Abercorn
Formed 1877: Wound up March 1922
Founder Member of the Scottish League 1890. Transferred to the Western League 1915.
Kit History
1877-1880 a b e
1880-1882 a e
1882-circa 1900 a c e
circa 1900-1908 a b e
1910-1911 e g
1911-1920 a b e
Background
The Abbies were based in the east end of Paisley and were formed only months after their great local rivals, St Mirren. Their first colours were recorded as being "blue and white stripes" - these would have been horizontal stripes as vertical stripes did not appear for at least another six years. They had several homes between their formation
in 1877 and the turn of the century, when they moved into the Old Ralston Ground. In 1909 they moved once again to New Ralston.
They reached the semi-final stage of the first ever Scottish FA Cup only to be thrashed 1-10 by Cambuslang. One of the eleven original members of the Scottish Football League, they suffered the indignity of having to apply for re-election in each of their first three seasons. Abercorn were placed in the new Second Division when it was formed for the 1893-94 season. There was no automatic promotion or relegation at that stage, the issue being decided by a vote of the First Division clubs. In 1897 Abercorn replaced Dumbarton in the top division but the following season they went back down again.
In 1910 the club won the Second Division championship but this time they failed to be elected to the First Division. They went on to win the Scottish Qualifying Cup in 1912. In 1915 the Second Division was suspended and the members formed two regional competitions, Abercorn joining the Western League where they competed until 1920 when the lease on their New Ralston Ground expired. Unable to secure a new home, the club resigned from the Western League and the following season (1920-21) played only one fixture, a heavy defeat at the hands of Vale of Leven by 2-8 in the Scottish Cup. This was to be their last match but the club continued to exist until 29 March 1922 when they were expelled from the Scottish FA because they had no home ground and were unable to fulfil any fixtures.
Sources
- (a) The Scottish League Former Members (Norman Nichol 1992)
- (b) Brian McColl
- (c) Ricardo Bertani
- (d) Ayr United FC - Images of Sport (Duncan Carmichael 2002)
- (e) Alick Milne
- (f) Wikipedia
- (g) Ayr United FC - Images of Sport (Duncan Carmichael)