This is the story and history of one of the oldest football clubs in the world that are still in existence. It is not a full history as many old records of the club have been long lost but it is as accurate a record as the writer could make it in the six years that I have worked on this project.
The fact that most of their time has been spent in the ranks of Scottish Junior football should not hide the great feeling of belonging and worth that such a club has brought to its local community and indeed to the wider world of football through the discovery of many great and successful players.
This is a belated testament to the club on its 120th anniversary as nothing like this was done to mark the club's centenary in 1984. However, some newspaper reports around the time of our first Scottish cup win in 1900 indicated that the Maryhill Football Club was a new club not a re-incarnation of the club that stopped playing whilst in the seniors in 1891 and who competed in the 1888 junior cup final.
I have many people to thank for their assistance in the compilation of this book. The staff at the Mitchell Library, The Scottish Football Museum and its curator Richard McBrearty. Jeff Holmes, Kenny McCulloch, Gordon Anderson and the numerous others who gave me encouragement and snippets from time to time.
The Early Years - 1884 to 1891
The Formation
At the time that Maryhill Football Club was founded, Maryhill was a village on the outskirts of the bustling, industrial town of Glasgow. Nowadays, the village has long been engulfed by the ever-expanding city and is now well inside its boundaries.
From the information we have, it is believed that the club was formed at a meeting held in the close of a tenement known as "Anderson's Lobby"; this was located in Gairbraid Avenue, which is very close to where the current Lochburn Park stands. We do not know all those who were present at this meeting but those who were included - W.McFarlane, E.W.Langlands, T.Lennie, G.Denny, J.W.Dick, A.Barclay and M.McDonald. Lennie was to become a father figure of the club and Denny later became a sports journalist. As a result of the meeting, a decision was made to from a club for the purposes of playing Association Football.
The hunt was then on to find a field on which to play but, contrary to other records, that first ground was NOT Kelvinvale Park but was in fact Gilshoch Park. The exact location of this ground is not known but it is assumed to have been in the area of Gilshochill close to Lochburn Park.
In the very early days years of the club there was little organised football and therefore, the odd cup tie apart, all clubs played friendly games.
Maryhill was regarded by many as a bit of an unruly place and local papers of the times carried many court reports of drunkenness and fighting. It was a community that, in the main, earned it living from the industry that had sprung up around the Forth and Clyde canal. There were paper mills, gas works, iron works and chemical plants. The inhabitants of the Burgh were seen as hard working and hard living.
The clubs first colours were navy blue and white 1" stripes with dark blue knickers. In the Scottish Junior F.A. handbook for 1887/88 our colours were stated as black and white perpendicular stripes. It is not known, for sure, when the now famous red and black hoops became the registered colours but it was widely thought that this change happened on the club's return to the junior ranks. However, the S.J.F.A. handbook issued in our first season back, 1894/95 listed our registered colours as blue and white stripes.
Being a dreamer I often think that someone at the 'Beano' comic book must have seen the 'Hill at their brilliant best and been so impressed, by what they had witnessed, that they modelled 'Denis the Menace's' famous jumper on our club shirts.
It is hard to imagine for people living today at what a feat it was to put a club together, get playing facilities especially for a wee village on the outskirts of a growing city. On Saturday 23 October 1886 the impact that Maryhill were having in their local area is well emphasised. On this day they fielded three teams, the first eleven drew 1-1 at Summerton, the seconds beat Westburne 5-2 at home and the thirds (Strollers) drew 1-1 away to the Woodville X1.
The Scottish Umpire a most revered journal of its day ran the following article on 5 October 1886 - The rural villages of Jordanhill and Maryhill tried conclusions on the latter's ground before nearly 1000 spectators, the Knightswood Brass band enlivened the proceedings with popular selections. The game was a scorcher while it lasted, Maryhill winning by 1 goal to 9. In reply to your letter, Mr Park, I may say the Maryhill were quite justified in not abiding by the referee's decision, as he was certainly wrong in awarding a goal for a foul in front of goal. The rule on this is quite clear - the ball must go between the uprights ere a goal can be allowed.
