Our Boys (Blairgowrie), also known as Blairgowrie Our Boys, was a football club from Blairgowrie in Perthshire, Scotland.
| Full name | Our Boys Football Club (Blairgowrie) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | the Boys[1] | ||
| Founded | 1882 | ||
| Dissolved | 1912 | ||
| Ground | The Beeches, Foundry Park | ||
| President | Bob Low | ||
| |||
History
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The club was founded in 1882.[2] It took part in the first Perthshire Cup in 1884–85, losing at home in the first round to Coupar Angus by 2 goals to 1, the visitors coming from behind to win the match with a scrimmage after a handball close to goal.[3] Our Boys' joint best run in the competition came in its second season, beating St Johnstone in the first round (after a protest about the eligibility of some of the Saints)[4] and Guildtown Wanderers by 11–0 in the second.[5] That earned the club a semi-final tie, the opponents again being Coupar Angus, and Our Boys went down 7–1.
The club did not equal this run until 1910–11, when it lost 3–1 at Crieff Morrisonians in the semi-final. It did however win the Consolation Cup, for clubs eliminated before the main final, in 1907–08 by beating Vale of Atholl in the consolation final.[6] It was the start of a mini-golden age for the club; it won the Atholl Cup, for the smaller clubs in Perthshire, in the next two seasons, the only times it ever lifted that particular trophy.
Our Boys joined the Scottish Football Association in 1886,[7] and took part in the Scottish Cup thereafter. Until 1891–92, there was no qualification process, so Our Boys was entered into the first round proper; the club scratched rather than have to face the long journey to Oban in 1886–87,[8] and in the following three seasons the club lost in the first round every time, its first tie being a 9–2 defeat at Coupar Angus in 1887–88.[9]
The club continued to enter the preliminary rounds, and from 1895 the Scottish Qualifying Cup, until 1911–12 (apart from a hiatus in the early 1900s), but did not make the first round proper again. The club did at least finally beat Coupar Angus, in 1892–93,[10] but it was one of only four wins in the competition.
The club was invited to join the Northern League in 1909,[11] but did not do so; it finally disbanded in 1912, to be replaced shortly afterwards by Blairgowrie Amateurs. The name was used for a juvenile team in the 1920s and 1930s.
Colours
editThe club played in the following colours:
Ground
editThe club's ground originally was the Beeches, on the Perth Road;[17] the ground was also known as Loonbrae.[18]
In 1892 the club moved to the Lower Haughs[19] and in 1896 to Foundry Park.[20]
External links
editReferences
edit- ^ "Football - Perthshire Cup". Blairgowrie Advertiser: 4. 17 January 1885.
- ^ McDowall, John (1886). Scottish FA Annual 1886–87. Hay Nisbet. p. 56.
- ^ "Football - Perthshire Cup". Blairgowrie Advertiser: 4. 17 January 1885.
- ^ "Perthshire Cup - Our Boys v St Johnstone, Perth". Blairgowrie Advertiser: 7. 21 November 1885.
- ^ "Our Boys v Guildtown Wanderers". Blairgowrie Advertiser: 3. 19 December 1885.
- ^ "The success of Our Boys". Perthshire Advertiser: 3. 20 March 1908.
- ^ Scottish FA Minutes 1884–87. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 24 August 1886.
- ^ "Scottish Football Association meeting". Dundee Courier: 4. 22 September 1886.
- ^ "Coupar Angus v Our Boys (Blairgowrie)". Dundee Courier: 4. 5 September 1887.
- ^ "Our Boys (Blairgowrie) v Coupar Angus". Dundee Courier: 4. 5 September 1892.
- ^ "Our Boys Blairgowrie". Dundee Evening Telegraph: 3. 13 August 1909.
- ^ McDowall, John (1886). Scottish FA Annual 1886–87. Hay Nisbet. p. 56.
- ^ M'Dowall, John (1892). Scottish Football Annual 1892–93. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 93.
- ^ M'Dowall, John (1893). Scottish Football Annual 1893–94. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 89.
- ^ M'Dowall, John (1895). Scottish Football Annual 1895–96. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 90.
- ^ "Club Directory". Scottish Football Historical Archive. Retrieved 19 May 2023.
- ^ McDowall, John (1886). Scottish FA Annual 1886–87. Hay Nisbet. p. 56.
- ^ "Football - Perthshire Cup". Blairgowrie Advertiser: 4. 17 January 1885.
- ^ M'Dowall, John (1892). Scottish Football Annual 1892–93. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 93.
- ^ M'Dowall, John (1896). Scottish Football Annual 1896–97. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 99.