Eastern F.C.

Eastern Football Club was a 19th-century football club based in Glasgow, Scotland. They were 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, Glasgow
Springfield Park, Glasgow

History

Eastern were formed in 1872[1] by members of the original Thistle F.C. 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]

A member of Eastern FC, James McIntyre was selected to referee the first Scottish Cup final between Queen's Park and Clydesdale on 21 March 1874.[8]

The club's final Cup tie was against Alexandra Athletic F.C. in 1876. The clubs in 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".[9] 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.[10]

Second club

A second Eastern club from Glasgow was founded in 1885, playing at Springfield Park and wearing navy shirts and white shorts. It seems to have existed for just one season.[11]

Colours

The club played in royal blue and scarlet shirts with blue knickerbockers.[12]

Stadium

The club's first ground was Fleshers' Haugh on Glasgow Green.[13] 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.[14] It was immediately to the east of the Barrowfield print works and considered short at 130 yards.[15]

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.[16]

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. 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.
  9. "Football - The Cup Tie". North British Daily Mail: 3. 14 October 1876.
  10. "Club Directory". Scottish Football Historical Results Archive. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  11. "Club Directory". Scottish Football Historical Results Archive. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  12. Alcock, Charles (1874). Football Annual. p. 127.
  13. Alcock, Charles (1874). Football Annual. p. 127.
  14. "Eastern Football Club". North British Daily Mail: 7. 7 July 1875.
  15. "Eastern v Vale of Leven". North British Daily Mail: 3. 4 October 1875.
  16. "Scotland football record with players from Glasgow Eastern". London Hearts. Retrieved 25 March 2010.


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