Hamilton Gymnasium F.C.

Last updated

Hamilton Gymnasium
Full nameHamilton Gymnasium Football Club
Founded8 May 1866
Dissolved1872
GroundMr Munro's field
ChairmanWilliam Stratton [1]

Hamilton Gymnasium Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Hamilton, in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It was the earliest-founded football club in Scotland to play under Association laws and the first to host Queen's Park F.C. in an association match.

Contents

History

Foundation

On 8 May 1866, a public meeting was held in the Lesser Town Hall, Hamilton, at which a society was founded for "field sports, such as cricket, football, rounders, &c". The founders called their society the Hamilton Gymnasium. [2]

As Hamilton lacked a public park, the Gymnasium members held a Christmas concert at the Town Hall on 15 December 1866 to raise funds, although one attendee "felt not a little pained to witness the low buffoonery displayed on the occasion". [3] On 3 May 1869, the club was able to open a dedicated field, [4] near the railway station, and tenanted by a Mr Munro, [5] with a series of athletic events including foot-racing, cricket-ball throwing, and sack races; "croquet was also provided for the ladies". [6]

First football match

The first match the club played against external opposition was at home to Queen's Park on 29 May 1869, the visitors winning "by four goals and nine touches down"; [7] the clubs were using an outdated set of Association laws as counting touchdowns (a tiebreaker in the event of the goals being equal) was only in force from February 1866 to February 1867. This match was played as 15 per side, [8] as at the time the Association laws did not have any provision as to the number of players. Queen's Park had the advantage of playing to tactics that had been developed in English association matches and via extensive training, [9] its captain Robert Gardner distributing cards to the Park players indicating where they should play. [10]

After the match, H.N. Smith of Queen's Park composed a poem of 21 stanzas, which was sent to the Gymnasium, "in order to stimulate and rouse them to better action in future." [11]

Later matches

The clubs played a return game on 7 August 1869 at Queen's Park; this time the Gymnasium lost by only two goals. [12]

The club continued to host athletic events and cricket matches, [13] , but the only other reported football matches were the "home and home" fixtures against Queen's Park in 1870-71. The game at Hamilton, which was another 15 per side match, took place on 24 September 1870, and ended in another victory for Queen's Park, by four goals to nil. [14] The return at Queen's Park, on 29 October 1870, was played with 14 on the Queen's Park side and 18 on the Gymnasium side. Nevertheless, Queen's Park won again, by three goals to nothing. [15]

End of the club

In 1871, the club applied to the town council for permission to occupy the rented field on a more permanent basis, because of the "considerable expense in erecting their apparatus, the removal of which to the field set apart by the Council for the purpose of recreation would cause greater outlay than the club could well afford". The council gave such permission. [16]

However it appears that the ground was unsuitable for the club, and by 1872 it was looking to move to a field in Clydesdale Street, owned by a Mr Robb. [17] There is no further record of the club, although two new clubs (Hamilton Academical and Hamilton F.C.) were founded in 1874, and the younger members of the Gymnasium club joined the Academical. [18]

Colours

There is no record of the club colours, and it is possible that the club did not have any formal colours, as its only recorded games were against Queen's Park, so its players may have worn anything which did not clash with the opposition's dark blue jerseys.

Players

The identities of only four Gymnasium players have been recorded: [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen's Park F.C.</span> Association football club in Glasgow, Scotland

Queen's Park Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Glasgow, which currently plays in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish football pyramid. Queen's Park is the oldest association football club in Scotland, having been founded in 1867, and is the oldest in the world outside England and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathkin Park</span> Municipal park in Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Cathkin Park is a municipal park in Glasgow, Scotland. The park is maintained by the city's parks department, and it is a public place where football is still played. The park contains the site of the second Hampden Park, previously home to the football clubs Queen's Park and Third Lanark. The site of the original Hampden Park is just to the west.


The Glasgow Football League was formed in 1896 in Scotland as one of several supplementary football leagues that were created in order to increase the number of fixtures for Scottish Football League clubs. In 1899 a number of clubs who played in the Edinburgh / East of Scotland Football League joined and the league was renamed the Inter City Football League. The Glasgow Football League was briefly reformed in its own right in 1904.

The Brisbane Football Club is a defunct football club, formed in May 1866 in the colonial capital of Brisbane. Brisbane FC was the first known football club of any code in the Colony of Queensland. It was the first club outside Victoria to adopt what was then known as the 'Victorian rules' football from 1866. It is also the first recorded club to have played multiple football codes in Queensland, including soccer (1867–1870) and rugby (1876–1879).

