in raising a team with more attractive clubs for the players to join; Albion won the replay with a goal ten minutes from time,[11] and walking over Dumbarton Rock, nobody gave the club a chance in the third round against Cup-holders Renton, especially after the club was hammered 8–1 by Vale of Leven the previous week in the Dumbarton Cup.[12] However, the club played above itself, and in a hard-fought game, only went down 1–0.[13]

The club had 52 members in its final season,[14] a not insubstantial number, but making it one of the smaller clubs in the county. With such strong competition on its doorstep, the club has no reported matches after February 1886,[15] and was removed from the Scottish FA register five months later.[16] The name was revived in 1888 as Dumbarton Albion for an unrelated club.[17]

Colours

The club's colours were 1" blue and white hooped jerseys and stockings, with white knickers.[18]

Ground

The club played at Victoria Park on Castle Road,[19] a 2-minute walk from the pier.[20] The ground was later used by Newtown Thistle.

Notable players

References

  1. ↑ "Dumbarton Albion Football Club". Dumbarton Herald and County Advertiser: 4. 22 July 1885.
  2. ↑ McDowall, John (1885). Scottish Association Annual 1885–86. Glasgow: H. Nisbet. p. 56.
  3. ↑ "Dumbarton Albion Football Club". Dumbarton Herald and County Advertiser: 4. 22 July 1885.
  4. ↑ "Trial trip of the SS Tainui". Lennox Herald: 2. 17 January 1885.
  5. ↑ Scottish FA Minutes 1884–87. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 26 August 1884. p. 38.
  6. ↑ "Our Scotch letter". Athletic News: 5. 8 October 1884.
  7. ↑ "Football notes". Dundee Courier: 2. 9 January 1885.
  8. ↑ "Dumbartonshire Cup - Undecided Tie". Lennox Herald: 3. 3 January 1885.
  9. ↑ "Dumbarton Athletic v Albion". Dumbarton Herald and County Advertiser: 3. 14 January 1885.
  10. ↑ "Albion v Jamestown". Dumbarton Herald & County Adviser: 3. 16 September 1885.
  11. ↑ "Jamestown v Albion (Cup tie)". Lennox Herald: 3. 26 September 1885.
  12. ↑ "Dumbartonshire Cup". Dumbarton Herald and County Advertiser: 6. 21 October 1885.
  13. ↑ "Football". Lennox Herald: 3. 31 October 1885.
  14. ↑ McDowall, John (1886). Scottish FA Annual 1886–87. Hay Nisbet. p. 49.
  15. ↑ "Dumbarton Hibernians v Dumbarton Albion". Dumbarton Herald: 3. 24 February 1886. A 4–1 win.
  16. ↑ Scottish FA Minutes 1884–87. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 24 August 1886.
  17. ↑ "A walk-over for the Vale Hibs". Scottish Referee: 3. 19 November 1888.
  18. ↑ McDowall, John (1885). Scottish Association Annual 1885–86. Glasgow: H. Nisbet. p. 61.
  19. ↑ "Renfrewshire Sheet III.SE". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  20. ↑ McDowall, John (1885). Scottish Association Annual 1885–86. Glasgow: H. Nisbet. p. 61.
  21. ↑ "Dumbarton Athletic v Albion". Dumbarton Herald and County Advertiser: 3. 14 January 1885.
  22. ↑ "Inter-county match at Dundee". Dundee Courier: 2. 28 August 1885.
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