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Monkcastle F.C.

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Monkcastle
Full nameMonkcastle Football Club
Nickname(s)the Monks[1][2]
Founded1883
Dissolved1900
GroundClaremont Park
SecretaryJames S. Morgan, J. Andrews
Originalcolours
Final colours

Monkcastle Football Clubwas afootballclub which existed from 1883 to 1900, in the town ofKilwinning,Ayrshire,Scotland.

History

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The club's last first round tie: a 6–1 defeat toKing's Parkin 1892–93, Glasgow Herald, 28 November 1892

The club was formed in 1883[3]and was named after a district in Kilwinning which containedan old abbey.It was founded by employees of Howie's Iron Foundry in Kilwinning[4]and occasionally referred to asKilwinning Monkcastle.[5]The Monks joined the Ayrshire Association soon after foundation and played in theAyrshire Cupfor the first time in 1883–84,[6]losing in the second round.

National competitions

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In 1885, the club joined theScottish Football Association,[7]and entered the1885–86 Scottish Cup.In the first round, the club lost 3–0 atLanemarkin a match spoilt by a high wind,[8]but Monkcastle protested on the basis that Lanemark had not registered one D. Brown in time.[9]The Scottish FA ordered a replay at Claremont, which the Monks won 2–0, thanks to second half goals from the Morgan brothers.[10]In the second round,Ayrwent 4–0 up at Claremont before the Monks scored two late consolations due to their "fine passing".[11]Lanemark gained a revenge in the1886–87 Scottish Cupwith an undisputed first round win.[12]

The club did not play at a senior level from 1887 to 1890, only entering local competitions; it scratched from its1887–88 Scottish Cupfirst round tie and was thrown off the senior roll for non-payment of subscriptions in August 1888.[13]However the club was re-admitted in 1890[14]and on its return to senior football had its best Scottish Cup run in its first season back. Wins atPort Glasgow Athletic[15]andDalry[16]meant the club made the third round for the only time in its history - Dalry's protest about Monkcastle not hosting the match at its registered ground was unanimously dismissed.[17]At that stage it lost heavily at home toBurnbank Swifts,despite taking the lead.[18]

In 1891–92 theScottish Football Associationintroduced qualifying rounds, with the bigger clubs exempted until the first round proper. Monkcastle won its way through to that stage in both1891–92and1892–93,losing in the first round both times; the club's most notable victim in the preliminary rounds wasMortonin the third round in 1891, whom the club unexpectedly beat 4–2, scoring four in the first half, the first of J. Morgan's two goals being described as "a beauty".[19]The club continued to enter the Cup, and then theScottish Qualifying Cupafter its introduction in 1895, but did not play in the first round proper again.

Local competitions

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The club's finest achievement: winning the North Ayrshire Cup, Glasgow Herald, 17 May 1897

Monkcastle struggled because of the strength of football in Ayrshire. In the Ayrshire Cup, the club did not get past the second round until 1891–92. That season, it reached the quarter-final, and beatStevenston Thistleostensibly to reach the semi-final, but a protest overturned the result and Thistle won the replay.[20]It was the only time the club reached that stage.

The rise of theScottish Leagueand alternative competitions was also a blow to the club, especially after the larger sidesKilmarnockand Ayr were recruited to membership, further reducing opportunities to play lucrative friendlies or Cup ties. TheAyrshire Leaguewas set up in 1891 to help in this regard, and the Monks played in its first three seasons, but struggled, and finished dead last in 1893–94. The club then took the decision to join theAyrshire Combination,which was ostensibly for the stronger clubs in the county, and in its first season (1894–95) the Monks registered 1 point in 16 games. Paradoxically, this launched the club's most successful seasons. In 1895–96, Monkcastle rose to second in the table, ahead of future League clubAyr Parkhouse,and in 1896–97 it won the North Ayrshire Cup, played for the first time on a group plus final basis. The Monks had come out top of the table ahead of Steventon Thistle, and beat the Thistle in the title play-off.

The Ayrshire Combination only lasted one more season and Monkcastle did not come close to winning the North Ayrshire again. It disbanded in 1900, because of mounting debts, and the loss of the club president, who had defected toKilwinning Eglinton.[21]The last record of the club on the national stage was its being drawn at home toGalstonin the Qualifying Cup in 1900–01.[22]The same season the club drew a bye in the first round of the county cup, but withdraw rather than face Eglinton in the second.

Colours

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The club's colours were originally ¾ "black and white hooped jerseys and dark shorts.[23]

In 1890 the club changed to blue and white vertical stripes[24]and in 1893 the club changed again to black and gold.[25]

Grounds

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The club played at Claremont Park, off Union Road.[26]

Honours

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  • North Ayrshire Cup
    • Winners:1896–97
    • Runners-up:1894–95
  • Ayrshire Combination
    • Runners-up:1895–96

Notable players

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  • James Allan,capped for Scotland in 1886–87[27]John Allan of Monkcastle F.C. finished second in the Scottish 880 yard championship of1888.[28]
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References

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  1. ^"Football".Irvine Express:8. 25 September 1885.
  2. ^"Ayrshire League Championship".Irvine Herald:7. 29 April 1892.
  3. ^M'Dowall, John (1883).Scottish Football Association Annual 1883-84.Glasgow: W. Weatherston. p. 61.
  4. ^McDowell, Matthew (2010). "The origins, patronage and culture of association football in the west of Scotland".University of Glasgow PhD Thesis:85.
  5. ^"Ardrossan Ensign v Kilwinning Monkcastle".Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald.30 December 1887.
  6. ^"Ayrshire Football Association".Ayrshire Post:4. 7 September 1883.
  7. ^Scottish FA Minutes 1884–7.Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 25 August 1885. p. 109.
  8. ^"Cumnock & District News".Ayr Observer:7. 18 September 1885.
  9. ^Scottish FA Minutes 1884–7.Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 20 September 1885. p. 118.
  10. ^"Monkcastle v Lanemark (Scottish Cup)".Irvine Herald:3. 3 October 1885.
  11. ^"Monkcastle v Ayr".Irvine Herald:2. 10 October 1885.
  12. ^"Lanemark (Cumnock) v Monkcastle".Glasgow Herald:10. 13 September 1886.
  13. ^Scottish FA Minutes 1887–90.Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 21 August 1888. p. 55.
  14. ^Scottish FA Minutes 1887–90.Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 19 August 1890. p. 273.
  15. ^"Port-Glasgow Athletic v Monkcastle (Kilwinning)".Glasgow Herald:10. 8 September 1890.
  16. ^"Scottish Association Challenge Cup".North British Daily Mail:3. 29 September 1890.
  17. ^"Scottish Football Association".Lothian Courier:6. 11 October 1890.
  18. ^"Football notes".Rutherglen Reformer:6–7. 24 October 1890.
  19. ^"Monkcastle v Morton".Irvine Herald:6. 23 October 1891.
  20. ^"Stevenston Thistle v Kilwinning Monkcastle".Irvine Herald:6. 1 January 1892.
  21. ^Dickson, Neil (Spring 2003). "A few notes on old Kilwinning Town and the biography of Robert Morrison, Crosshouse".Ayrshire Notes(24): 15.
  22. ^"Scottish Football Association".Dundee Courier:3. 15 August 1900.
  23. ^M'Dowall, John (1883).Scottish Football Association Annual 1883-84.Glasgow: W. Weatherston. p. 61.
  24. ^McDowall, John (1890).Scottish Football Annual 1890–91.Hay Nisbet. p. 93.
  25. ^M'Dowall, John (1893).Scottish Football Annual 1893–94.Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 86.
  26. ^M'Dowall, John (1883).Scottish Football Association Annual 1883-84.Glasgow: W. Weatherston. p. 61.
  27. ^Dickson, Neil (Spring 2003). "A few notes on old Kilwinning Town and the biography of Robert Morrison, Crosshouse".Ayrshire Notes(24): 15.
  28. ^Scottish Athletics 1883-1983,John W. Keddie (1982)


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