Renton FC (Scotland)
In the 1870's Scotland was a hot bed of club
football. It was in 1872 that Scottish club football really took off. Out of
the 22 clubs formed in 1872 around the world 11, were formed in Scotland. 10 of
which, were in Glasgow and Dunbartonshire.
Renton Football Club were formed in 1872. Renton
even now only has a population of less than three thousand people. The village
is sandwiched in the 5-mile gap, between Balloch on the banks of Loch Lomond
and the former Ship Building town of Dumbarton.
In 1872 when Renton were formed so where their
local rivals. Dumbarton and Vale of Leven (in Balloch). The club was named
after the River Leven which runs between Balloch and Dumbarton and into the
River Clyde.
The club despite being formed in 1872 were not a
part of the 8 clubs that formed the Scottish Football Association 1873. They
were though, a part of the first 16 club to take part in the first ever
Scottish Cup tournament.
It was at 10 minutes to 3 on the 18th
October 1873 that Renton beat Kilmarnock 2-0 at Crosshill in Glasgow. Though
hard to get it confirmed, 3 newspapers at the time claim it as true that this
game was the first ever competitive football match in Scotland. In the Glasgow
News of the 20th October the newspaper reports that “The
Kilmarnock club were at a disadvantage through not being thoroughly conversant
with association rules, having formerly played the rugby game” and later
went on the say “The Renton side received several free kicks in succession
through some of the “Auld Killies” men persistently using their hands”.
That season would see Renton get through to the
last 4 of the tournaments, After beating Kilmarnock. Renton went on the beat
local rivals Dumbarton 1-0 after a replay. They did go out of the cup though on
the 13 December losing 2-0 to eventual cup winners Queen's Park.
The following season though they did even better.
This time round though 23 clubs entered the cup and after getting a walkover in
the first round. The club would get to the final by beating another local rival
Helensburgh 2-0 at home. They then had another home tie this time beating
Glasgow side Easton 1-0. In the semi's though they were taken to a replay by neighbours
Dumbarton after a 1-1 draw at home.
Renton won 1-0 and got through to the final against
Queen's Park. In the final though in front of a crowd of 7000 people at Hampden
Park. Renton were soundly beaten 3-0.
After this the club would continue to play in the
Scottish Cup but wouldn't get any further than the semi's. At this time the
only competitive football played anywhere was cup competitions. Clubs from
Scotland had started to be invited into the English FA Cup with Queen's Park
twice getting to the final only to be defeated by Blackburn Rovers on both
occasions. It was reported by many papers that the officials “showed a
distinct level of preference to English side and the tourists have every right
to feel aggrieved by a number of decisions”.
In 1884-85 the same season Queen's Park got to
their second FA Cup final. Renton got equally through to their second cup
final. On route they beat Vale of Leven Wanderers (the clubs second team) 2-1.
In the next round they travelled through to Falkirk to play East Stirlingshire
where they ran riot winning 2-10. That scoreline though was only the fourth
biggest of the day. Dunfermline were beaten 1-11 by Hearts but both these
results were nothing compared to Vale of Leven beating Campsie Central 14-0 and
Yoker winning 17-0 against Tayavalla.
In the third round the club again run up a massive scoring 9 goals in a 9-2
victory over Glasgow side Northern. And after getting a bye to the quarter
final Renton hosted Rangers coming out on top 5-3. In the semis this they
travelled through to Edinburgh to play Hibernian where they ran out winners in
a tight game 2-3 and into the final. It was in the final they came out against their
classic rivals Vale of Leven. After a 0-0 draw witnessed by a unlucky 2500
people, Renton ran out 3-1 winners lifting their first Scottish Cup, in a game
this time watched by 3500 brave folk. During the cup run Renton scored 29 goals
in 7 games.
The following season the club again made it to the final. Beating
Kirkintilloch Athletic 0-15 on the 12 September 1885 in their first-round game.
