Albatross F.C.

Albatross
Full nameAlbatross Football Club
Founded1876
Dissolved1880
GroundHelenvale Park
SecretaryRobert White, James Smellie, Andrew Shearer

Albatross Football Club was a 19th-century football club from the east end of Glasgow.

History

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The club was founded in 1876. By its second season, it had 37 members, which made it one of the smaller senior clubs in Glasgow. [1] The club may have had an association with the Ferguson, Shaw & Sons company of oil and grease refiners,[2] as one of the club's match secretaries accepted correspondence at the firm's Stockwell Street premises.[3]

The club was one of 36 admitted to the Scottish Football Association at the start of the 1877–78 season,[4] which meant the club could enter the 1877–78 Scottish Cup. In the first round, Albatross lost 6–0 at Govan.[5]

Albatross entered for the next two seasons, but lost in the first round both times; 4–2 at Petershill in 1878–79 and 4–0 at the much larger Alexandra Athletic in 1879–80.[6]

The club only played 9 matches in the 1878–79 season, with 3 wins, draws, and losses, and only 11 goals scored in those matches.[7] Still only boasting 37 members, the club was the third smallest senior club in the city (along with Ailsa), and bigger only than Rosslyn and Union. It did not re-emerge for the 1880–81 season.

Colours

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The club played in royal blue jerseys, white knickers, and blue and white hose.[8]

Grounds

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The club originally played at Barrowfield Park, ten minutes' walk from Bridgeton Cross, and which was also the home of the Clyde club at the time.[9] In 1877 the club moved to Helenvale Park in Parkhead,[10] where the Glasgow Corporation Transport F.C. ground would be built half a century later.[11]

References

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  1. ^ Dick, William (1876). Scottish Football Annual 1876–77. Mackay & Kirkwood. p. 84.
  2. ^ "Records of Ferguson, Shaw & Sons Ltd, oil and grease refiners, Glasgow, Scotland". JISC. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  3. ^ Dick, William (1878). Scottish Football Annual 1878–79. Cranstonhill: Mackay & Kirkwood. p. 51.
  4. ^ "Scottish Football Association". North British Daily Mail: 4. 12 September 1877.
  5. ^ "Association Cup ties". North British Daily Mail: 6. 1 October 1877.
  6. ^ "Association Challenge Cup Ties". North British Daily Mail: 7. 22 September 1879.
  7. ^ Dick, William (1879). Scottish Football Annual 1879–80. Glasgow: Dunlop & Foote. p. 66.
  8. ^ Dick, William (1876). Scottish Football Annual 1876–77. Mackay & Kirkwood. p. 84.
  9. ^ Dick, William (1876). Scottish Football Annual 1876–77. Mackay & Kirkwood. p. 85.
  10. ^ "Albatross v Grafton". Glasgow Herald: 7. 12 November 1877.
  11. ^ Project Glasgow. "The remains of Helenvale Park, Parkhead". Facebook. Retrieved 12 November 2022.