Monday, 1st September 1890
ORDINARY MATCHES (SELECTED)
SUNDERLAND 5 RENTON 1 3,000
Half time: 1-0 Referee:
At Sunderland
Renton took the place of Celtic as guests for the opening of Sunderland’s new season. The weather was poor and the game consisted of two 30-minute halves. Renton put up no fight in the heavy defeat.
Tuesday, 2nd September 1890
SFA MEETING – THE JAMES McCALL MATTER
The SFA’s Business & Professional Committee met to find on the matter of the James McCall Benefit match. This arose due to the fact that a match took place between Old Renton and Celtic at Celtic Park on 31st May 1890. Central to the matter was whether the match broke any rules by being played. Prior to the match Mr Easton, secretary of Old Renton approached Mr Park, President of the SFA, to ask his opinion as to the legality or otherwise of the match. Mr Park was of the opinion that although there was no written rule, the match should not go ahead. William Maley, secretary of Celtic, also approached Mr Park and was informed the same. The match went ahead regardless.
Mr Park first drew attention to the case at the SFA meeting held on 19th August 1890 when he asked the full committee to back his stance i.e. that the match was illegal. This they duly agreed and then debated how the matter should be dealt with and what sanctions, if any, could be imposed. The meeting agreed that the Business & Professional sub committee should deal with the case and that they should have full authority on how to deal with the situation.
For their part, both Easton and Maley claimed that as the matter was never put officially before the SFA and that Mr Park’s advice was in a personal capacity, there was no reason why the game could not go ahead. Furthermore Maley, from Celtic’s perspective, stated that it was agreed that the match would be a half gate affair, in other words the takings would be split equally. As far as he was concerned the game was a charity match and that Celtic’s share of £217 was disbursed as £50 to the Little Sisters of the Poor, £20 to Whitevale Refuge for Children, £30 to Lanark Hospital and £10 to Lanark Orphanage. What Old Renton did with their half was of no concern or interest to Celtic.
James McCall proved that he had not received any money but had received “payment in kind” in recognition of almost 10 years service to Renton FC and therefore could not be classed as a professional.
After some debate the decision of the Business & Professional sub committee was as follows: -
“That Celtic greatly erred in playing a match after their Secretary had been given, officially or unofficially, informed that the President had refused permission, and while sorry no printed rule exists bearing directly on the point, in which case a term of suspension would be meted out, the committee hereby censure Celtic for their action; also, that Messrs McCall and Kelly are now under a term of suspension for playing in the Old Rentonian team”.
This was a crass but typical decision by the SFA. What it amounted to was telling Celtic that we cannot find what rule you have broken but we are going to punish you anyway. All they had to go on was the word of the SFA President and a reference to a by-law allegedly passed two years ago which was never written down and is not mentioned in the minutes of the meeting that it was said to have been passed. Renton could not be punished as it did not officially involve the club and Old Renton were not registered with the SFA. Celtic’s James Kelly was harshly punished yet his only “crime” was being a guest for a team that contained professional players. There was nothing in the rules to say an amateur could not play with professionals. As long as he did not get paid not get paid then no rules were broken. James McCall proved that he did not act “professionally”. In the end the committee found both players guilty of playing under the jurisdiction of another association!
The suspension of both players was indefinite and meant that they could not play any football until it was lifted. This required that they had to request to the SFA re-instatement and upon receiving such, the committee would then consider its merits.
Wednesday, 3rd September 1890
MEETING OF THE LEAGUE COMMITTEE
Celtic and Cowlairs both fell foul of the League’s Rule VIII by fielding ineligible players. The Celtic player was Jamie Bell who not attached to any other club at the time he signed but had a guest player for his form club, Mauchline, in one ordinary match. Bell played in Celtic’s wins against Hearts and Cambuslang. The Cowlairs player was left half Kennedy who was similarly unattached and played in the win over Vale of Leven and the defeat by St.Mirren. Neither player had completed the required 14 days since being registered to the League. Both clubs misunderstood the rule thinking it only applied to signings directly from another club, however the League committee insisted the rule applied to any signing.
For playing with ineligible player both teams were deducted 4 points. After the deductions this put Celtic on zero points and Cowlairs on –1 point.
