| Full name | Eastern Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1872 | |
| Dissolved | 1877 | |
| Ground | Barrowfield Park | |
| Secretary | George Forrest | |
Eastern Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. It was one of the founder members of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and one of the sixteen teams to participate in the inaugural season of the Scottish Cup.
Eastern was formed in 1872 [1] by members of the original Thistle club. [2] The club's first game, at Fleshers' Haughs, took place on 25 January 1873, against a Celtic football club, [3] and ended in a 4–0 win to Eastern, [4] although the Celtic goalkeeper claimed the score was merely 3–0. [5]
Eastern were one of the eight clubs that agreed to form the SFA in March that year. [6] Eastern participated in Scottish Cup tournaments between 1873–74 and 1876–77, reaching the quarter-finals on the first two occasions; [7] its run in 1874–75 included a 3–0 win over Kilmarnock, despite thoughts that the Eastern "hardly played with its usual fettle". [8]
A member of Eastern, James McIntyre, was selected to referee the first Scottish Cup final between Queen's Park and Clydesdale on 21 March 1874. [9]
The club's final Cup tie was against Alexandra Athletic in 1876. The clubs drew the first game, and Eastern won the second 2–0, but the Athletes protested on the basis that the referee who took charge of the match had not been agreed beforehand; ironically, this was down to Eastern objecting to the Alexandra nominee, but Eastern called the protest "a mean subterfuge to attempt to wrest the honours which have already been fairly won". [10] Perhaps as a result of the Scottish FA acceding to the protest, and the Athletes winning the third match, Eastern does not seem to have played football again, with members instead forming the Clyde club, [11] and possibly also joining the Stonefield club which, with Clyde, took over the Eastern ground.
A second Eastern club from Glasgow claimed a foundation date of 1875, although its earliest recorded matches come from 1884. [12] The club played at Springfield Park and wore navy shirts and white shorts. [13] It seems to have played senior football only in 1885–86 [14] and was struck from the Scottish FA membership roll in August 1886. [15]
The club played in royal blue and scarlet shirts, originally with blue knickerbockers, [16] which were white for the club's final season. [17]
The club's first ground was Fleshers' Haugh on Glasgow Green. [18] In 1875, the club moved to Barrowfield Park, which was also known informally as Glengarry Park, after the open space next to the roped-off area. [19] It was immediately to the east of the Barrowfield print works and considered short at 130 yards. [20]
During its relatively short time, Eastern provided Scotland with some of its early international players, with John Hunter, Peter Andrews and Sandy Kennedy representing Scotland on a number of occasions. [21]
Clydesdale F.C. was a nineteenth-century Glasgow-based football club, which was attached to Clydesdale Cricket Club.
Thistle Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow. The club was briefly a member of the Scottish Football League Division Two, and has been described as the most insignificant and least successful to have entered the league. They played at Braehead Park during their Scottish League season.
The 1873–74 Scottish Cup – officially the Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup – was the first season of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. A total of 16 teams from the west of Scotland entered the competition, but only 14 played a match after two teams withdrew. The competition began with a match between Renton and Kilmarnock on 18 October 1873 and concluded with the final on 21 March 1874. After 16 matches and 38 goals, the inaugural cup was won by Queen's Park who defeated fellow Glasgow club Clydesdale 2–0 in the final.
Alexandra Athletic Football Club was a 19th-century football club from Dennistoun, in Glasgow, which participated in the early years of the Scottish Cup.
Granville Football Club was a short-lived 19th-century football club based at Myrtle Park, in Crosshill, Glasgow.
Rovers Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow.
Dumbreck Football Club was a 19th-century association football club based in Glasgow.
Southern Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Crosshill, Glasgow.
23rd Renfrewshire Rifle Volunteers (RV) was a 19th-century football club based in New Cathcart, in Glasgow, which participated in the early seasons of the Scottish Cup.
Airdrie Football Club was a Scottish association football club based in the town of Airdrie, Lanarkshire.
West End Football Club was a Scottish association football club based in Cowlairs, Glasgow.
Oxford Football Club was a Scottish association football club based in the Crosshill area of Glasgow.
Standard Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow.
Queen's Park Juniors Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow.
Alclutha Football Club was a football club based in Dumbarton, Scotland. From 1883 the club was called Dunbritton Football Club.
Caledonian Football Club, occasionally referred to as Glasgow Caledonian, was a 19th-century association football club based at Kelvinbridge, in Glasgow.
Renfrew Football Club was a Scottish football team located in the town of Renfrew.
Ayr Academy Football Club was an association football club from Ayr, Scotland. The club was one of the ancestral clubs to the current Scottish League club Ayr United.
Govan Football Club was a Scottish association football club based in Govan, now part of Glasgow.
Stonefield Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow, Scotland.
