Paisley Athletic F.C.

Paisley Athletic Football Club was a Scottish football team located in the town of Paisley, Renfrewshire.

Paisley Athletic

Full name	Paisley Athletic F.C.
Nickname(s)	the Zulus [1]
Founded	1879
Dissolved	1888
Ground	East Park
Hon. Secretary	Angus Shaw
Match Secretary	John H. Sellers, Thomas Hastie
1879–82 colours 1883–88 colours

History

1881–82 Scottish Cup First Round, Paisley Athletic 3–1 St Mirren, Paisley Daily Express 10 October 1881

The club was founded in 1879. ^[2] It was the third senior club in Paisley to be founded, after St Mirren and Abercorn.

The club quickly grew to be a significant size, and in its early years was competitive with the more senior clubs in the town. The club's first entry into the Scottish Cup, in 1881–82, saw it take notable scalps in Port Glasgow Athletic and St Mirren; its 6–1 win over Port Glasgow being particularly noteworthy as the club played the second half with ten men. ^[3] The club's run ended at Arthurlie in the third round; after taking the lead, and turning around at 1–1 at half-time, the Athletic collapsed in the second half against the more experienced club, Arthurlie scoring three in the first five minutes of the second half, and the match ending 7–1. ^[4]

In 1882–83, the club won the first Paisley Charity Cup, hammering St Mirren 6–0 in the final, ^[5] and was described as "the premier club in Paisley". ^[6] However, by 1883–84, St Mirren and Abercorn had 200 members each, with Athletic lagging behind with 160. After its first Scottish Cup run it was permanently in the shadow of the other Paisley sides; it only won one more Scottish Cup tie (against Kilbarchan in 1883–84 - Kilbarchan's protest as to the incompetence of the referee was summarily dismissed), ^[7] and never got beyond the third round of the Renfrewshire Cup. After the 1884–85 season it did not renew its Scottish Football Association subscription. ^[8]

The club was re-formed in October 1886, under the presidency of Mr Whitehill, and Thomas Hastie becoming match secretary (a post he had held from 1882) once more. ^[9] The Athletic re-joined the Renfrewshire Association after the start of the season, so starting its Renfrewshire Cup campaign in the second round. The game however had moved on far beyond the Athletic - Port Glasgow Athletic beat the club 9–1 at Caledonian Park, ^[10] and in 1887–88 the Athletic scratched from both national and county cup before playing its ties; it played a friendly against Port Glasgow rather than its Renfrewshire Cup tie, and lost 10–0. ^[11] By 1888 the club only had 60 members ^[12] and its inability to get up a team for its 1888–89 Scottish Cup first round tie with Thornliebank ^[13] meant automatic expulsion from the Scottish Football Association for a second consecutive default.

Colours

The club's colours were as follows:

• 1879–82: 2" black and gold hooped jerseys and stockings, with blue knickers ^[14]
• 1882–83: black jerseys with a gold star on the chest, and white knickers. ^[15]
• 1883–88: white jerseys, blue knickers ^{[16] [17]}

Ground

The club's first ground was East Park, close to Paisley railway station. ^[18] In 1883 it moved to Caledonia Park, near to Paisley St James railway station. ^[19]

Notable players

• Robert Calderwood, forward, played for the club in the 1882–83 season ^[20]
• Jock Cameron, goalkeeper, played for the Athletic until 1885 ^[21]

External links

• Scottish Cup results
• Renfrewshire Cup

References

1. "Paisley Athletic v West-End Athletic (P.C.C.T.)". Paisley & Renfrewshire Gazette: 7. 12 May 1883.
2. Livingstone, Robert (1881). Scottish Football Association Annual 1881–82. Gillespie Brothers. p. 104.
3. "Paisley Athletic v Port-Glasgow Athletic". Paisley Daily Express: 3. 19 September 1881.
4. "Arthurlie v Paisley Athletic". Paisley Daily Express: 3. 31 October 1881.
5. "Paisley Charity Cup". Scottish Football Historical Archive. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
6. "Paisley Charity Cup". Paisley & Renfrewshire Gazette: 4. 30 June 1883.
7. Scottish FA Minutes 1881–84. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 18 September 1883. p. 150.
8. Scottish FA Minutes 1884–87. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 25 April 1885. p. 109.
9. "Re-starting of the Paisley Athletic F.C.". Paisley Daily Express: 3. 25 October 1886.
10. "Round the ropes". Paisley Daily Express: 3. 13 December 1886.
11. "Paisley Athletic v Port-Glasgow Athletic". Paisley Daily Express: 3. 31 October 1887.
12. "Round the ropes". Paisley Daily Express: 3. 22 October 1888.
13. "Football". Renfrewshire Independent: 4. 7 September 1888.
14. Livingstone, Robert (1881). Scottish Football Association Annual 1881–82. Gillespie Brothers. p. 104.
15. M'Dowall, John (1882). Scottish Football Association Annual 1882–83. Glasgow: W. Weatherston. p. 149.
16. M'Dowall, John (1883). Scottish Football Association Annual 1883-84. Glasgow: W. Weatherston. p. 56.
17. M'Dowall, John (1888). Scottish Football Annual 1888–89. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 80.
18. Livingstone, Robert (1881). Scottish Football Association Annual 1881–82. Gillespie Brothers. p. 104.
19. M'Dowall, John (1883). Scottish Football Association Annual 1883-84. Glasgow: W. Weatherston. p. 56.
20. Mitchell, Andy (2021). The men who made Scotland: The definitive Who's Who of Scottish Football Internationalists 1872-1939. Amazon. ISBN   9798513846642.
21. "Today's football". Glasgow Evening Post: 5. 30 November 1889.