Abercorn F.C.
| Full name | Abercorn Football Club |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1877 |
| Dissolved | 1920 |
| Ground | East Park, Paisley (1877–1879) Blackstoun Park, Paisley (1879–1889) Underwood Park, Paisley (1889–1899) Old Ralston Park, Paisley (1899–1909) New Ralston Park, Paisley (1909–1920) |
Abercorn Football Club was a football club based in Paisley, Scotland. The club were members of the Scottish Football League from 1890 until 1915 and folded in 1920. Abercorn were founder members of the Scottish Football League, but eventually could not compete with local rivals St Mirren. During their time in the SFL the club played at Underwood Park, Old Ralston Park and New Ralston Park. Their colours were blue and white stripes.
Abercorn F.C. was formed on 10 November 1877 with an initial membership of 200, a few months after St Mirren had been formed in the town with their first game been played in December against the 79th Highland Reserve Volunteers with the match ending in a 1–1 draw with Robert Fulton the president of the club getting the first goal and gate receipts of £3. In June 1878 at a meeting at the Star Hotel in Paisley were the representatives from Abercorn, Arthurlie, Barrhead, Barrhead Rangers, Barrhead Thistle, Bridge of Weir, Caledonia (Thornliebank), Cartvale, Clydevale (Greenock), Glenkilloch, Johnstone Athletic, Jordanhill, Levern, Linwood, Mearns Pollock, Thornliebank, 17th Renfrewshire Rifle Volunteers and 23rd Renfrewshire Rifle Volunteers. At the meeting these clubs became the founder members of Renfrewshire County Football Association and a cup was purchased a year later from Summerton Jewellers of Paisley. Abercorn would win the Renfrewshire County Cup on five occasions.
In 1887 they managed to make their first semi-final of the Scottish Cup, losing out to Cambuslang by a 10–1 scoreline, which is a joint record margin of defeat for the semi-final stage of the Scottish Cup. They would repeat the achievement of reaching the cup semi-finals in each of their next two seasons.
In 1890 the club became founder members of the Scottish Football League, alongside Cambuslang, Celtic, Cowlairs, Dumbarton, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers, Renton, Saint Mirren, Third Lanark and Vale of Leven. The club finished the inaugural season of the league in seventh place out of ten, but had the satisfaction of finishing ahead of St Mirren, who ended in eighth place. This success was short-lived, however, as when a Second Division was created in 1893, Abercorn and Clyde who had been voted off the Scottish League First Division became founder members along with Greenock Morton, Hibernian, Motherwell, Northern, Partick Thistle, Port Glasgow Athletic and Thistle (Glasgow) In 1895–96 the club won Division Two, earning promotion back to Division One after a ballot. However, they finished bottom of Division One the following season, and were relegated back to Division Two.
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