Whitehill F.C.

Whitehill
Full nameWhitehill Football Club
Founded1882
Dissolved1886
GroundHaghill Park
Match SecretaryGeorge Gilmour
Whitehill colours
Dennistoun Athletic colours

Whitehill Football Club was a Scottish association football club based in Dennistoun, in Glasgow.

History

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The club was founded in 1882 by the Stewart brothers, former pupils of Glasgow High School,[1] with its first reported match coming at the start of 1883 against a Partick reserve side.[2]

Whitehill entered the Scottish Cup for the first time in 1883–84. In the first round, the club beat neighbours Alexandra Athletic 3–1, Whitehill's two second-half goals coming against the wind. The Whitehill side lined up as:

J. Strathearn, R. Stewart, J. Clark, J. Goodall, A. Macrae, A. Stewart, J. M'Menemy, P. White, J. Rankin, R. Gill, J. Cummings[3]

In the second round, the club was drawn to play Rangers away. Rangers had the disadvantage of losing goalkeeper Chalmers after 15 minutes through a hand injury; however, and despite Whitehill's "young players show[ing] good play at times", the home side won by 14 goals to 2, with two further goals disputed.[4] This remains Rangers' (joint) highest score.

The following season the club had the misfortune to be drawn against Rangers again in the first round, losing this time 11–0.[5]

In 1885, the club changed its name to Dennistoun Athletic.[6] It entered the Scottish Cup one last time in 1885–86 but lost 3–1 at Whitefield.[7]

The club's lack of success on the national stage was mirrored in more local football. It entered the Glasgow North-Eastern Cup from 1882–83 to 1885–86 but lost in the first round each time,[8] the final match being an 8–0 defeat at Clyde in 1886.[9] The last recorded game for the club is a 5–4 defeat at Port Glasgow Athletic in May 1886[10] and the club was struck from the Scottish Football Association register before the 1886–87 season.[11]

Colours

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The club originally wore all white, the inspiration possibly coming from the club name. With its change of name, the club changed its colours to black and white one-inch hoops and blue knickers.[12]

Ground

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The club originally played at Onslow Park, two minutes' walk from the Dennistoun car stop, taken over from the recently-defunct Harmonic Good Templars.[13]

By the 1883–84 season the club had moved to Haghill Park[14] and as Dennistoun Athletic played at Kennyhill Park.

References

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  1. ^ "Scotch Football Notes". Athletic News: 5. 3 October 1883.
  2. ^ "Partick F.C. (Inchview Eleven) v Whitehill". Glasgow Herald: 8. 15 January 1883.
  3. ^ "Whitehill v Alexandra Athletic". Glasgow Herald: 9. 10 September 1883.
  4. ^ "Rangers v Whitehill". North British Daily Mail: 7. 1 October 1883.
  5. ^ "Scottish Challenge Cup - First Round". North British Daily Mail: 7. 15 September 1884.
  6. ^ McDowall, John (1885). Scottish Association Annual 1885–86. Glasgow: H. Nisbet. p. 56.
  7. ^ "Scottish Association Cup Ties". Glasgow Herald: 10. 14 September 1885.
  8. ^ "North-Eastern Cup". Scottish Football Historical Archive. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Clyde v Dennistoun Athletics (N.E. Cup tie)". Dundee Courier: 4. 25 January 1886.
  10. ^ "Port Glasgow Athletic 1885 to 1890". Plenty of nothing. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Scottish Football Association". Lennox Herald: 6. 28 August 1886.
  12. ^ McDowall, John (1885). Scottish Association Annual 1885–86. Glasgow: H. Nisbet. p. 56.
  13. ^ "Matches held on Saturday". Glasgow Herald: 7. 17 November 1879.
  14. ^ "Whitehill v Alexandra Athletic". Glasgow Herald: 9. 10 September 1883.