Vale of Avon F.C.
Nickname(s) | the Vale | ||
---|---|---|---|
Founded | 1880 | ||
Dissolved | 1886 | ||
Ground | Grierson's Holm | ||
President | George Stewart | ||
Match Secretary | James Campbell | ||
Captain | James Grainger | ||
|
Vale of Avon Football Club was an association football club from Strathaven, Lanarkshire.
History
[edit]![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Formation_of_the_Vale_of_Avon_Football_Club%2C_Hamilton_Advertiser%2C_3_April_1880.jpg/220px-Formation_of_the_Vale_of_Avon_Football_Club%2C_Hamilton_Advertiser%2C_3_April_1880.jpg)
The club was formed on 1 April 1880, at a meeting at the Good Templars' Hall.[1] It was effectively a replacement for the defunct Avondale and eventually rented a ground from the former honorary secretary of Avondale (James Grierson).[2]
The club played at a junior level for its first three seasons, one match with Carluke being ended after 20 minutes because of "the very quarrelsome nature of the Vale team",[3] or, alternatively, because the Carluke team left the field in protest at having a goal disallowed.[4]
It was admitted to the Scottish Football Association in August 1883,[5] in time to enter the 1883–84 Scottish Cup, and drew a bye into the second round, but scratched when paired with Benhar.[6]
The club claimed a successful 1883–84 season with 10 wins, 2 draws, and 1 defeat,[7] the one loss coming in the club's only Lanarkshire Cup entry, 3–1 at Albion Rovers.[8] Despite this ostensible success, the club scratched from the 1884–85 Scottish Cup after being drawn against the much smaller Airdriehill. [9]
The club's somewhat pointless run as a senior team ended in 1885 when it did not renew its Scottish FA membership.[10] It continued once more at a junior level until the 1885–86 season,[11] but before the 1886–87 season could get underway, fell apart amid a welter of recrimination; the club did not convene a meeting to approve the club accounts,[12] and, despite the committee's assertion that the club "is not dead: it merely sleepeth",[13] it never re-started.
Colours
[edit]The earliest known colours for the club are navy and white jersey and hose, and white knickers.[14] In 1884 it changed to black and white jersey and hose, with blue knickers.[15]
Ground
[edit]After playing on public fields for a season, the club found a more permanent location in August 1881 on a field owned by a Mr Semple in Westfield.[16] In May 1882[17] the club acquired a lease of Grierson's Holm, half-a-mile from Strathaven railway station.[18]
See also
[edit]- Greenock Abstainers F.C., Good Templar football club in Greenock
- Harmonic F.C., Good Templar football club in Dennistoun
References
[edit]- ^ "Vale of Avon Football Club". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 3 April 1880.
- ^ Dick, William (1878). Scottish Football Annual 1878–79. Cranstonhill: Mackay & Kirkwood. p. 63.
- ^ "Carluke v Vale of Avon (Strathaven)". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 23 September 1882.
- ^ "The Carluke v Vale of Avon Match". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 30 September 1882.
- ^ Scottish FA Minutes. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 21 August 1883. p. 142.
- ^ M'Dowall, John (1884). Scottish Football Association Annual 1884-85. Glasgow: H. Nisbet. p. 29.
- ^ M'Dowall, John (1884). Scottish Football Association Annual 1884-85. Glasgow: H. Nisbet. p. 65.
- ^ "Saturday's contests". Glasgow Evening Citizen: 3. 15 October 1883.
- ^ Scottish FA Minutes 1884–87. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 23 September 1884. p. 45.
- ^ Scottish FA Minutes 1884–87. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 25 August 1885. p. 108.
- ^ "Quarter Rovers v Vale of Avon". Hamilton Advertiser: 2. 13 March 1886.
- ^ Communi Consensu (28 August 1886). "Vale of Avon F.C.". Hamilton Advertiser: 5.
- ^ Member of Committee (4 September 1886). "Vale of Avon F.C.". Hamilton Advertiser: 6.
- ^ M'Dowall, John (1883). Scottish Football Association Annual 1883-84. Glasgow: W. Weatherston. p. 53.
- ^ The only blue commercially available was navy serge. M'Dowall, John (1884). Scottish Football Association Annual 1884-85. Glasgow: H. Nisbet. p. 65.
- ^ "Vale of Avon Football Club". Hamilton Advertiser: 3. 13 August 1881.
- ^ "Vale of Avon Football Club". Hamilton Advertiser: 3. 13 May 1882.
- ^ M'Dowall, John (1883). Scottish Football Association Annual 1883-84. Glasgow: W. Weatherston. p. 53.
- Defunct football clubs in Scotland
- Association football clubs established in 1880
- Association football clubs disestablished in 1886
- 1880 establishments in Scotland
- 1886 disestablishments in Scotland
- Football in South Lanarkshire
- International Organisation of Good Templars
- Temperance organisations in the United Kingdom