Glasgow Football Association
Founded in 1883, the Glasgow Football Association, based in the city of Glasgow, Scotland and affiliated to the national Scottish Football Association, is one of the oldest such bodies in football. In the modern game its influence is limited, the remit being "to represent the interests of the senior football clubs in Glasgow". Those senior clubs competing across the divisions in the Scottish Professional Football League include the two largest and most successful in the country by some distance, Celtic and Rangers ; professionals Partick Thistle who exist in the shadow of their dominant neighbours; amateurs Queen's Park, the oldest football club in Scotland; and semi-professional Clyde who no longer play home matches in the city and have a small support partly as a consequence of their relocations. A sixth team, Third Lanark, had a strong record until their sudden collapse in the mid 1960s.
The association's most prominent role is the administration of the Glasgow Cup, a tournament for clubs in the city first contested in 1888, which was once an coveted prize but diminished in importance during the 20th century as national and continental football became more popular; since the 1990s it has been contested between the member clubs' youth teams. In addition to the Glasgow Cup, the association aims to "encourage the involvement of local schools and the development of youth football through a variety of other programmes and events". The Glasgow FA looks after the city's senior clubs but not those in lower categories: for example, the Scottish Junior Football Association, West Region, contains several Glasgow-based semi-professional clubs, and the Greater Glasgow Premier AFL is just one of several leagues involving teams from the city under the Scottish Amateur Football Association umbrella.
History
The seven founders of the organisation at a meeting on 6 March 1883 included three of the six senior clubs that would carry on membership into the mid 20th century: Rangers, Clyde and Queen's Park, plus Northern, Partick and Pollokshields Athletic. By the end of 1883, thirteen clubs were members: the initial six plus Battlefield, Cowlairs, Luton, Partick Thistle, South-Western, Third Lanark and Thistle. The obvious absentee from the list is Celtic, which was first conceived in 1887 and began playing the following year; in contrast, Clydesdale were one of the leading clubs who had provided players for Scotland in the 1870s but were defunct by the time of the association's founding.Glasgow had a representative team which took part in challenge matches against other associations, most notably a series against the Sheffield Football Association which ran from 1874 to 1960, and played an important role in the early development of football due to the contrasting styles, rules and innovations used in two cities that were home to some of the oldest institutions of the game, such as Queen's Park and Sheffield F.C. respectively. The fixture fell out of favour in the late 1940s with new tournaments such as Scottish and English League Cups taking precedence, but was temporarily revived when floodlights were installed at more grounds to accommodate evening matches.
Other matches were played by Glasgow against the London XI in the 1880s, and against Edinburgh/East of Scotland for charity fundraising, particularly in the 1920s, as well as occasional fixtures such as the last editions of the Glasgow Merchants Charity Cup against English clubs in the mid-1960s, and a one-off match against a Football League XI for the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977.
Glasgow v Sheffield
- 68 matches played;
- Glasgow: 33 wins ;
- Sheffield: 23 wins ;
- 12 draws.
Match list
| # | Date | Venue | Att. | Score | Glasgow goalscorers | Ref. |
| 1 | Bramall Lane | 6,000 | 2–2 | Frederick Anderson, Jerry Weir | ||
| 2 | Hamilton Crescent | 10,000 | 2–0 | D. McLeish, Willie Miller | ||
| 3 | Bramall Lane | 6,000 | 2–0 | Peter Andrews | ||
| 4 | Hampden Park | 2–0 | John Hunter | |||
| 5 | Bramall Lane | 10,000 | 4–2 | Moses McNeil, Thomas Britten, Peter Campbell | ||