Saturday, 6th September 1890
SCOTTISH CUP, FIRST ROUND (SELECTED)
ABERCORN 8 IRVINE 0 1,500
Half time: 3-0 Referee:
Underwood Park, Paisley
AIRDRIEONIANS 3 COWLAIRS 1
Half time 1-0 Referee: Mr McHoul (Renton)
Old Mavisbank Park, Airdrie
ARTHURLIE 2 St.MIRREN 5 3,500
Half time: Referee:
Dunterlie Park, Barrhead
BATTLEFIELD 1 THIRD LANARK 4 3,500
Half time: 1-2 Referee:
Mossfield Park, Glasgow
CAMBUSLANG 3 GLASGOW WANDERERS 1
Half time: 3-1 Referee:
Whitefield Park, Cambuslang
CELTIC 1 RANGERS 0 16,000
Half time: 1-0 Referee: Mr A McA. Kennedy (Dumbarton)
Celtic Park, Glasgow
CLYDE 7 WHITEFIELD 2
Half time: 6-0 Referee:
Barrowfield Park, Glasgow
DUMBARTON 8 SMITHSTON HIBERNIAN 2
Half time: 5-2 Referee:
Boghead Park, Dumbarton
HEART of MIDLOTHIAN 7 RAITH ROVERS 2 2,500
Half time: 4-1
Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh
KILSYTH WANDERERS 2 RENTON 1
Half time: 2-1 Referee:
Garrell Gardens Park, Kilsyth
KIRCALDY WANDERERS 3 HIBERNIAN 4
Half time: 1-1 Referee:
Newton Park, Kirkcaldy
St.BERNARD’S 7 ADVENTURERS 0 500
Half time: 3-0 Referee:
Logie Green, Edinburgh
THISTLE 3 QUEEN’S PARK 5 3,000
Half time: 1-1 Referee: Mr Waugh (St.Bernard’s)
Beechwood Park, Glasgow
There were no League fixtures played as the Scottish Cup First Round dominated the date and saw three league clubs fall. One was always going to fall as Celtic faced Rangers for the first time in the Cup. Celtic were without key half backs, Kelly, through suspension and, McLaren out injured. Despite this, Celtic had an easier victory than the score line suggests. Cowlairs were surprisingly beaten by Airdrieonians but only had themselves to blame for a poor showing. This tie was originally drawn to be played at Springburn but was switched due to ongoing work at Gourlay Park. The biggest shock was Renton’s defeat to lowly Kilsyth Wanderers. Despite being without the suspended McCall, Renton should have won this match with ease. However 2-1 down at half time the former “World Champions” could make no inroads against a determined Kilsyth. All the rest of the league clubs went through to the next round with comparative ease.
ORDINARY MATCHES (SELECTED)
VALE of LEVEN 5 AYR 3
Half time: Referee:
Millburn Park, Alexandria
Following Vale of Leven’s Cup opponents, Stenhousemuir, scratching from the competition they managed to arrange a game against Ayr. Their Cup opponents, Kilbarchan, had also scratched. Vale won a fairly uneventful game 5-3.
Saturday, 13th September 1890
LEAGUE FIXTURES ROUND 4
ABERCORN 4 RENTON 2 3,000 Wallace,Buchanan(2),Untraced Duncan,Untraced
Half time: 3-2 Referee:
Abercorn: Fleming, Bisland, Cuthbertson, Johnstone, Bowie, Reid, Wallace, Nicol, Raeside, Buchanan, Bonnar
Renton: Gow, McLean, Campbell, Brown, Gardner, McNair, McArthur, Mathieson, Hendry, Duncan, Cameron
CAMBUSLANG 3 St.MIRREN 2
Cockburn,Untraced,Russell McAuley,W.Bain
Half time: 1-2 Referee:
Cambuslang: Ross, Smith, Cuthbert, Buchanan, Guy, Jamieson, Low Brown, Russell, Maxwell, Cockburn
St.Mirren: Deans, Hunter, A.McBain, Paterson, Brown, E.McBain, Morrison, W.McBain, McAuley, Harper, Dunlop
DUMBARTON 5 RANGERS 1 4,000
Bell(2),Muir,Untraced(2) Hislop
Half time: 3-0 Referee: Mr McIntyre (Renton)
Dumbarton: McLeod, Watson, Miller, McMillan, Boyle, Keir, Galbraith, Taylor, Muir, McNaught, Bell
Rangers: Reid, Gow, Muir, A.McCreadie, McIntyre, Mitchell, Kerr, Marshall, H.McCreadie, McPherson, Hislop
HEART of MIDLOTHIAN 4 COWLAIRS 0 2,500
Taylor,Mason,Baird,McPherson
Half time: 1-0 Referee: Mr Hastie (Abercorn)
Heart of Midlothian: Gibson, Adams, Goodfellow, Begbie, McPherson, Hill, Taylor, Mason, Jenkinson, Scott, Baird
Cowlairs: Duff, Fowler, McLeod, Masterton, Sinclair, McPherson, Binks, Dickson, McCartney, Henderson, Bishop
THIRD LANARK 2 CELTIC 1 10,063
Johnstone,Thomson Dowds
Half time: 1-0 Referee: Mr McClintock (Vale of Leven)
Third Lanark: Downie, W.Thompson, Scott, McFarlane, Love Lochhead, W.Thomson, Lapsley, Johnstone, Burke, McInnes
Celtic: Bell, Reynolds, McKeown, Gallacher, W.Maley, McLaren, Crossan, Dowds, T.Maley, Madden, Dunbar
League Table
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GA | ||
1.
