Queen's Park F.C.

:"Not to be confused with English football club Queens Park Rangers F.C. or the Welsh football club Gap Queens Park F.C..

Football club infobox
clubname = Queen's Park


fullname = Queen's Park Football Club
nickname = The Spiders, The Hoops
founded = July 9 1867
ground = Hampden Park, Glasgow
capacity = 52,500
chairman = flagicon|Scotland G. M. Templeman
manager = Gardner Speirs
league = Scottish Second Division
season = 2007-08
position = Scottish Second Division, 8th
Kit Manufacturer = Joma Record Victory: 16-0; vs St Peters Record Defeat: 0-9; vs Motherwell Record Attendance: 95,772; vs Rangers|pattern_la1=_thin_black_hoops|pattern_b1=_inch_blackhoops|pattern_ra1=_thin_black_hoops
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=_thinorangesides|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=0000FF|body2=0000FF|rightarm2=0000FF|shorts2=0000FF|socks2=0000FF

Queen's Park Football Club is a famous football club based in Glasgow, Scotland , and is the oldest association football club in Scotland [http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_football.cfm?curpageid=420] , founded in 1867, and thus the oldest outside of England and Wales. The club is steeped with much history and tradition, and remains the only amateur club in the Scottish League. The club's home is one of 29 UEFA five-star stadia, the all-seated Hampden Park in south east Glasgow, which is also the home of the Scottish national team. Queen's Park have won the Scottish Cup the third most amount of times, behind Rangers and Celtic.The club's amateur status is reflected by their motto, “Ludere Causa Ludendi” - to play for the sake of playing.

History

Queen's Park, also known as "The Hoops" and "The Spiders", were founded on 9 July 1867, and are the oldest in Scottish Football. Queen's Park had soon developed its own code of rules for football. The club has historically resisted professionalism in the game; former professional players from other clubs were not allowed to play for Queen's Park and in 1890 the club refused to join the newly-formed Scottish League. The club also feared the League would dominate the game and cause the demise of smaller clubs. Six of the founder members of the League soon went out of existence. Queen's Park were however being left behind by the League, so in 1900 they took up the opportunity to enter. Special favours were granted by the League; not only were they the only amateur members, they were also protected from relegation to the Second Division until 1922.

The club has twice finished runner-up, both times to Blackburn Rovers, in the English national competition, the FA Cup. This was in 1884 and 1885. Such was the club's dominance in the early days of football that it did not concede a goal until January 16, 1875, 8 years after the club's formation.

Since World War II the club has been comparatively unsuccessful, rarely playing in the top division and failing to make a big impression when it did. Only since the 1990s have former professional players been allowed to play for the club, thus allowing many of the higher quality players to play for Queen's Park. Only under the influence of coach John McCormack did the club management allow players to come on loan from professional clubs. Although still amateur, the managers are now paid "honorariums".

Their stay in the SFL Second Division lasted only one season on that occasion and were relegated back to the basement division of Scottish Football for season 2001/02.

Coach McCormack lost most of his star turns from the previous two seasons as Queen's Park were forced to call on an extremely young squad to tackle the rigours of Division Three football. Queen's failed to win a match until November 2001 when Spiders won 1-0 against East Stirlingshire thanks to a goal from young striker John Gemmell at Firs Park. The form overall was poor and after a 1-1 draw with Dumbarton at New Boghead on the last day of the season Queen's finished bottom of the Scottish League structure for the first time in their illustrious history.2002/03 started with a 1-0 win over new entrants to the league Gretna in the Challenge Cup 1st Round at Hampden which began a fantastic run in the competition. Second Division sides Forfar and Berwick were dumped out of the cup in dramatic away fixtures before the run ended against Dick Campbell's Brechin City as City won 4-3 at Hampden in a dramatic October cup tie. Manager John McCormack left in November and was replaced by caretakers Paul Martin and David Hunter who led the club to a fine run in the division to take Queen's Park off the bottom, the pinaccle a Scottish Cup 2nd Round win over rivals Albion Rovers at Cliftonhill thanks to goals from Willie Martin and Jimmy Allan. New boss Kenny Brannigan was in charge by mid February and results took a sharp dip, his first match ended in the embarrassment of losing to East Stirlingshire at Hampden by 4-3 despite John Gemmell scoring twice within the first five minutes. Queen's did however regain form towards the end of the season and manage an 8th placed finish in the league.

