The 1st Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers Athletic Club[3] was a 19th-century association football club based in Glasgow.
| Full name | 1st Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers Athletic Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | the Greys,[1] the Warriors[2] | |
| Founded | 1874 | |
| Dissolved | 1882 (for association football) | |
| Ground | Burnbank, Great Western Road | |
| Secretary | R. H. Sinclair | |
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History
editThe club was formed out of the 1st Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, a company in the Volunteer movement of the British Army. The Volunteers included sporting activities within their purview and newspapers often carried reports of such activities. The growth of football in Scotland, especially thanks to Queen's Park F.C., and the success of army teams in England such as the Royal Engineers A.F.C., encouraged regiments to form football clubs as part of the physical regimen.
The 1st LRV was the second Volunteer club in Glasgow to form, after the 3rd Lanarkshire club. On formation the club joined the Football Association as well as the Scottish Football Association.[4]
The club entered the Scottish Cup for the first time in 1875–76. The club was drawn at home to Rangers F.C., already one of the most established clubs in Scotland, and lost by 7 goals to nil.[5]
The club entered the competition seven times in total, scratching once and losing in the first round five times. The club's only wins came in the 1877–78 Scottish Cup, when victories at home to Blythswood F.C. (by 1–0, having "pressed their opponents during the whole game")[6] and Telegraphists F.C.[7] put the club into the third round, made up of 34 clubs. Playing away at Copeland Park, the club went down 4–0 to South Western F.C. in a "very fast and pleasant" game.[8]
The following season the club drew 0–0 with Parkgrove F.C. at Burnbank in the first round, but was largely outclassed all match, only Connel in goal keeping the club in the match; two of the players in the match (Bews and Dewar) were among the four players known to have played in the Rangers match three years before.[9] Parkgrove however won the replay 6–2.[10]
It is not clear when the club last played; its last Senior match was a defeat in the Scottish Cup to Northern F.C. in the first round in 1882–83.[11] The only reported football matches for the club after 1882 are under rugby union rules.[12]
Colours
editThe club wore light blue and grey, with the regimental badge, matching the regimental colours.[13]
Grounds
editThe club played at Burnbank, on the Great Western Road in Glasgow.[14]
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ "Notes on football and other sports". Glasgow Herald: 9. 3 June 1889.
- ^ "Matches played on Saturday". Glasgow Herald: 10. 7 November 1881.
- ^ The club was an A.C. rather than an F.C., as referred to in the Alcock yearbook and occasionally in newspaper reports.
- ^ Alcock, Charles (1875). Football Annual. p. 46.
- ^ "Rangers v 1st L.R.V. (Cup tie)". North British Daily Mail: 3. 18 October 1875.
- ^ "1st L.R.V. v Blythswood". North British Daily Mail: 6. 1 October 1877.
- ^ Mathers, Stewart. "Season 1877-78". Beautiful Dribbling Game. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
- ^ "South-Western v 1st L.R.V.". North British Daily Mail: 6. 12 November 1877.
- ^ "1st L.R.V. v Parkgrove (Cup tie)". Glasgow Herald: 5. 30 September 1878.
- ^ "Parkgrove v 1st L.R.V. (Cup tie)". Glasgow Herald: 5. 5 October 1878.
- ^ "1st L.R.V. (Athletic) v Northern". Glasgow Herald: 9. 18 September 1882.
- ^ "1st L.R.V. v Southern". Glasgow Herald: 10. 5 February 1883.
- ^ Alcock, Charles (1875). Football Annual. p. 118.
- ^ Alcock, Charles (1875). Football Annual. p. 118.