|
Dumbarton |
4
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
12
|
4
|
7
|
3.000
|
2.
|
Rangers |
4
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
16
|
10
|
6
|
1.600
|
3.
|
Cambuslang |
4
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
15
|
15
|
4
|
1.000
|
4.
|
St.Mirren |
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
7
|
3
|
1.286
|
5.
|
Renton |
4
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
9
|
11
|
3
|
0.818
|
6.
|
Abercorn |
2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
5
|
4
|
2
|
1.250
|
7.
|
Third Lanark |
2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
2
|
0.750
|
8.
|
Heart of Midlothian |
4
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
7
|
13
|
2
|
0.538
|
9.
|
Vale of Leven |
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
6
|
12
|
2
|
0.500
|
10.
|
Celtic |
4
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
12
|
8
|
0*
|
1.500
|
11.
|
Cowlairs |
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
6
|
12
|
-1*
|
0.500
|
Round 4 of the league fixtures saw changes all round the table. Dumbarton now lead and are the only unbeaten team whilst Hearts gain their first victory. All participants have all recorded at least one win.
Abercorn took on Renton who were still smarting from last weeks cup exit and the loss of McCall through suspension. The crowd were treated to an early goal from Duncan for Renton and then Abercorn responded with two goals, first from Wallace then Buchanan. Some stout Abercorn defence followed this as Renton tried to force an equaliser. As half time approached Abercorn increased their lead from a scrimmage following a corner. Gow, the Renton goalkeeper, was bundled over the line during the incident but the goal stood. Two minutes from half time another scrimmage produce another goal, this time for Renton. Neither team could reproduce the excitement of the first half and the second period rather fizzled out. Buchanan scored Abercorn’s 4th goal.
Cambuslang and St.Mirren put on a grand display for the decent attendance at Whitefield Park. St.Mirren had all the early play and McAuley set the tone of the match with the first goal after barely a minute. Soon it was 2-0 when W. McBain scored with a clever shot. The home team rallied and Cockburn got them back into the contest after 15 minutes with a well-taken goal. Cambuslang eventually got their equalising goal 9 minutes into the second half and with chances by both sides it remained 2-2 with 10 minutes to go. To the delight of the home supporters Russel popped up to score the winning goal for Cambuslang.
There was a good attendance at Boghead Park for this top of the table clash between Dumbarton and Rangers. There were periods of good fast football especially by Dumbarton but this was spoilt by some brutal play by both teams that the referee took no action over. One particular incident saw Taylor of Dumbarton trade punches with A. McCreadie of Rangers. The fight was serious enough for a policeman to intervene and separate them but the referee did not send the off the players which he should have done. Bell opened the scoring for Dumbarton after 12 minutes and from that point onwards the home team demonstrated just how superior they were over Rangers. Midway through the half Bell added a second and a minute later Muir scored Dumbarton’s third. Rangers’ previous good form in the league meant nothing as Dumbarton proved too classy. A. McCreadie did not reappear following a first half injury so Rangers played the second period with 10 men. Dumbarton eased up in the second half but were roused when, with 15 minutes to go, Hislop pulled one back for Rangers. Dumbarton answered this with two further goals to give them an easy 5-1 victory.
Given Hearts poor form in the previous league matches, the crowd at Tynecastle did not hold out too much hope for their favourites and yet there was still a reasonable turnout. Hearts opened up strongly against a disappointing Cowlairs team who showed very little ambition. Despite the home teams domination of the game, it took 40 minutes before Hearts could make the breakthrough with a goal from Taylor. In the second half Cowlairs continued with sporadic breakaways but again Hearts found it difficult to break a determined defence. At last, with 20 minutes remaining, Hearts scored three more goals through, Mason, Baird and McPherson to record their first league victory.
