Eastern F.C.

Eastern Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. It was one of the founder members of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and one of the sixteen teams to participate in the inaugural season of the Scottish Cup.

Eastern
Full nameEastern Football Club
Founded1872
Dissolved1877
GroundBarrowfield Park
SecretaryGeorge Forrest

History

Eastern was formed in 1872[1] by members of the original Thistle club.[2] The club's first game, at Fleshers' Haughs, took place on 25 January 1873, against a Celtic football club,[3] and ended in a 4–0 win to Eastern,[4] although the Celtic goalkeeper claimed the score was merely 3–0.[5]

Eastern one of the eight clubs that agreed to form the SFA in March that year.[6] Eastern participated in Scottish Cup tournaments between 1873–74 and 1876–77, reaching the quarter-finals on the first two occasions;[7] its run in 1874–75 included a 3–0 win over Kilmarnock, despite thoughts that the Eastern "hardly played with its usual fettle".[8]

A member of Eastern, James McIntyre, was selected to referee the first Scottish Cup final between Queen's Park and Clydesdale on 21 March 1874.[9]

The club's final Cup tie was against Alexandra Athletic in 1876. The clubs drew the first game, and Eastern won the second 2–0, but the Athletes protested on the basis that the referee who took charge of the match had not been agreed beforehand; ironically, this was down to Eastern objecting to the Alexandra nominee, but Eastern called the protest "a mean subterfuge to attempt to wrest the honours which have already been fairly won".[10] Perhaps as a result of the Scottish FA acceding to the protest, and the Athletes winning the third match, Eastern does not seem to have played football again, with members instead joining the Clyde club,[11] and possibly also the Stonefield club which, with Clyde, took over the Eastern ground.

Second club

A second Eastern club from Glasgow claimed a foundation date of 1875, although its earliest recorded matches come from 1884.[12] The club played at Springfield Park and wore navy shirts and white shorts.[13] It seems to have played senior football only in 1885–86[14] and was struck from the Scottish FA membership roll in August 1886.[15]

Colours

The club played in royal blue and scarlet shirts, originally with blue knickerbockers,[16] which were white for the club's final season.[17]

Stadium

The club's first ground was Fleshers' Haugh on Glasgow Green.[18] In 1875, the club moved to Barrowfield Park, which was also known informally as Glengarry Park, after the open space next to the roped-off area.[19] It was immediately to the east of the Barrowfield print works and considered short at 130 yards.[20]

Notable players

During its relatively short time, Eastern provided Scotland with some of its early international players, with John Hunter, Peter Andrews and Sandy Kennedy representing Scotland on a number of occasions.[21]

References
  1. Alcock, Charles (1873). Football Annual. p. 98.
  2. Robinson, Richard (1920). History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917, chapter 7. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet.
  3. Not Celtic F.C. but a club which only appears to have played this one match.
  4. "Football Match - Eastern v Celtic". North British Daily Mail: 5. 31 January 1873.
  5. "Football Match". North British Daily Mail: 6. 28 January 1873.
  6. "Brief History of the Scottish Football Association". Scottish Football Association. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  7. Scottish F.A. Cup 1873–2017: The Complete Results. Cleethorpes: Soccer Books. 2017. pp. 3–44. ISBN 978-1-86223-366-9.
  8. "Kilmarnock v Eastern (Glasgow)". North British Daily Mail: 3. 23 November 1874.
  9. Potter, David; Jones, Phil H. (2016). The History of the Scottish Cup: The Story of Every Season 1873–2016. Worthing: Pitch Publishing. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-78531-214-4.
  10. "Football - The Cup Tie". North British Daily Mail: 3. 14 October 1876.
  11. "Club Directory". Scottish Football Historical Results Archive. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  12. "Eastern (Glasgow) v Dunblane". Stirling Observer: 6. 27 November 1884.
  13. McDowall, John (1885). Scottish Association Annual 1885–86. Glasgow: H. Nisbet. p. 56.
  14. "Club Directory". Scottish Football Historical Results Archive. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  15. Scottish FA Minutes 1884–87. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 24 August 1886.
  16. Alcock, Charles (1874). Football Annual. p. 127.
  17. Dick, William (1876). Scottish Football Annual 1876–77. Mackay & Kirkwood.
  18. Alcock, Charles (1874). Football Annual. p. 127.
  19. "Eastern Football Club". North British Daily Mail: 7. 7 July 1875.
  20. "Eastern v Vale of Leven". North British Daily Mail: 3. 4 October 1875.
  21. "Scotland football record with players from Glasgow Eastern". London Hearts. Retrieved 25 March 2010.
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