South Western
Full nameSouth Western Football Club
Nickname(s)the S.W.[1]
Founded1875
Dissolved1883
GroundCopeland Park
SecretaryHugh C. Fraser

South Western Football Club (sometimes referred to as Glasgow South Western)[nb 1] was a Scottish football club active in the 19th century.

History

1880–81 Scottish Cup 1st Round, South-Western 7–0 Ingram, Glasgow Herald, 13 September 1880, p. 3

The club was founded in 1875,[2] the first known match being against Govan F.C. at Fairfield Park that December.[3] The club became a member of the Scottish Football Association at the start of the 1876–77 season,[4] in time to enter the Scottish Cup, which it did from that season to 1883–84.

The club's furthest run was to the quarter-finals, which it achieved twice. In 1877–78 the S.W. won (to general surprise) the initial quarter-final match against the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, before losing 2–1 when the tie was replayed following a protest by their opponents;[5] the protest being that the ropes around the ground were not secure enough to keep the spectators back, and there was therefore interference with play, although the Volunteers did not protest before the match.[6] South Western protested about the Scottish FA's decision, to no avail.[7]

The club reached the same stage again in 1879–80, losing 6–1 to Pollokshields Athletic.[8] In 1880–81 the club lost 4–3 at Arthurlie in the third round, but protested on the basis that the final half-an-hour was played in the dark, and "the home team again and again claimed to have scored, and every run, no matter where it finished, was hailed with shouts of a goal by the spectators".[9] The protest was successful, and the tie re-played, with South-Western scoring a last-minute equalizer with a shot from Allan going in off the bar.[10] However no further replays took place as South-Western was disqualified for an unknown reason.

Despite joining the newly formed Glasgow Football Association in April 1883,[11] South Western made its final appearance in the Scottish Cup in September of that year, losing 8–1 against Battlefield in the first round.[12] Shortly afterwards, it was reported that the South-Western was considering amalgamating with another local club, Pilgrims, for whom some of the South Western players had been guesting.[13] Within the next couple of months, South Western had been absorbed by Pilgrims, who took over the use of Copeland Park.[14]

A club of the same name re-emerged in the area in 1885 (a merger of two local teams, Beaconsfield and Woodbourne) and joined the newly founded Scottish Junior Football Association a year later; they survived until 1894.[15]

Colours

The club's initial colours were black and orange one-inch stripes and white knickerbockers.[16] In 1878 the club changed to cardinal and white, and in 1880 to navy shirts and white shorts.[17]

Ground

The club's home ground was Copeland Park in Govan,[nb 2] situated close to Ibrox railway station.[18] The club planned to hire a new ground off the Paisley Road for the start of the 1876–77 season[19] but it did not move.

Notable players

  • John Belger, "the Goalkeeper Smasher", who became captain of Preston North End in the 1880s,[22] and whose career was ended by a broken leg in 1884.[23]

Notes

  1. ↑ Also stylised as South-Western in contemporary sources.
  2. ↑ A separate burgh at the time, Govan was later incorporated into Glasgow in 1912.

References

  1. ↑ "Rutherglen". Airdrie Advertiser: 2. 16 February 1878.
  2. ↑ Alcock, Charles (1876). Football Annual. p. 119.
  3. ↑ "Local football fixtures". North British Daily Mail: 6. 9 October 1875.
  4. ↑ "Football". North British Daily Mail: 3. 2 September 1876.
  5. ↑ "Football in Scotland". Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle. 26 January 1878. Retrieved 15 June 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. ↑ Fair Play And No Favour (17 January 1878). "Cup Tie - 3rd L.R.V. v South-Western". North British Daily Mail: 3.
  7. ↑ "Association Cup Ties". North British Daily Mail: 7. 21 January 1878.
  8. ↑ Smailes, Gordon (1995). The Breedon Book of Scottish Football Records. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 16. ISBN 9781859830208.
  9. ↑ "Arthurlie (Barrhead) v South-Western (Undecided Cup tie)". Glasgow Herald: 10. 15 November 1880.
  10. ↑ "Arthurlie (Barrhead) v South-Western (Cup tie)". Glasgow Herald: 10. 29 November 1880.
  11. ↑ Chapter XXV—Glasgow Association, History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917 (via Electric Scotland)
  12. ↑ "Football". Paisley and Renfrewshire Gazette. 15 September 1883. Retrieved 15 June 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ↑ "Scotch football notes". The Athletic News and Cyclists' Journal. 19 September 1883. Retrieved 15 June 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ↑ "Scotch football notes". The Athletic News and Cyclists' Journal. 28 November 1883. Retrieved 15 June 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ↑ Brian McColl's All-time club directory, Scottish Football Historical Archive
  16. ↑ Alcock, Charles (1876). Football Annual. p. 119.
  17. ↑ "Club Directory". Scottish Football Historical Results Archive. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  18. ↑ "To-morrow's football". The Evening News and Star. Glasgow. 2 December 1881. Retrieved 15 June 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  19. ↑ "South-Western Football Club". North British Daily Mail: 6. 8 August 1876.
  20. ↑ Brown, Alan; Tossani, Gabriele (23 May 2019). "Scotland - International Matches 1872-1880". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  21. ↑ Mitchell, Andy (2021). The men who made Scotland: The definitive Who's Who of Scottish Football Internationalists 1872-1939. Amazon. ISBN 9798513846642.
  22. ↑ Barrett, Michael. "The Scottish Professors and their Roles in Preston's Invincibles". Nutmeg. Nutmeg Magazine. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  23. ↑ "Serious Accidents on the Football Field". North British Daily Mail: 5. 15 December 1884.
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