Celtic started the match without the suspended Kelly and the injured Groves but they did have the veteran McLaren back at left half. Despite this they were still favourites to beat the Warriors. The game as a whole was a bad tempered affair and the referee did little to cool the temperature. Both teams started smartly with early chances and Third Lanark made the breakthrough on 15 minutes with a goal from Johnstone. The game continued to be end to end but the closest Celtic got to scoring was hitting the post. Just before half time Burke thought he had put Third Lanark 2-0 ahead but his effort was offside. At the beginning of the second half a succession of corners were gained by Third Lanark but they all came to nothing. When Dowds equalised for Celtic on 53 minutes the very large crowd expected Celtic to go on and win. Celtic had Third Lanark on the rack but with 10 minutes to go they managed to breakaway and score the winning goal through W. Thomson.
REPRESENTATIVE MATCH
LINLITHGOWSHIRE FA 3 EAST of SCOTLAND FA 3
Booth,Nicoll,McKie McLeod (Leith Athletic),McAdam (Cameron Highlanders), Grant (Bo’ness)
Halt time: 1-2 Referee:
Played at Bathgate
ORDINARY MATCHES (SELECTED)
5th KRV 3 VALE of LEVEN 3
Half time: 2-2 Referee:
Palmerston Park, Dumfries
CLYDE 2 MORTON 3
Half time: 2-1 Referee:
Barrowfield Park, Glasgow
MOSSEND SWIFTS 3 HIBERNIAN 4
Half time: 2-3 Referee:
Mossend Park, West Lothian
St.BERNARD’S 2 QUEEN’S PARK 2
Half time: 0-1
Logie Green. Edinburgh Referee:
With a Saturday off from league duty, Vale of Leven travelled to Dumfries to play 5th KRV. A large crowd watched an entertaining 3-3 draw. St.Bernard’s came from two goals down to snatch a creditable draw against Queen’s Park.
Monday, 15th September 1890
EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION TOURNAMENT
HEART of MIDLOTHIAN 1 NOTTINGHAM FOREST 0 10,000
Half time: 1-0 Referee: Mr G. Sneddon (President, East of Scotland FA)
Recreation Ground, Meggatland, Edinburgh
In the 6th match of the International Exhibition series, Hearts triumphed 1-0 in a hard fought match against English opposition Nottigham Forest.
John Murray left Vale of Leven to join Sunderland. The full back played two league matches for the Vale.
Tuesday, 16th September 1890
SFA MEETING – PROTESTS AND SECOND ROUND DRAW
The SFA meeting was taken up by protests from clubs following their participation in the first round of the Scottish Cup and this was followed by the draw for the second round.
Kilsyth Wanderers v Renton: Submitted two protests, the first concerned crowd encroachment due to the playing field not being properly roped off. This resulted in the players being interfered with and severely affected the Renton players. Mr Ferguson, the referee, said there was encroachment by one or two fans but not enough to stop the game. The second protest was that Kilsyth Wanderers fielded a player under an assumed name. This was subsequently withdrawn. The protest was dismissed by a majority of 12-8.
Adventurers v St.Bernard’s: Adventurers protested that St.Bernard’s had induced a player to play for them. Ross of Dunfermline was promised 10 shillings a match plus a job. The matter was refered to the Business & Professional Committee.
Arthurlie v St.Mirren: Arthurlie protested that St.Mirren enticed their player, McCudden, to leave the club by offer of renumeration. McCudden said that three men called asking him to play for St.Mirren. He called the next day and was offered 22 shillings to 24 shillings a week in the President of St.Mirren’s paper mill as a labourer. (He was earning 17 shillings a week prior to the offer). The President admitted he called Mr McFarlane to call on McCudden authorising him to offer a place of work. He paid labourers 22 shillings a week. MrCurrie (Vale of Leven) moved that the protest be dismissed as he just offered a wage for a job to which he was entitled. Mr Wilson seconded and the protest was dismissed unanimously.
The meeting conclude with the second round draw of the Scottish Cup. The League clubs were drawn in the following ties: -
ABERCORN v Cathcart
Beith v CAMBUSLANG
Bridge of Weir v VALE of LEVEN
CELTIC v Carfin Shamrock
HEART of MIDLOTHIAN v Burntisland Thistle
Hibernian v DUMBARTON
St.MIRREN v Albion Rovers
THIRD LANARK v Kilmarnock Athletic
Wednesday, 17th September 1890
EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION TOURNAMENT
KILMARNOCK 8 WISHAW THISTLE 1 500
Half time: 4-1 Referee:
Recreation Ground, Meggatland, Edinburgh
The 7th match in the series ended in an easy victory for Kilmarnock in front of a poor crowd.