| 6 | Hampden Park | 10,000 | 4–1 | James Richmond, Harry McNeil, George Ker | ||
| 7 | Sheaf House | 4,000 | 1–0 | Eadie Fraser | ||
| 8 | Hampden Park | 5,000 | 3–0 | J. Erskine, Eadie Fraser, George Ker | ||
| 9 | Bramall Lane | 12,000 | 1–3 | A. Wylie | ||
| 10 | Hampden Park | 4–2 | John Kay, Woodville Gray, William Harrower | |||
| 11 | Bramall Lane | 2–1 | John Smith, Alec Hamilton | |||
| 12 | Hampden Park | 9–1 | Willie Turner, William Harrower, Davie Allan, Bob Christie | |||
| 13 | Bramall Lane | 2,000 | 2–2 | D. McIntyre, William Tait | ||
| 14 | Hampden Park | 2,000 | 10–3 | William Sellar, James Allan, John Marshall, John Lambie, Own goal | ||
| 15 | Bramall Lane | 7,000 | 3–2 | Billy Johnstone, Tom Robertson | ||
| 16 | Hampden Park | 5,000 | 8–1 | Jimmy Oswald, John Buchanan, J. Britton, John Marshall, Willie Berry, James McLaren | ||
| 17 | Bramall Lane | 5,000 | 3–1 | Jimmy Hamilton, Thomas Wyllie | ||
| 18 | Bramall Lane | 10,000 | 3–4 | Jake Madden, Alan Maxwell, John McPherson | ||
| 19 | Hampden Park | 4,000 | 4–2 | William Sellar, Sandy McMahon, John Harvey | ||
| 20 | Bramall Lane | 3,000 | 3–3 | John Allan, scrimmage | ||
| 21 | Olive Grove | 5,000 | 2–7 | Hugh McCreadie, Willie Paul | ||
| 22 | Cathkin Park | 3,000 | 3–1 | William Lambie, John Proudfoot, Willie Paul | ||
| 23 | Bramall Lane | 2,000 | 1–5 | James Allison | ||
| 24 | Cathkin Park | 9,000 | 0–0 | none | ||
| 25 | Bramall Lane | 5,000 | 1–2 | Alec Crawford | ||
| 26 | Hampden Park | 6,000 | 4–0 | Thomas Bowie, Robert McColl, William Stewart | ||
| 27 | Bramall Lane | 4,000 | 1–3 | John McPherson | ||
| 28 | Shawfield | 4,000 | 1–1 | Hughie Wilson | ||
| 29 | Hillsborough | 5,000 | 2–0 | Finlay Speedie, Johnny Campbell | ||
| 30 | Ibrox | 3,000 | 3–0 | Robert Hamilton, Hughie Wilson, Jimmy Quinn | ||
| 31 | Bramall Lane | 6,000 | 0–2 | none | ||
| 32 | Meadowside | 1–0 | Archie Kyle | |||
| 33 | Hillsborough | 6,000 | 2–3 | Jimmy McMenemy, Archie Kyle | ||
| 34 | Meadowside | 5,000 | 2–2 | Archie Kyle, Jimmy Speirs | ||
| 35 | Bramall Lane | 6,000 | 0–2 | none | ||
| 36 | Firhill | 5,000 | 0–1 | none | ||
| 37 | Hillsborough | 3,000 | 2–2 | Alec Bennett, James Bowie | ||
| 38 | Cathkin Park | 6,000 | 1–2 | Willie Reid | ||
| 39 | Bramall Lane | 7,000 | 1–1 | Andy McAtee | ||
| 40 | Ibrox | 8,000 | 3–0 | Willie Reid, Jimmy Galt, Patsy Gallacher | ||
| 41 | Hillsborough | 6,000 | 1–2 | Willie Reid | ||
| 42 | Firhill | 7,000 | 4–1 | Andy Fyfe, Adam McLean | ||
| 43 | Bramall Lane | 25,000 | 1–1 | Jimmy Kinloch | ||
| 44 | Firhill | 6,000 | 5–0 | Adam McLean, Jimmy Kinloch, James McAlpine, Harry Rae, Alec Reid | ||
| 45 | Hillsborough | 10,000 | 2–1 | Jimmy Kinloch, Tommy McInally | ||
| 46 | Hampden Park | 14,000 | 5–0 | Tommy McInally, Robert Gillespie, Patsy Gallacher | ||
| 47 | Bramall Lane | 18,000 | 1–1 | Bobby McKay | ||
| 48 | Firhill | 6,000 | 2–1 | Bill Johnstone | ||
| 49 | Hillsborough | 12,000 | 1–4 | Jimmy Simpson | ||
| 50 | Hampden Park | 13,000 | 5–1 | Stewart Chalmers, Davie Ness, James McAlpine, Jimmy Fleming | ||
| 51 | Bramall Lane | 0–2 | none | |||
| 52 | Hampden Park | 8,000 | 4–1 | John Simpson, George Brown, James Crawford | ||
| 53 | Hillsborough | 10,000 | 2–7 | Jim Murray, John Torbet | ||
| 54 | Ibrox | 6,000 | 4–1 | Own goal, Neil Dewar | ||
| 55 | Bramall Lane | 4–3 | Billy Boyd, Johnny McKenzie, Hugh O'Donnell | |||
| 56 | Firhill | 8,000 | 2–4 | James Crawford, Alex Venters | ||
| 57 | Hillsborough | 1–3 | George Hay | |||
| 58 | Hampden Park | 7,800 | 1–2 | Alex McSpadyen | ||
| 59 | Belle Vue | 7,971 | 2–1 | Edwin Watson | ||
| 60 | Ibrox | 2,000 | 1–5 | Tom Robertson | ||
| 61 | Bramall Lane | 22,500 | 2–4 | Jimmy Walker | ||
| 62 | Shawfield | 20,000 | 4–5 | Bert Cromar, Tommy Ring, Charlie Tully, Jimmy Ward | ||
| 63 | Hillsborough | 23,032 | 2–3 | Bert McCann, Bobby Collins | ||
| 64 | Shawfield | 13,000 | 2–2 | Tommy Ring, Bobby Craig | ||
| 65 | Bramall Lane | 10,986 | 0–3 | none | ||
| 66 | Firhill | 22,000 | 4–0 | Ian McMillan, Davie McParland, John Coyle, Matt Gray | ||
| 67 | Hillsborough | 1–1 | Matt Gray | |||
| 68 | Celtic Park | 7,000 | 5–0 | Matt Gray, Davie McParland, George Smith, Alex Harley |