This scoreline as impressive as it is, is absolutely nothing compared to
Arbroath beating Bon Accord 36-0 and on the same day Dundee Harp putting 35
goals past Aberdeen Rovers in a 35-0 victory. In the second round they played
against the short-lived team Dumbarton Athletic winning 2-7. In the third round
they squeezed path Albion 1-0 to play Cowlairs in the fourth round winning
comfortably 4-0.
There fifth round tie was a repeat of the previous seasons’
final against Vale of Leven. Again, like the previous season it went to a
replay. This time round though the first game ended 2-2 but, in the replay,
Renton went on to win 3-0. After a bye into the semis, they travelled again
through to Edinburgh to play Hibernian in a game they won again this time round
winning 2-0 to put them into a final against Queen's Park. However, unlike the
previous season they wouldn't walk away with the cup. They were beaten 3-1 in
the final in absolutely torrential rain. That season in the cup the club scored
35 goals in 8 games.
In 1886-87 the club played in the English FA Cup
beating Accrington and Blackburn Rovers before finally being put out by Preston
North End 2-0 at home. They did lift the Glasgow Merchants' Charity Cup that
season though.
However, it would be the season 1887-88 that would
be the greatest in the club’s history. Firstly, they got to and won the
Scottish Cup final. Again, they are scoring 35 goals in 7 games. Including
beating Cambuslang 6-1 in the final on the 4th of February 1888.
However, if you thought that was the highlight of the season you are sadly
wrong.
In 1888 Preston North End were one of the greatest
teams in England that would go into the next season to win the first ever
league season in England and do it unbeaten. However, in the 1888 English FA
Cup final they came up against West Bromwich Albion. Preston was so confident
about the victory that before the game kicked off the team asked to have their
photograph taken with the cup. However, the team were stunned by being beaten
2-1 at the Oval with the Preston Captain stood motionless in the centre circle
for several minutes after the game so much so that a policeman had to tap him
on the shoulder to get him to move off the pitch.
In the previous season a tentative move was made by
the clubs who had won the English and Scottish FA cups to play a match to
become 'The Association Football Championship of the World'. That first match
was between Aston Villa and Hibernian which ended in a 3-0 win for Villa.
Leading them to be known as the very first “World Club Champions”.
So in 1888 after Renton won the Scottish Cup they
contacted Preston North End to organise a game between the side as it was
believed by everyone that Preston would win. However, when West Brom walked
away with the English FA Cup. Preston simply walked away from the agreed game. So,
a letter was sent to West Brom to ask if they would take part instead. West
Brom agreed and so on the 19th of May 1888 at Hampden Park the two
champions faced off.
The Scottish game at this time was in a stage of
major issues. In early 1888 12 English clubs had met under to leadership of
William McGregor a Scotsman who was a director at Aston Villa to create The
Football League in England. This had been coming for some time as since 1885
the English FA had aloud professionalism. This in turn had led to a mass
migration of Scots players. The allowance of professionalism in England had a
major impact in Scotland not only was it near impossible to keep Scottish
players in Scotland. It also forced a number of clubs in Scotland to start
paying players. This included Hibs, Rangers, Celtic and Hearts who were running
several accountancy books. Normally the clubs had two books, one they let the
SFA see and one that was the actual truth.
So when in 1888 Renton lined up facing West Brom it
was seen as a battle of the old school amateur players playing for the love of
the game against a team of mercenaries who were only there for the money and
not the love of the game. It was a dream game for the Scottish press who had
pushed the line of the English players being paid to within an inch of its
life. Renton ran out 4-1 winners over West Brom and became world champions.
Granted it was only between English and Scottish teams, but it was still a
wonderful achievement.
The “World Championship Game” would only be played
4 times, the first was in 1887 when Aston Villa won, in 1888 when Renton won.
Then not played again until 1895 when Sunderland won beating Hearts 5-3. An
interesting side note on that game is that Johnny Campbell played for Renton
when they won in 1888 and played for Sunderland in 1895 when they won the
title. The final time the game was played was in 1902 when Hearts won it
beating Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 in a replay.