Friday, 19th September 1890
SFA BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL COMMITTEE MEETING
The meeting was dominated by the protest by Adventurers against St.Bernard’s following the recent Scottish Cup tie. Adventurers alleged that St.Bernard’s enticed a player, James Ross, to leave Dunfermline Athletic to play for St.Bernard’s for a wage of 10 shillings a week, this payment for playing football. Ross played in the cup-tie and Adventurers lost 7-0. James Ross, Mr Common (Secretary, Adventurers), Mr Brown and Mr Clark (committee members of Dunfermline Athletic), Mr A.G. McIntosh (Secretary, St.Bernard’s), Mr W. Murray (Treasurer, St.Bernard’s) and Mr T. Paton (Match Secretary, St.Bernard’s) were in attendance for questioning.
Having gone through the evidence and questioned the members of the involved clubs, the committee found for Adventurers and sustained the protest. St. Bernard’s were banned until the 31st October 1890 from playing football against any recognised club. James Ross was banned from playing any football until 31st October 1890 and, Messrs McIntosh, Murray and Paton banned from any football involvement until 31st October 1890. In some respects the player and the club got off lightly but perhaps because it was a reflection on what was happening in Scottish football generally. The SFA knew full well underhand methods were being used to pay players but were helpless to address the problem. In stead of taking steps to either legalise professionalism or finding a solution that suited all parties, they just buried their heads in the sand and relied on clubs aggrieved enough to whistle blow and hope the evidence was strong enough for action to be taken.
As a result, St.Bernard’s also forfeited the cup-tie and Adventurers progressed to the second round instead. A statement issued by the Business & Professional Committee was as follows: -
“Having heard evidence and examined books, documents, vouchers etc, do sustain the protest and find St.Bernard’s guilty under Rule 11, constitution and rules, sub-section B9 and declare them suspended until 31st October 1890 and, do suspend James Ross, player until 31st October 1890; and do suspend Messrs McIntosh, Murray and Paton until 31st October 1890 and do prohibit them from taking part in any football business in Scotland during that period.”
There was good news for James McCall of Renton and James Kelly of Celtic. Their recent suspension from football for their participation in the Celtic and Old Renton benefit match was lifted following written application to be reinstated on the SFA register. Both players were now free to represent their respective clubs in a playing capacity.
Saturday, 20th September 1890
LEAGUE FIXTURES ROUND 5
RENTON 1 VALE of LEVEN 2 1,500
McCall Cowan,Untraced
Half time: 1-1 Referee: Mr Gossland (Rangers)
Renton: Gow, McLean, Campbell, Brown, Gardner, McNair, McArthur, Mathieson, McCall, Duncan, Cameron
Vale of Leven: Wilson, Whitelaw, Sharp, McLeod, McNicol, Cormick, Rankin, Cowan, Buchanan, McMillan, Bruce
St.MIRREN 4 ABERCORN 2 6,000
Dunlop(2),Morrison,McAuley Untraced,Bonnar
Half time: 2-0 Referee:
St.Mirren: Deans, Hunter, A.McBain, McCartney, Jones, E.McBain, Morrison, McAuley, W.McBain, Dunlop, Douglas
Abercorn: Fleming, Cunningham, Cuthbertson, Johnstone, Bowie, Reid, Nicol, McLaren, Raeside, Buchanan, Bonnar
League Table
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GA | ||
1.
|
Dumbarton |
4
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
12
|
4
|
7
|
3.000
|
2.
|
Rangers |
4
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
16
|
10
|
6
|
1.600
|
3.
|
St.Mirren |
4
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
13
|
9
|
5
|
1.444
|
4.
|
Cambuslang |
4
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
15
|
15
|
4
|
1.000
|
5.
|
Vale of Leven |
4
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
8
|
13
|
4
|
0.615
|
6.
|
Renton |
5
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
10
|
13
|
3
|
0.769
|
7.
|
Abercorn |
3
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
7
|
8
|
2
|
0.875
|
8.
|
Third Lanark |
2
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
4
|
2
|
0.750
|
9.
|
Heart of Midlothian |
4
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
7
|
13
|
2
|
0.538
|
10.
|
Celtic |
4
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
12
|
8
|
0*
|
1.500
|
11.
|
Cowlairs |
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
6
|
12
|
-1*
|
0.500
|
With local association cup-ties being played the League fixtures were restricted to two. Both were local derbies, one in Dunbartonshire and one in Paisley.
Vale made the short trip from Alexandria to Renton and came away with the spoils against their fierce rivals. The home support welcomed back James McCall from his recent suspension and it was he who opened the scoring with a superb individual goal. This was just the tonic Renton needed given their poor form over recent weeks. But Vale were determined and were rewarded on 40 minutes when Cowan equalised. 5 minutes after the start of the second half Vale of Leven took the lead with a goal from a scrimmage. From that point on Renton pressed hard for an equaliser but there was to be no joy despite coming close several times. The Vale showed some stout defensive work and deserved their narrow victory.
Despite being the visiting team, local knowledge suggested that Abercorn would come away with the spoils but that proved not to be the case. From the start both teams attacked each other and after the early exchanges it was St.Mirren who opened the scoring with a goal from Dunlop. Abercorn fought back and Deans in the Saints goal had to look sharp on several occasions. With two minutes to go until half time St.Mirren grabbed a second goal, Morrison the scorer. The second half began with Abercorn putting severe pressure on the St.Mirren goal but Dunlop broke away and added a third for Saints. Abercorn eventually did pull a goal back from a scrimmage but towards the end two goals in quick succession, first McAuley for St.Mirren then Bonnar for Abercorn, ended the scoring.
GLASGOW CUP, FIRST ROUND (SELECTED)
CELTIC 7 BATTLEFIELD 1 3,000
Half time: 6-0 Referee:
Celtic Park, Glasgow
QUEEN’S PARK 15 MARYHILL 1 1,200
Half time: 9-1 Referee:
Hampden Park, Glasgow
RANGERS 12 CARRINGTON 2 10,000
Half time: 5-0 Referee:
Ibrox Park, Glasgow
THISTLE 1 THIRD LANARK 6 4,000
Half time: 1-3 Referee:
Beechwood Park, Glasgow
UNITED ABSTAINERS X COWLAIRS X
United Abstainers scratched just before kick-off.
The Glasgow league clubs had no difficulty in progressing to the second round. The margin of victories showing the gab that existed between the league clubs and non-league clubs. Cowlairs were left without a game as their opponents scratched from the cup much too late to arrange an ordinary game.
EAST of SCOTLAND SHIELD, FIRST ROUND (SELECTED)
MOSSEND SWIFTS 1 HEART of MIDLOTHIAN 4 2,000
Half time: 1-2 Referee: Mr Sneddon (President, East of Scotland FA)
Mossend Park, West Calder
HIBERNIAN 7 LASSODIE 1
Half time: 3-1 Referee:
Easter Road Park, Edinburgh
ORDINARY MATCHES (SELECTED)
CLYDE 1 CAMBUSLANG 3
Half time: 0-2 Referee:
Barrowfield Park, Glasgow
This was a benefit match for Mr W Chalmers a retired former player with both clubs. Mr Chalmers had recently taken seriously ill.
Monday, 22nd September 1890
CIRCULAR DISPATCHED BY THE SFA
Following the fall-out from the recent professionalism case brought against St.Bernard’s, the Business & Professional Committee of the SFA had written to some 30 to 45 leading clubs. The letter requested that the clubs send in their books and financial documents. The request falls under Rule 11 in which a clause says; “Clubs must produce their books and documents for inspection at any time the Committee may desire.” The clubs ordered to comply were not named.
Tuesday, 23rd September 1890
St.BERNARD’S FC MEETING
St.Bernard’s in the clubhouse at Logie Green held a meeting to discuss the recent decision by the SFA to suspend the club. There was a large attendance present.
The meeting began with an agreement to minute their confidence to those officials suspended. There followed a debate on how to react to the suspension. Whilst it was recognised that there could be no appeal, they agreed to protest to the SFA in the strongest terms and emphasise the injustice of the decision. The meeting concluded by agreeing to accept an offer from Edinburgh Saints FC to use the Logie Green ground for the duration of the suspension.
The meeting closed and was followed by a meeting of the Edinburgh Saints. This was a club formed to fill the void left by the suspension of St.Bernard’s. None of the officials of St.Bernard’s would take up positions in Edinburgh Saints but the players would be free to represent Edinburgh Saints. This was seen as an attempt to prevent St.Bernard’s players being poached away by other clubs. It was noted, for example, that Leith Athletic had already approached a number of players. Membership tickets Edinburgh Saints were made available to existing St.Bernard’s members at a discounted rate and over 100 memberships were immediately taken up. It was agreed to immediately apply to have Edinburgh Saints registered with both the East of Scotland FA and the Scottish Football Association. The meeting ended with the announcement that a game against Renton had been arranged for Saturday 27th September 1890.
Wednesday, 24th September 1890
EAST of SCOTLAND FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION MEETING
The monthly meeting of the East of Scotland FA was dominated by the suspension of St.Bernard’s and was a heated and angry affair, directed mostly at SFA and how the Business & Professional Committee conducted the matter. Mr Williamson wished to know what the exact meaning of “remuneration” meant, he asked if “ one club took a player away and put him in a situation with a higher wage than he previously earned, whether that could be looked at as remuneration.” The Chairman agreed that the Business & Professional Committee should be asked to give an interpretation to the meaning of the word.