2003/04 began with hopes of a stab at promotion and good form near the beginning of the season added fuel to these hopes. Kenny Brannigan convinced ex player Frankie Carroll to return to Hampden along with new signings, Ally Graham and Stevie Reilly and it was Frankie who was vital in a 1-1 opening day draw at moneybags Gretna scoring a 95th minute equaliser. One of the clubs best results in recent years followed as First Division Inverness were dumped out of the CIS Insurance League Cup by 2-1, goals coming from new boys Graham and Reilly. Results continued in a similar vein before a 2-0, October 4th, defeat to Peterhead marked the beginning of a horrific run which saw Spiders go without a win until the 6th December when a double from top scorer Stephen McAulay and one from Graham gave Queen's a comfortable 3-0 win over Shire at Hampden Park. The second half of the season was very much a poor one for Queen's, except one bright spot, the emergence of 16 year old striker Derek Carcary. The wee man took Spiders season by the scruff of the neck and his 5 goals and countless assists were instrumental in Spiders securing 7th place in the league, just above rivals Albion Rovers on goal difference.

He left to Glasgow giants Rangers in July before Queen's season began in a flurry. Only two league games in and after some performances which had shown signs of progress Kenny Brannigan resigned after an altercation with a supporter during a match at Elgin City on the 12th August as we lost 1-0. One of the darkest moments in Queen's history proved to be helpful however, as it did allow the Queen's committee to bring in new boss Billy Stark before a league match against league favourites Gretna at Hampden. Three goals in the last ten minutes from Frankie Carroll, Bryan Felvus and Stuart Kettlewell had Spiders fans in dreamland as QP recorded a 3-2 win against all odds. Stark had Spiders playing some fantastic football and in that midweek we narrowly lost out on penalty kicks to Forfar Athletic at Station Park in the Challenge Cup 2nd Round, but it was a fine performance from the Hoops. Queen's passing was fantastic for the remainder of the year and the best performance came in a travesty of a 1-0 defeat at Stranraer in the Scottish Cup 2nd Round. Despite dominating the game a fine performance from Stranraer keeper Andy McCondichie kept Queen's out despite veteran Paul Harvey putting in a masterclass. We somehow lost, to Stevie Swift's late diving header. That game summed up the 2nd half of Queen's Park's season, fine football, lots of chances, but not enough goals. Spiders' top scorer that season was Frankie Carroll with 19 goals, he could have scored 50, and that was why Queen's were nowhere near 2nd placed Peterhead in the end up finishing 4th instead after a 1-0 defeat at Cowdenbeath on the final day of the season. Which was another game which Queen's should have won handsomely.

2005/06 began optimistically, but despite a long run at 4th place in the division, Queen's Park eventually finished 6th, thereby missing a place in the playoffs. Furthermore, in 2005/06 Queen's suffered two of their worst ever results, a 3-2 Scottish Cup defeat to non league Spartans in January and a 6-0 defeat at Cowdenbeath's Central Park in February.

Spiders enjoyed a fruitful pre season training camp in German town Wattenscheid before returning to Scotland with real promotion hopes once again for season 2006/07. The season began with a disheartening 3-0 loss to Arbroath at Hampden but a shock CIS Insurance Cup 1st Round win over Hamilton Accies at Hampden boosted spirits. Queen's went on a fantastic 5 game unbeaten run including that success as Elgin City, Dumbarton and SPL outfit Aberdeen were put to the sword. The Aberdeen match one of the greatest League Cup shocks of all time and one of the greatest results in Queen's long illustrious history. Our form was poor in the most part after that until a 2-1 win over Arbroath on the 14th October revived Queen's promotion hopes. A five game winning run was then established as Elgin (3v0), Berwick (1v0), Albion Rovers (2v1) and Montrose (3v0) were beaten. The turning point from this however was a Scottish Cup 2nd Round replay at Hampden Park where Queen's lost 2-1 to Brechin which sparked a poor run. After a 2-0 win at East Stirling however, This inspired Queen's onto a record breaking run of 8 clean sheets and 9 consecutive wins which ended with a 1-0 defeat to East Fife on 7th April 2007. Queens thus qualified for the playoffs, and won promotion to the Second Division after a 7-2 aggregate win over East Fife in the final.

One of the club's most famous results in recent years came on 22 August 2006 in the third round of the CIS Insurance League Cup, with Queen's Park defeating SPL side Aberdeen on penalties 5-3, having held out at 0-0 for 120 minutes. The same team went on to seal promotion via the Second Division Play Offs after defeating Arbroath in the first leg and Hampden 2-0 with two late goals from David Weatherston and an 96th minute penalty from Alan Trouten the second leg finished 2-1 to Queen's David Weatherston and Alan Trouten putting Queen's 2-0 ahead at half time Paul Tosh with the reply for Arbroath.

Support

The Spiders' support is known for being vociferous, especially during away games, where the loyal support gets behind their team, win, lose or draw. For a relatively 'small' club, the fans take impressively strong numbers on their travels, usually more to local games (see Rivals section). Some of the Spiders' support call themselves the "Irn Bru Firm" and currently share an enjoyable relationship with supporters of German club SG Wattenscheid 09. This friendship resulted in Queen's spending their pre-season for season 2006/07 in the small German town.

Queen's Park Supporters' Association (QPSA)

The Queen's Park Supporters' Association was founded over fifty years ago to help bring together people that share a common interest in the Queen's Park Football Club. In recent years membership has increased steadily, with supporters now registered throughout the world. As well as providing a channel to keep members informed of activities in and around Hampden, the association generates income which in turn goes towards helping to maintain the various activities within the club such as donations toward the youth set-up, club website or acknowledging the service of past and present players.

Running a club shop on match days and providing supporters' buses to away grounds as well as organising social events, are only some examples of the work the Association carries out every season.

The success of the Q.P.S.A is such that a [http://www.queensparkfc.co.uk/Qpsa_Young_Spiders.htm special section] for the younger supporters has been established.

Contact for the Supporters' Association and the Souvenir Shop is at:[e-mail]

Famous supporters

* [http://www.queensparkfc.co.uk/Extra_Time/Dinner(1).htmThe late Bob Crampsey] , respected football and sport historian, writes the column 'Now You Know' in the "Evening Times" every Wednesday.

Stadium

Queen's Park at Hampden

'Hampden' is one of the homes of football and celebrated its centenary on October 31 2003. The stadium also houses the offices of the Scottish Football Association.

Hampden Park was the largest stadium in the world until 1950, when the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro was completed. After the release of the Taylor Report in the wake of the Hillsborough disaster, among other football tragedies, Hampden Park was converted to an all-seater. The current capacity is about 52,500, although Queen's Park's average attendance per match is around 450.

The crowd who came to see football matches at Hampden were renowned for creating the "Hampden Roar". The noise created was said to terrify opposing teams who came to play there. In recent times the roar has said to be more muted, with the capacity of the stadium being reduced from its heyday.

Outside of Hampden Park sits a smaller, much lesser known ground with a bizarre and interesting history. This small part of footballing history is called Lesser Hampden.

First Team Squad

Non-playing Staff

*Hon. Patron: Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden KT.
*President: J. Hastie
*Treasurer: D. Gordon
*Committee: R. Caven, A. K. C. Harvey, J. M. Hastie, A. S. Hutchison, M. D. Mackay, K. McAllister, D. McNeil, J. Nicholson.
*Club Secretary: A. MacKay
*Club Chaplain: Reverend Hugh Wallace
*Office Staff: Mrs. J. Balmain, Mrs. S. Kennedy
*QPSA Secretary: K. McAllister
*QPFC Society President: G. Simpson
*1st XI Coach: G.Speirs
*Strollers' Coach: David McCallum
*Assistant: R. Dickson
*Adviser: T. Wilson
*1st XI Team Captain: Richard Sinclair
*Coaching Staff: R. Kelly, K. MacKenzie, C. McCarry
*Youth Administrator: I. Cairns
*QP Ladies' Team Coaching Staff: D. Wilson, V. Bryson, C. Rose, L. Jackson
*Goalkeeping Coach: R. Cant
*Club Doctor: A.S Hutchison
*Physios: R. C. Findlay, A. Myles
*Kit Manager: A. Rhodes
*Groundsmen: S. Bache, S. McCreadie
*Matchday Programme: D. B. Stirling, L. Taylor
*Media Team: D. McNeil, D. B. Stirling, L. Taylor

League Record

In recent years, the Spiders have swayed between Division Two and Division Three, but failing to make an impact on Division Two during the seasons they reached there.

