AMATEURS SPONSORED BY IRN-BRU

Queen's Park 2 Arbroath 1 was not a score to grab the attention of many today, but when you know that the game would have been played at Hampden Park, the home of Queen's Park, then it becomes a little more interesting.

The QPark players are amateurs and play for a club that has been at the forefront of Association Football since their formation in 1867. The club was at the centre of the foundation of the Scottish FA and organised the first ever international between Scotland and England under association rules. QPark supplied all the players for that very first match on 30th November 1872.

The club had a very intricate scheme of playing, mixing the "English" dribbling game to a clever passing game. The Scots adopted this early on.

The team wore their club jerseys which were dark blue, the same colour worn by the national side today. Over 4,000 watched a 0-0 draw!

QPark also entered the English FA Cup in its first year 1872, entering the tournament at the semi-final stage! They drew with the Wanderers but were unable to afford the journey to London for the replay, so they scratched. The club did get to the final twice in 1884 and 1885, losing to Blackburn Rovers, who in those days were the top team.

The following year the Scottish FA Cup was started with QPark as founder members. On October 25th 1873, the club played their first game in the Cup and this was held at Hampden Park, the first of three stadia to bear that name. They introduced the famous black and white hooped shirts, giving them the nickname, The Spiders. They beat Dumbreck 7-0 and won the cup in its inaugural season.

The club travelled abroad to promote the game and established Cliftonville FC in Ireland after their tour in 1879. A year later the Irish FA was formed.

QPark also introduced rigid crossbars, the concept of half time and free kicks, all of which were adopted by the modern game.

When the Scottish League was formed in 1890, QPark did not join, regarding such competition as detrimental to the development of football; inevitably they gradually became "frozen out". So they joined up in 1900 and reached the Cup Final once again. The club survived their first season in the League, in the First Division, and were given dispensation not to be relegated should they come bottom of the division; in fact they came 8th out of 11.

However, some of their players were being poached and the FA ruled that no QPark player was to be approached by another club until April 30th each year, the end of the season. That rule still stands.

By 1921-2 the dispensation was lifted as the club came 22nd out of 22 in the First Division and they dropped down. BUT they quickly bounced back playing their well branded football and stayed in the top flight up to the start of WW2.

If I said that Alex Ferguson and Andy Roxburgh began their careers at Queen's Park then you can see that the club has given Scottish and indeed World football quite a legacy.

The club is sponsored by IRN-BRU-bit ironic since they are "amateurs". Their badge states Laudere Causa Ludendi-Playing for the Sake of Playing.. Pass me a can...