Mr Williamson then asked what exactly were St.Bernard’s suspended for, to which Mr Sneddon, the East of Scotland FA representative on the SFA committee, informed the meeting that the consideration of St.Bernard’s had been conducted in private. He was therefore not at liberty to disclose details. This did not satisfy the East of Scotland members and when pressed all Mr Sneddon would say was that the Business & Professional Committee did not consider the cashbook satisfactory. This sparked further discussion surrounding the secrecy of the decision and it was agreed that the SFA should be approached with a demand that in future such decisions should no longer be conducted in private and that the press be admitted.
Once the dust has settled the meeting concluded its business by accepting the application of Edinburgh Saints as members of the East of Scotland FA by 18 votes to 4. A vote was then taken as to whether the club could be included in the second round of the East of Scotland Shield and this was passed by 19 votes to 6.
There was clear anger shown at the meeting for what the Association saw as an East/West bias on the part of the SFA. For probably the first time names were being mentioned openly, pointing the finger at those clubs possibly flaunting the rules. The Edinburgh press was fully behind them on this and had even softened their attitude on the whole issue of professionalism in football. Every sympathy was being extended to St.Bernard’s and the only criticism that was being aimed at them was not for allegedly breaking any rules, but for being caught. Adventurers, the club who made the protest, were admonished as they were seen as the fall guys. The meetings ire was at Dunfermline Athletic for setting up the Adventurers as whistleblowers.
In some respects it did not take much for a perception of bias to surface. Only recently St.Mirren were cleared of a similar charge on the basis that St.Mirren as a club were unaware that the owner of the mill had employed the player. Given that the owner of the mill was also the president of the football club did not seem to cross any ones mind. Then there was Rangers, a club desperate for success, had a new ground to finance, were signing players with a sudden “love” for the club. During last season it was David Mitchell and David Reid from Kilmarnock and prior to the commencement of current season, David Hislop moved from Partick Thistle and Neil Kerr, Andrew McCreadie and John McPherson from Cowlairs. The East of Scotland FA were wondering aloud why the SFA had not looked at such movement of players.
Thursday, 25th September 1890
MEETING OF THE SFA BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL COMMITTEE
The committee met to consider the case of Edinburgh Saints as members of the SFA and for the players of St.Bernard’s to have membership of their club during the period of the suspension. The following resolution was passed after the committee discussed the request: -
“In the opinion of the Business & Professional Committee, the Edinburgh Saints is the same club as St.Bernard’s and therefore decided that clubs under the jurisdiction of the SFA cannot play them during their term of suspension."
So despite the East of Scotland Association recognising Edinburgh Saints the body that really mattered, the SFA, did not. This made things extremely difficult for Edinburgh Saints. The players of St.Bernard’s, apart of James Ross, were not suspended but the club was, but now they effectively could not play for Edinburgh Saints unless they played matches against clubs who were not registered with the SFA. As Edinburgh Saints had arranged a match against Renton, this decision virtually killed that prospect.
The committee confirmed it had written to leading clubs requesting that their cashbooks and financial documents be sent in for inspection. This action caused much amusement amongst the press, quite prepared to believe the “two sets of books" rumour i.e. the real set and the set for the SFA.
Saturday, 27th September 1890
SCOTTISH CUP, SECOND ROUND (SELECTED)
ABERCORN 12 CATHCART 0
Half time: Referee:
Underwood Park, Paisley
BEITH 2 CAMBUSLANG 4
Half time: Referee:
Knockbuckle Park, Beith
BRIDGE of ALLAN 1 VALE of LEVEN 5
Half time: 1-1 Referee:
Coneyhill Park, Bridge of Allan
CELTIC 2 CARFIN SHAMROCK 2
Half time: 1-0 Referee:
Celtic Park, Glasgow
CLYDE 4 HURLFORD 3 3,000
Half time: 2-2 Referee:
Barrowfield Park, Glasgow
HIBERNIAN 1 DUMBARTON 9 3,000
Half time: 1-3 Referee: Mr Mellish (Rangers)
Easter Road Park, Edinburgh
QUEEN’S PARK 5 NORTHERN 1 3,000
Half time: 2-1 Referee:
Hampden Park, Glasgow
St.MIRREN 5 ALBION ROVERS 1
Half time: Referee: Mr R F Harrison (Ayrshire FA)
Westmarch, Paisley
THIRD LANARK 8 KILMARNOCK ATHLETIC 1
Half time: 7-1 Referee:
Cathkin Park, Glasgow
No league fixtures were played as the date was reserved for the second round of the Scottish Cup. All the league clubs still involved got easily through to the next around except for Celtic. They were surprisingly held to a 2-2 draw at home to Carfin Shamrock. Celtic were guilty of treating the match too lightly and almost paid the price. The replay is scheduled for 4th October 1890. The highlight of the round was undoubtedly Dumbarton’s 9-1 thrashing of Hibernian at Easter Road and that must go down as an embarrassment for the Leith men. Heart of Midlothian were due to play Burntisland Thistle at Tynecastle but the club from Fife scratched from the competition a few days earlier.