Renton would build on this victory by finally
getting to take on Preston North End in a testimonial at Hampden on the 2 June
1888 again winning 4-1. It was after this game that the club commissioned a cup
to be made which is now on display at Hampden Park stating that Renton were
World Champions.
To drive home the fact, they were World Champions
they had a sign made that was hung on the pavilion at their home ground Tontine
Park saying Renton FC Champions of the World.
After the creation of The Football League in
England. Scottish clubs watched on and eventually the Secretary of Renton a Mr
Peter Fairly sent the following letter to 14 clubs in Scotland.
Gentlemen,
You are requested to sent two representatives to attend a
meeting to be held in Holton's Commercial Hotel, 28
Glassford
Street, Glasgow, on Thursday 20th March
at 7.30p.m.
Yours truly
(signed) Peter Fairly, secy.
BUSINESS :--- To consider the question of
organising League matches in
Scotland.
Only 12 clubs turned up to the meeting those being, Abercorn,
Cambuslang, Celtic, Cowlairs, Dumbarton, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers, Renton,
St. Bernard, St. Mirren, Third Lanark and Vale of Leven. Queen's Park and Clyde
refused to attend believing that the only purpose in a league was to allow
professionalism into the game. Either way the league was agreed to confirmed to
take place from the coming August.
The first League game in the Scottish Football
League took place on August 16 1890. In which Renton travelled to Celtic Park
and won 1-4 in front of 10000 fans. Renton's time in league football was
something interesting to say the least. Even though the club was essential in
the creation of the league system that didn't stop them from being the first
casualties of the system.
The story is a bit long winded, but I will try and
get through it for you. So in September 1890 a club called Adventurers
complained to the SFA about a Scottish Cup tie they had lost to St Bernard on
the grounds that St Bernard's were paying players to play. The player
responsible was a player named Ross. Who had been transferred from Dunfermline
Athletic to the Edinburgh side. He was lured away with a job in a biscuit
factory. In a job that from the outside was see him earn less than he did in
his fife hometown, but he would get 10 shillings a match extra if he played
football.
On the 25th of September 1890 St
Bernard's were found guilty by the SFA of concealing professionalism and
suspended. With this judgement the club met that night and formed a new team
named Edinburgh Saints. To show just how undaunted they were by the SFA they
kept the entire same playing squad and membership. The following week the “new”
club organised a friendly with Renton. Renton attempted to get clearance from
the SFA to play the game but were told very clearly not to play the game.
Renton though on the back of a good money promise carried on regardless and
played the game.
The SFA viewed this very poorly and as the Scottish
Sport wrote afterwards “The managers of the St. Bernard and The Renton must
have been very short-sighted indeed if they imagined that the mere change of
name was sufficient to clear the club of the consequences of their
peregrinations in the paths of professionalism... The sentence is a severe one,
- the expulsion from the Association of the two clubs, the suspension of the
players involved until the end of the season, and the social annihilation of the
officials concerned”.
This sentence meant that Renton having played just 5 games of the very
first season of league football in Scotland. Renton and St Bernard were merely
the example set by the SFA in its final days fighting against professionalism.
When the league had been created it had allowed players to be paid a fee for
expenses. Shockingly the bigger clubs started paying players higher expenses
but maintained that it wasn't playing players to play, just to travel. In 1890
the SFA took a deep look into clubs finances after the St Bernard affair.
It was when this investigation started to take
place, that a sense of panic ran through almost all Scottish Clubs none more so
than Hibs, Celtic, Rangers and the unfortunate Cowlairs. Firstly, Hibs had some
interesting things in their books. Firstly, the SFA asked all clubs to show the
last 5 years’ worth of books. Now in 1887 Hibs had won the Scottish Cup
defeating Dumbarton in the final. Although a private detective had found out
that a Hibs player William Groves was being paid by the club four times what he
earned as a apprentice stone mason by the club for “broken time” to
allow him to play football. Even with this evidence the SFA rejected
Dumbarton's protest. However, justice would come when in the weeks after this,
as the Hibs treasurer a Mr McFadden disappeared to Canada with most of the
clubs funds and even some money belonging to the Archdiocese of
Edinburgh.
