| Full name | Ayr Rovers Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | the Rovers | |
| Founded | 1885 | |
| Dissolved | 1887 | |
| Ground | Springvale Park | |
| Secretary | F. G. M'Gregor | |
Ayr Rovers Football Club was an association football club from Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland.
| Full name | Ayr Rovers Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | the Rovers | |
| Founded | 1885 | |
| Dissolved | 1887 | |
| Ground | Springvale Park | |
| Secretary | F. G. M'Gregor | |
Ayr Rovers Football Club was an association football club from Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland.
The club was founded in 1885, originally with 30 members, [1] but within a year had grown to 70, which made it nearly as big as Ayr F.C. The club was not related to an earlier Ayr Rovers which played at Robbsland Park [2] and which disbanded in 1881. [3]
Soon after the club's foundation, it joined the Scottish Football Association, [4] and entered the 1885–86 Scottish Cup. Indeed the club's first recorded match was its first round tie with Dalry, which the club scheduled to take place after the Ayr v Maybole tie on the same day had finished, hoping to attract spectators; however the weather militated against people wanting to watch two matches, and Dalry dismantled Rovers to the tune of 8 goals to 0. [5] A mix-up with the wires had the score originally reported as a Rovers win. [6]
The Rovers recovered enough to beat the Stevenson Dynamite in its first Ayrshire Cup tie, albeit in a second replay at Monnkcastle, by 1–0, plus having two goals disallowed. [7] In the second round, the Rovers hosted Ayr, whose players were distracted by a Scottish Cup tie with 3rd Lanarkshire R.V. the following week, and who put in a "wretched" performance, but nevertheless were still good enough to beat the Rovers 2-0. [8]
The club was given a boost at the start of 1886, when it received an invitation to enter the Ayr Charity Cup, after Kilmarnock and Lugar Boswell turned down theirs. [9] The club successfully protested its first round defeat by Annbank on the basis that Barbour had not been registered as an Annbank player for the required 6 weeks. [10] The protest availed the Rovers little as Annbank won the replay at Springvale 5–0. [11]
The club's performances gradually improved in 1886–87; it lost in the Scottish Cup once more to Dalry, although this time only by 5–2, in a tie which aroused next to no media interest. [12] The club's performances in the county cup were more creditable, a walkover and a win over Kilmarnock Athletic [13] putting the club into the quarter-finals, where it faced Hurlford. Hurlford had beaten Kilmarnock in an earlier round, and Kilmarnock had put 7 [14] and 12 [15] past the Rovers in two friendlies that season. Rovers arranged the tie for New Year's Day 1887, which meant Hurlford refused to play as having already arranged a fixture, and Rovers claimed the tie. [16] The Ayrshire FA ordered the tie to be played by the end of January, and the Rovers gained a surprising draw. [17] Hurlford set matters right in the replay, scoring inside 3 minutes, turning around at half-time 5–0 up, and winning 7–0; [18] the man of the match was Rovers' goalkeeper Dunbar, hailed as an "Ayrshire Macaulay". [19]
Nevertheless, the Rovers were on an upward trajectory, winning 5–1 at Monkcastle in the Charity Cup, [20] and beat Clyde in a friendly, shortly after the latter had beaten Ayrshire Cup holders Kilmarnock. [21] The club's final match in the season was a defeat at Kilbirnie in the Charity Cup semi-final, [22] and players competed in athletic sports over the summer. [23]
However the increasing success appears to have proved fatal for the club. By the start of the 1887–88 season, "the majority of the team ha[d] gone over to Ayr", with others to the new Ayr Thistle club, [24] and the club did not renew its membership of the Scottish FA. [25] The club had already entered the Ayrshire Cup [26] and a side was got up to play a tie at Irvine, which ended 6–1 to the home side. [27] The club was definitively defunct by the start of the 1888–89 season, with goalkeeper Dunbar and back Simpson joining up with some former team-mates at the new Ayr Athletic. [28]
The club wore black and white vertical stripes with white knickers. [29]
The club's ground was Springvale Park in Midton Road. [30]
Ayrshire Football League is a defunct soccer league in Scotland.
Mauchline Football Club was a senior football team based in the small town of Mauchline in East Ayrshire.
The Ayrshire Cup was an annual association football regional competition in Scotland. The cup competition was a knockout tournament between football clubs in the historic county of Ayrshire. The Ayrshire Cup was first held in 1877–78, the trophy being a solid silver vase, 30 inches high, and valued at £100, designed by Messrs John Cameron & Son. The first winners were Mauchline.
Lanemark Football Club was based in the town of New Cumnock, and was one of a number of football clubs formed in the late nineteenth century in and around the Ayrshire coalfield.
The 1885–86 Scottish Cup was the 13th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Queen's Park won the competition for the eighth time after they beat defending champions Renton 3–1 in the final.
The 1886–87 Scottish Cup was the 14th season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. Hibernian won the competition for the first time after they beat Dumbarton 2–1 in the final.
Vale of Bannock Football Club was a Scottish association football club based in the town of Bannockburn, Stirlingshire.
Coylton Coila Football Club was a Scottish association football club based in the village of Coylton, Ayrshire.
West Benhar Football Club was a senior football club from the small mining settlement of West Benhar, a mile to the south west of Harthill, Scotland. There is now little left of this settlement.
Kilmarnock Athletic Football Club was an association football club from Ayrshire in Scotland.
Annbank Football Club was a football club that existed from 1879 to 1920, from the village of Annbank, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Hurlford Football Club was a football club that existed from 1875 to 1924, from the village of Hurlford, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Kilbirnie Football Club was a football club from the village of Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Cumnock Football Club was an association football club from Cumnock, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Dalry Football Club was an association football club from Dalry, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Monkcastle Football Club was a football club which existed from 1883 to 1900, in the town of Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Newmilns Football Club was a football club from the village of Newmilns, Ayrshire, Scotland.
Dykebar Football Club was a Scottish football team located in the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire.
Ayr Athletic Football Club was an association football club from Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland.