Dykehead
Formed 1880. Disbanded 1928.
Founder member of Scottish Division Three 1923. Joined the Scottish Alliance after the Third Division was abandoned in 1926.
Kit History
1884-1888 b
1893-1894 b
1894-1898 b
1898-1900 b
1911-1912 b
1923-1924 b
1925-1926 b
1926-1928 a b
Background
Dykehead is one of five villages that make up Shotts, located midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh, which grew to prominence in the nineteenth century as a centre for the extraction and smelting of iron ore with locally mined coal supplying the foundries.
Very little is recorded about the football club and they were not registered with the Scottish FA until 1884. It is known that they competed in the Scottish Alliance between 1894 and 1896. Dykehead joined in 1894 when the competition was reorganised after most of its former members had formed the core of the original Scottish Second Division in 1893. The club left in 1896 when the Alliance was abandoned.
Between 1903 and 1915 Dykehead played in the Eastern League (1903-05), Scottish Football Combination (1905-1909) and Scottish Union (1909-1915) where they competed against 'A' teams from the Scottish Football League. In 1915 the Second Division of the Scottish League was suspended and Dykehead joined the Western League, one of the regional competitions set up during the Great War by the former Second Division clubs. They resigned in 1916 but were reinstated the following season.
In 1923 the Western League was incorporated into the Scottish Football League as Division Three. This competition was made up of small semi-professional clubs that struggled to meet their increased financial obligations and in 1926, the Third Division was abandoned with fixtures left unplayed. Dykehead spent the following season in the Scottish Alliance (now much reduced in status) and then spent 1927-28 in the Provincial League. In 1928 Dykehead were wound up.
I am grateful to Alick Milne for his research into this obscure club. Scottish FA records generally describe the club's colours as being "black and white" without specifying the detail. The graphics presented here have been confirmed from independent records except where indicated. In 1925-26 the club registered their colours as royal blue with the Scottish Football League although the Scottish FA records Dykehead as still wearing black and white.
Sources
- (a) The Scottish Football League - Past Members (Norman Nichol 2002)
- (b) Alick Milne
Photograph courtesy of Monklands Online