Galston
Full nameGalston Football Club
Nickname(s)the Riverside Lads,[1] the Galstonians[2]
Founded1891
Dissolved1940
GroundPortland Park, Galston

Galston Football Club were a football club based in Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland.[3] The club were members of the Scottish Football League Third Division and played at Portland Park.

History

Formed in 1891 to play in the new Ayrshire Football League, they lasted in that competition for its four-year run before joining the Ayrshire Football Combination. After three years without regular competition the club joined the North Ayrshire League, later appearing in the Scottish Football Combination and Scottish Football Union.[4]

They eventually joined the Western league, which was incorporated by the Scottish Football League as its new Third Division for the 1923–24 season.[4] Galston lasted the Division's three seasons, finishing 13th, 11th and 16th, although they resigned midway through the abandoned final season, unable to provide match guarantees.[4] Indeed Galston had been so keen to increase the income from their meagre gates that they were censured by the League for charging entrance fees below the minimum agreed league level, then in turn blamed for accelerating the collapse of the Third Division by being the first to pull out from it in February 1926.[5]

They proved one of the division's survivors and found themselves playing in first the West of Scotland Amateur league before being invited to join the Scottish Football Alliance from 1932 onward – a league made up of Senior Reserve teams and non-league sides which they had been invited to join to generate more interest in a competition many Senior clubs were considering abandoning due to a lack of public interest.[4]

However, in 1938, Hamilton Academical proposed they and Beith be expelled and the league restricted to First Division clubs reserve teams only. Despite an impassioned plea by letter from club President James Abbott to every Scottish League side – pointing out they had brought Beith and Galston in to prop up the league in the first place – only Ayr United, Clyde, Kilmarnock, Queen's Park and St Mirren voted to retain them and both sides were duly expelled.[4]

The Alliance was then abandoned and a new Reserve League set up, whereupon moves were made in 1940 for a new Scottish Football Alliance to be set up, among which the invitees were Galston and Vale of Leven, another side that had been damaged by the collapse of the Third Division and who had not played competitively since 1929 over a lack of any Senior league in which to play.[4] However after only a month's worth of games the Second World War broke out and the league was put on indefinite hold. Without any Senior league to play in, and not interested in joining the Junior ranks, this marked the end of Galston FC.[4]

Kit

During their relatively brief history Galston wore a number of different kits. They can be summarised thus:[4]

Years Shirt Shorts Stockings
1891–1892 Red and black hooped White Black
1892–1895 Blue, white and red hooped Blue Blue
1895–1897 Light blue Blue Blue
1897–1904 Red and black hooped Blue Blue
1904–1906 Pale blue White Blue with pale blue trim
1906–1908 Blue White Blue with white trim
1908–1910 Red and black hooped White Black with red trim
1910–1913 Black and white striped White Black with white trim
1913–1916 Black and white striped Black Black with white trim
1919–1920 Black and white hooped Black Black with white trim
1923–1924 Red and black hooped White Black with red trim
1924–1927 Pale blue White Blue
1927–1930 Blue White Blue with white trim
1930–1931 Red White Red with white trim

Full Scottish League record

Season Position Pl W D L F A Pts Notes
1923–24 13th 30 11 3 16 53 70 25 [6]
1924–25 11th 30 10 6 14 39 70 26 [7]
1925–26 16th 15 4 4 7 38 46 12 [8]

KEY: Pl=Matches played; W=Matches won; D=Matches drawn or tied; L=Matches lost; F=Goals scored (for); A=Goals conceded (against); Pts=Points (2 awarded for a win, 1 for a draw)

Scottish Cup record

During the course of their existence Galston qualified for the Scottish Cup eighteen times. They made the second round on seven occasions (1906–07, 1907–08, 1910–11, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1933–34 and 1935–36), going out in the first round eleven times (1894–95, 1899–1900, 1905–06, 1919–20, 1920–21, 1924–25, 1928–29, 1929–30, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38).[10]

Football in the town

The town of Galston has been represented at amateur level since the early 1970s by Galston United who play in the upper echelons of the local amateur league;[11][12] they play at the local secondary school (Loudoun Academy) and have no link to the original club.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Charity Cup". Kilmarnock Standard: 7. 26 November 1892.
  2. ^ "Slaughtering the innocents". Kilmarnock Standard: 7. 28 November 1891.
  3. ^ D. Pickering, The Cassell Soccer Companion, London: Cassell, 1995, p. 127
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Galston Historical Kits
  5. ^ B. Crampsey, The First Hundred Years, Glasgow: Scottish Football League, 1990, p. 78
  6. ^ Alex Graham, Football in Scotland: A Statistical Record 1873–2005, Soccer Books, 2005, p. 73
  7. ^ a b Graham, Football in Scotland, p. 76
  8. ^ Graham, Football in Scotland, p. 80; Note, although Galston resigned after fifteen matches their record was not expunged as they were one of a number of teams not to fulfil all their fixtures
  9. ^ Graham, Football in Scotland, p. 72
  10. ^ Scotland – Cup Results 1873/74-1877/78 and 1889/90-1995/96
  11. ^ "Club directory: Galston United". AAFA. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  12. ^ "History". Galston United A.F.C. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
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