Paisley Celtic
Full namePaisley Celtic F.C.
Nickname(s)the Celts
Founded1890
Dissolved1896
GroundCeltic Park
Match SecretaryE. M'Cann

Paisley Celtic F.C. was an association football club from Paisley, Renfrewshire, active in the 1890s and a regular entrant to the Scottish Cup.

History

An Ordnance Survey map from 1896, showing the locations of the Celtic Park (left) and Love Street (top) football grounds

The club was founded as a club for Irish diaspora players in the town, the decade after the collapse of Paisley Hibernian. The club was founded as Cartvale[1] in 1890,[2] but was playing as Paisley Celtic from April 1892 at the latest.[3]

The Celts took part in the Scottish Junior Cup for the only time in 1892–93, being disqualified for fielding a professional player (M'Mennemy),[4] and an appeal being dismissed, despite the threat of legal action.[5] Instead of pursuing such action, the club eschewed the junior game at the end of the season and joined the Scottish Football Association.

The club therefore entered the Scottish Cup and Renfrewshire Cup for the first time in 1893–94. In the national competition it beat Dykebar in the first preliminary round,[6] but lost 4–3 at Cambuslang in the second; in a sad aftermath, one Francis Donnelly, who had gone to the match to see his nephew playing for the Celts, died after falling down the stairs outside the house where he mistakenly thought he was meant to be staying.[7] In the county, the Celts beat Paisley Academicals 5–1 in the first round, despite losing Patrick Drain to a broken collarbone,[8] and lost 6–0 at Arthurlie in the second.[9] At the end of the season the Celts were invited to play in the Paisley Charity Cup, and beat the Academicals again,[10] but went down 2–1 at Abercorn in the semi-final.[11]

The club had lost only to Scottish League teams in competitive football in its first senior season, but it could not keep the momentum. Although it beat Kilwinning Eglinton in the first preliminary round of the Scottish Cup in 1894–95, coming from 5–2 down to win 6–5 thanks to the stamina work from trainer Burns and clever play from "Dabber" Welsh,[12] the Academicals gained a revenge in the second.[13] The club's only other competitive fixtures - in the Renfrewshire Cup in 1894–95 and 1895–96, and in the new Scottish Qualifying Cup in 1895–96 - were all defeats. The last sign of the club was its withdrawal from the Qualifying Cup in 1896–97 when drawn against Kilbarchan.[14]

Colours

The club wore green and white vertically striped shirts and blue knickers.[15]

Ground

The club called its ground Celtic Park,[16] and was off Murray Street.[17] The ground suffered in a galestorm in December 1894 when its barricades were blown away.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Open Saturday first". Scottish Referee: 3. 29 April 1892. Printed as Cartville, but almost certainly a misprint; not related to any of the senior clubs called Cartvale.
  2. ↑ "Notes and gossip". Paisley & Renfrewshire Gazette: 6. 18 April 1891.
  3. ↑ "Junior football". Scottish Referee: 3. 18 April 1892.
  4. ↑ "Paisley Celtic and the S.J.F.A.". Scottish Referee: 4. 27 January 1893.
  5. ↑ "Junior jots". Paisley & Renfrewshire Gazette: 2. 4 February 1893.
  6. ↑ "Football". Paisley Daily Express: 3. 4 September 1893.
  7. ↑ "Sad death of a Paisley native". Paisley Daily Express: 2. 26 September 1893.
  8. ↑ "Accident to a football player". North British Daily Mail: 3. 9 October 1893.
  9. ↑ "Saturday's football". Edinburgh Evening Post: 3. 20 November 1893.
  10. ↑ "Charity match". Paisley Daily Express: 3. 23 May 1894.
  11. ↑ "Abercorn v Paisley Celtic". Scottish Referee: 3. 28 May 1894.
  12. ↑ "Round the country". Scottish Referee: 4. 7 September 1894.
  13. ↑ "Round the country". Scottish Referee: 1. 24 September 1894.
  14. ↑ "Football chat". Paisley & Renfrewshire Gazette: 7. 5 September 1896.
  15. ↑ M'Dowall, John (1894). Scottish Football Annual 1894–95. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 96.
  16. ↑ M'Dowall, John (1894). Scottish Football Annual 1894–95. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 96.
  17. ↑ "Paisley Celtic Football Club". Scottish Referee: 2. 26 June 1893.
  18. ↑ "Paisley". Dundee Evening Telegraph: 3. 22 December 1894.
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