ORDINARY MATCHES (SELECTED)
PARTICK THISTLE 5 COWLAIRS 2 1,000
Half time: Referee:
Inchview Park, Glasgow
RANGERS 2 THISTLE 2
Half time: 2-2 Referee:
Ibrox Park, Glasgow
RENTON 5 EDINBURGH SAINTS 2
Half time: 2-1 Referee:
Tontine Park, Renton
There was much attention surrounding the match involving Renton and Edinburgh Saints. The Saints had arrived late and many of the Renton players were reluctant to play given that the SFA had ruled that Edinburgh Saints and St.Bernard’s were the same club. St.Bernard’s were under suspension for professionalism. The Renton committee sought assurances from Edinburgh Saints that there would be no repercussions if the game went ahead. This was given by the Saints committee pointing out that the club were members of the East of Scotland FA. The Renton committee then held a quick meeting and decided by a slim majority to play the match. Once the decision was relayed to the Renton players they seemed happy to go ahead and play. Due to the extremely late kick-off, the game was restricted to two 30-minute halves.
Cowlairs played their match with Partick Thistle only 10 men.
Tuesday, 30th September 1890
MEETING OF THE SFA BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL COMMITTEE
The top order of business for the meeting was the Renton v Edinburgh Saints match played on Saturday 27th September 1890 at Tontine Park, Renton. The match went ahead contrary to instructions issued to both clubs; the committee therefore had to discussed what sanctions, if any, could be imposed. After deliberating over the matter, which was conducted in private, the committee found against both clubs and issued its judgement: -
“In accordance with the constitution and rules number 11 sub-section C, Renton were declared professional and expelled from the Association. The men who played against Edinburgh Saints were suspended until 30th April 1891. The Renton committee were prohibited from taking further part in football affairs in Scotland. The St.Bernard’s club were expelled from the Association and the players who took part in the match against Renton were suspended until 30th April 1890.”
Rule 11 sub-section C states; “Any club playing a match with a club under the jurisdiction of the Association which has been declared guilty of professionalism shall be liable to be declared professional and expelled from the Association.”
The decision by the Business & Professional Committee sent reverberations throughout the football community in Scotland. The purists were delighted whilst the realists were angry. In many quarters the decision was seen as vindictive and would put the SFA in direct conflict with the East of Scotland FA, the Dunbartonshire FA and with the Scottish League. The problem the SFA had was the inability to accept the realities of the football world around them. Ever since the English FA legalised professional football in 1885, the Scottish FA stubbornly held out against it and thus was partly responsible for the loss of good players to English clubs. The middle class values held by football’s ruling body dictated that neither change nor compromise was an option.
However this is not to say that St.Bernard’s or Renton were blameless. Whatever the merits or demerits of the original charge, St.Bernard’s sought a solution to survive the period of suspension. Apart from James Ross all their remaining players were free to play football for any other club. St.Bernard’s did not want to lose their players to rival clubs and so they created a new club to see out the suspension. Edinburgh Saints made it clear that, other than the players, no one running the club had any connection to St.Bernard’s. The East of Scotland FA accepted this argument but the SFA did not. Had Edinburgh Saints contented themselves with playing only clubs not registered as members of the SFA, they would be in the clear. However by choosing to go against the SFA ruling and insist they were a different club, they had put themselves in direct conflict with the ruling body and now had to face further consequences.
By accepting Edinburgh Saints invitation and playing the match, Renton had also created a rod for their own back. They were making a stand against the SFA for perceived injustices and felt they could count on the support of other clubs, especially the league clubs. Renton were clearly unhappy at recent decisions, the James McCall affair and the failed protest against Kilsyth Wanderers, that went against them and felt they were being treated unfairly. Having assurances from Edinburgh Saints was one thing but the assurance that really counted, that of the SFA, was not forthcoming and therefore Renton had to face the consequences. Underlying all this was the fact that Renton felt they were being “got at” by the SFA. They believed that certain clubs with influence in the SFA were jealous of the village club’s recent success and were also infuriated that Renton were the driving force behind the formation of the Scottish League. Whatever the merits of their argument, by deliberately flaunting the SFA ruling, put Renton in a precarious position from which they could end up regretting.
