I'm always intrigued by little discoveries about Scottish football, things I wasn't aware of before. I recently stumbled across this little announcement in the Dundee Courier on 23 April 1896 about the formation of a new football club which, frankly, I knew nothing about:
A New Amateur Organisation - A new combination of amateurs has just been organised by Mr R Smellie, Queen's Park; T Devlin, ex-treasurer SFA; and other gentlemen. It is intended to run the club on the lines of the famous Corinthians, without interfering with the desires of players to play for their own clubs. A good start has been made, and over thirty players have already signified their intention of joining. On Saturday first the team, to be known as the "Scottish Amateurs" will make their debut at Helensburgh, where they tackle the local combination of that name. The following will play for the Amateurs:- Anderson (Dunoon); Graham (West of Scotland Rugby FC) and Smellie (QP); Robertson (St Bernards and QP), Jones (Blair Lodge and QP); and D Stewart (QP, who has now completely recovered); A Stewart (Third Lanark and QP),W Berry (QP), Gray (Motherwell), Howie (QPS), and Cooper (Blair Lodge and West of Scotland Rugby FC). Among others who have thrown in their lot are Waddell and Sillars (QP).
It is an impressive, if eclectic, list of recruits, including several Scotland internationalists as well as Humphrey Jones of Wales, who was teaching at Blair Lodge school in Polmont.
Following their fortunes is hit-and-miss as, being an amateur side only playing friendlies, not all their results are reported and team lines are rarely given. But while the Scottish Amateurs never reached anything close to the fame of the Corinthians, they did keep going for a number of years, possibly up to the outbreak of the First World War.
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