Rovers
Full nameRovers Football Club
Founded22 April 1873
Dissolved1878
GroundQueen's Park
PresidentRobert Murdoch
Match SecretaryJames Bell, C. R. Riddell

Rovers Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow.

History

The club was founded on 22 April 1873.[1] The club may have emerged from a rugby club known as Queen's Park Rovers which is recorded to have had a fixture at the start of the year.[2] It was very active in its first season of football, claiming 10 wins from 19 games.

Rovers was one of the original 16 teams to participate in the inaugural season of the Scottish Cup, although it was considered in the second rank of sides, only being considered fit opposition in friendlies for the Eastern F.C. second XI.[3] It took part in Scottish Cup tournaments between 1873–74 and 1877–78, reaching the quarter-finals on two occasions. The first time the club reached the last eight was in 1874–75, and it did so without playing a match in the tournament - accepting a walkover from Hamilton F.C. in the first round and receiving a bye in the second round, before scratching to eventual winners Queen's Park.

The following season the club reached the quarter-finals - that season, the final seven - on merit, with wins over the Glasgow side West End and the 3rd Edinburgh Rifle Volunteers F.C., but losing to Vale of Leven; the game at Alexandria ended early because of bad light but Rovers agreed that the result should stand.[4]

In 1877, the club took over the Winton club of Mount Florida.[5] However the club does not seem to have survived the season, with Winton reforming as Apsley; in its final season, its membership had dropped to 40, making it one of the smaller sides in Glasgow.[6]

Rovers F.C. should not be confused with other Scottish teams of the same name, such as Rovers F.C. (1872–1882) in Edinburgh, or Rovers F.C. (1888–1889) in the Scottish Highlands.

Colours

The club originally played in blue jerseys with a white cross, white knickerbockers, and blue stockings,[7] supplied by Forsyths of Renfield Street.[8] It is not known whether the cross was a Maltese cross, which was a popular design on football jerseys at the time, or a saltire. In 1877 it changed its stockings to blue and white.[9]

Grounds

The club played at the following grounds:

References

  1. ↑ Alcock, Charles (1873). Football Annual. p. 128.
  2. ↑ "District football fixtures". North British Daily Mail: 7. 1 January 1873.
  3. ↑ "Eastern (2d Eleven) v Rovers". North British Daily Mail: 3. 29 September 1873.
  4. ↑ "Football in the Glasgow district". Glasgow Herald: 7. 20 December 1875.
  5. ↑ "Football". Glasgow Herald: 7. 22 September 1877.
  6. ↑ Dick, William (1877). Scottish Football Annual 1877–78. Cranstonhill: Mackay & Kirkwood. p. 91.
  7. ↑ Alcock, Charles (1873). Football Annual. p. 128.
  8. ↑ "Notice to Football Clubs". Hamilton Advertiser: 4. 22 November 1873.
  9. ↑ Dick, William (1877). Scottish Football Annual 1877–78. Cranstonhill: Mackay & Kirkwood. p. 91.
  10. ↑ "Western v Rovers". North British Daily Mail: 6. 15 September 1873.
  11. ↑ "Eastern (2d Eleven) v Rovers". North British Daily Mail: 3. 28 September 1873.
  12. ↑ South Side and Queen's Park were alternative names for the same place - see The Glasgow Story
  13. ↑ "Local football fixtures". North British Daily Mail: 7. 13 January 1876.
  14. ↑ Alcock, Charles (1876). Football Annual. p. 167.
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