The extent of the investigation the SFA launched
can be questioned as Hibs had three different treasurers in that 5-year period.
Yet somehow all five books came in with the same handwriting on them. Rangers
on the other hand somehow, had lost the safe keys so would need to wait for the
safe to be opened and strangely when the safe was opened two books were badly
burned. Celtic though had arguably the best reason. The books were a week late
being sent to the SFA. Celtic said this was because the people in the
Secretary's house had all come down with fever, so therefore the books needed
to be disinfected. So, they sent the books to the Sanitary Authorities to be
cleaned before sending them to the SFA. Shockingly every club but Cowlairs,
passed the SFA checks and were allowed to carry on as before.
Renton, however, were for at least now banned from all football. So, the club
to the SFA to court. The club claimed £5000 against the SFA on the grounds of
loss, by engagements being cancelled, the vested interest in their fame as a
club (even in the court papers the club mentioned they were world champions).
And the fact they had brought their ground up to the now new requirements the
SFA had set out. The club took the SFA to the court of session in Edinburgh and
won. They were award the £5000 plus expenses and were restored to the SFA and
in 1891-92 were back in the league.
Finally, after fighting it for years and to stop
losing players to England the SFA allowed professionalism in 1893. That first
season with professionalism ended with Renton being relegated to the second
division. The club being small and only even in their heyday only attracting
crowds that numbered around 300 people. The club started to come under extreme
financial pressure.
The 1894-95 season was a mixed bag for the club. In
the league it was struggling to pay for the travel to games away from home and
in the last game of the season. The played a glamour friendly against Queen's
Park instead of travelling to Dundee to play Dundee Wanderers. Meanwhile the
club did manage to get through to their last Scottish Cup Final. The club
played none other than St Bernard at Ibrox Park where the Edinburgh side ran
out 2-1 winners.
Despite this cup final appearance, the clubs time
in the top leagues was drawing to a close. In 1895-96 the club finished in
third in the second tier and then in sixth the following season. It was
however, in 1897-98 that the club finally pulled out of the league. After just
4 games into the season the club pulled out of the league. There finally SFL
game was a home defeat 3-1 to Leith Athletic.
Since they had played that friendly against
Edinburgh Saints in 1890 the club was on a downwards spiral. Whereas the other
teams in the league had got use to the format and the requirements. Renton had
a somewhat more cavalier approach to league games and often getting their
knuckles wrapped for opting to play friendlies than the league fixtures.
The club dropped into the Western League where their
local rivals Vale of Leven were playing. Meanwhile Hamilton Academicals took on
Renton's place in the SFL. The club would go on to play in the Scottish Cup
until the very end. It did manage to make one final cup run in 1907 which
included beating Dundee who would go on to finish second in the topflight that
season and facing St Bernard who were by now leading the second division.
Before being put out by Queen's Park.
The former Football World Champions finally folded
in 1922. They had entered the 1922-23 Scottish Cup but failed to turn up for
the tie and subsequently folded. The clubs ground was sold and was build on for
housing. The centre circle is now a memorial garden to a club that from a tiny
village in Scotland that was once the greatest team in the world.
Renton Football Club is a club that nearly no one
has ever heard about. It really should be one that's more well known as they
were undisputed Champions of the World. Even if it was for a short period of
time. Sadly no club was ever formed in the aftermath of the club folding. If
you ever wish to see the ground where the world champions once played if its
just of John Street in Renton. In 1988 there was a match played between
Dumbarton and West Brom. The game had been agreed many years before between
Renton and West Brom. However, as Renton had become defunct the nearest senior
side left from the area was Dumbarton. In the match though West Brom lost again
losing 2-1 this time. This led to the local paper in West Brom to run the
headline “Second World Cup Defeat for Albion!”.