Cowlairs F.C.

Cowlairs Football Club was a 19th-century football club from the Cowlairs area of Glasgow in Scotland. The club was of the founder members of the Scottish Football League in 1890, and played at Springvale Park during their time in the league. History Cowlairs F.C. was formed in 1876 by craftsmen from the Hyde Park and Cowlairs railway works in Springburn, an area that was growing rapidly due to its importance to Glasgow's railway industry. In its early years, the club was a member of the Glasgow FA and was looked on as a junior club, at a time when "junior" clubs were simply smaller and of limited standing in the game, and prior to the establishment of a separate Junior grade of competition. The club entered the Scottish Cup for the first time in 1880–81, reaching the fourth round. By the latter part of the decade, Cowlairs' reputation was growing. In 1886–87 they entered the English FA Cup (which was open to Scottish clubs at this time), beating Darwen Old Wanderers in the first round and Rossendale in the second; Cowlairs beat the latter by a record away score of 10-2. As the competition was regional in the first few rounds, the Scottish teams that had won through were all within the same division, and Cowlairs were drawn to fellow Glaswegians Rangers in the third round, losing 3-2 at Kinning Park, Cowlairs showing "dashing play, but unfortunately their play was not free from roughness". With the Scottish FA taking a dim view of Scots clubs playing English professional clubs, Cowlairs did not enter the FA Cup again. The club had players of sufficient standing in this period to have two of their number gain international recognition for Scotland: Tom McInnes, capped once in 1889, and John McPherson, who won two of his nine caps while at Cowlairs, in 1889 and 1890.