Renton Football Club was a football club based in Renton, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Formed in 1872, they were a prominent team in the early history of Scottish football, and were one of the teams that featured in the first ever Scottish Cup fixture. They won the competition twice, in 1885 and 1888, and were also runners-up three times. Their 6–1 win against Cambuslang in 1888 is the joint record win in a Scottish Cup final.

The Combination Game was a style of association football based around teamwork and cooperation. It would gradually favour the passing of the ball between players over individual dribbling skills which had been a notable feature of early Association games. It developed from "scientific" football and is considered to be the predecessor of the modern passing game of football. It originated in Britain and its origins are associated with early clubs: Sheffield FC, The Royal Engineers AFC, Queen's Park FC and Cambridge University AFC. Each of these claimants is supported by retrospective accounts from men who were notable in the early history of football. They are considered below in the order of earliest contemporary evidence of "scientific" football playing styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Campbell (footballer)</span> Scottish footballer

Charles Campbell was a Scottish footballer of the 1870s and 1880s who played for, and captained, Queen's Park and the Scotland national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Lambie (footballer)</span> Scottish footballer

William Allan Lambie was a Scottish footballer of the 1880s and 1890s.

The 1895–96 British Home Championship was an edition of the annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. Despite England achieving an almost record 9–1 victory over Wales, the trophy was won by Scotland who won two and drew one of their matches, the draw coming in a hard-fought duel with Ireland.

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.

Eastern Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. They were 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Smith (footballer, born 1848)</span> Scottish footballer

Robert Smith was a Scottish footballer who played for Scotland against England in the first official international matches in 1872 and 1873, as well as three appearances in the earlier unofficial matches. He was a member of the Queen's Park and South Norwood clubs, and was prominent in the early history of Queen's Park.

James Smith was a Scottish footballer who played for Scotland against England in the first official international match in 1872. He was a member of the Queen's Park and South Norwood clubs, and was prominent in the early history of Queen's Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup</span> Knockout football tournament

The Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup was a knockout football tournament open to teams from in and around Glasgow and later on in the tournament's history, teams from outwith Glasgow. Invitations were made and sent out by the Glasgow Charity Cup Committee (GCCC) at their discretion, but no criteria were ever published.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Sellar</span> Scottish footballer

William Sellar was a Scottish footballer, who played for Queen's Park, Battlefield, Rangers and Scotland.

Pollokshields Athletic F.C. was a Scottish football team, based in the Pollokshields district of Glasgow.

Home Scots v Anglo-Scots was an annual association football trial match organised by the Scottish Football Association between the 1890s and 1920s to examine the abilities of possible players for upcoming full British Home Championship internationals, primarily the 'Auld Enemy' England v Scotland fixture. Selection trials were commonplace among football federations, but this match was unusual in that its regular format consisted of players based in one country facing a selection of those who had moved to another country, in order to form a combined team to oppose that other country's natives in international play.

Battlefield Football Club, often referred to as The Battlefield, was a 19th-century football club based in Langside, in Glasgow. The club took its name from the site of the Battle of Langside in 1568.

Queen's Park Juniors Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow.

References

  1. ↑ "Hamilton Gymnasium". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 26 November 1870.
  2. ↑ "Proposed Gymnasium". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 12 May 1866.
  3. ↑ "Amateur Concerts". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 29 December 1866.
  4. ↑ "Hamilton Gymnasium". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 10 April 1869.
  5. ↑ "Hamilton Gymnasium". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 6 May 1871.
  6. ↑ "Hamilton". Glasgow Herald: 3. 6 May 1869.
  7. ↑ "Hamilton". Glasgow Herald: 6. 2 June 1869.
  8. ↑ Robinson, Richard (1920). History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917, chapter 7. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet.
  9. ↑ Robinson, Richard (1920). History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 37.
  10. ↑ Sanders, Richard (2010). Beastly Fury, The Strange Birth of British Football. United Kingdom: Bantam. p. 69.
  11. ↑ Robinson, Richard (1920). History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917, chapter 7. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet.
  12. ↑ "Hamilton Gymnasum Versus Queen's Park Foot-Ball Club". Glasgow Herald: 4. 10 August 1869.
  13. ↑ "Matches played on Saturday". Glasgow Herald: 5. 16 August 1870.
  14. ↑ "Football". Glasgow Herald: 7. 27 September 1870.
  15. ↑ "Football Match". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 5 November 1870.
  16. ↑ "Hamilton Gymnasium". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 6 May 1871.
  17. ↑ "The Gymnasium". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 20 April 1872.
  18. ↑ Robinson, Richard (1920). History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917, chapter 7. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet.
  19. ↑ Robinson, Richard (1920). History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917, chapter 7. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.