League highlights

*1889-1900: Elected to Scottish Football League First Division
*1905-1906: Earn bottom position but are not relegated
*1910-1911: Earn bottom position but are not relegated
*1912-1913: Earn bottom position but are not relegated
*1914-1915: Earn bottom position but are not relegated
*1921-1922: Earn 21st out of 22; relegated to Scottish Football League Second Division
*1922-1923: Win Second Division championship; promoted to First Division
*1938-1939: Earn 19th out of 20; relegated to Second Division, but relegation suspended due to World War II
*1947-1948: Earn bottom position; relegated to Second Division
*1955-1956: Win Second Division championship; promoted to First Division
*1957-1958: Earn bottom position; relegated to Second Division
*1974-1975: League restructuring; remain in Second Division, which is actually third level
*1980-1981: Win Second Division championship; promoted to new First Division
*1982-1983: Earn bottom position; relegated to Second Division
*1993-1994: League restructuring; form new Scottish Football League Third Division
*1999-2000: Win Third Division championship; promoted to Second Division
*2000-2001: Earn 9th out of 10; relegated to Third Division
*2006-2007: Earn 3rd out of 10; promoted to Second Division via playoffs

Recent rankings

:Pos = Position; P = Played; W = Won; D = Drawn; L = Lost; F = Goals For; A = Goals Against; Pts = Points; * = Season Not Yet Finished;

Notable players

* Charles Campbell, former midfielder who won 8 Scottish Cup medals and captained the club in the 1884 and 1885 FA Cup finals.
* Ronnie Simpson, goalkeeper in the famous 1967 European Cup-winning Celtic team (the Lisbon Lions).
* Robert W Gardner, Scotland's very first team captain.
* Alex Ferguson, started his career at Queen's Park, later manager of Manchester United
* Malky MacKay, Scotland cap; currently playing for Watford
* Simon Donnelly, Scotland cap and ex-Celtic player.
* John Lambie, who still holds the record as the youngest Scotland player and captain of all time.
* Andrew Watson, was the world's first black international football player.
* Alan Morton, was a diminutive Scottish international footballer and "Wembley Wizard".
* Jack Harkness, was a Scottish international goalkeeper and "Wembley Wizard" while with Queens Park.
* Robert Smith McColl, one of Queen's Park's greatest ever players, leading to a long, successful career with the Spiders, Scotland and beyond. Better known in the modern day for his newsagent establishment, RS McColl's.
* Ian McCall, currently manager of Partick Thistle F.C.
* Andy Roxburgh, manager of the Scottish national team during 1986-1993
* Bobby Brown, Scotland goalkeeper and manager
* Mustafa Mansour, Egyptian goalkeeper at the 1934 FIFA World Cup, played for Queens Park between 1937 and 1939.
* Aiden McGeady, Played in the Queen's Park youth system before signing for Celtic.

Rivals

Despite being located midway between Celtic and Rangers, Queen's Park's long resistance to professionalism has resulted in not having competed in the same division as them for long periods of time, and thus turning to rivals in lower divisions, such as Partick Thistle, Clyde and Albion Rovers.

Trivia

* Queen's Park have won the Scottish Cup ten times. Only local rivals Rangers F.C and Celtic F.C. have won more cups.
* During the inaugural meeting, debate raged over the club's name. Proposals included: 'The Celts'; 'The Northern' and 'Morayshire'. Perhaps such choice of names suggest a Highland influence within the new club. After much deliberation, 'Queen's Park' was adopted and carried, but only by a majority of one vote.
* The Scotland team at the first "official" football international consisted entirely of players from Queen's Park FC. This match between Scotland and England was the brainchild of C. W. Alcock and took place in Glasgow on November 30 1872. During the match the Scottish players wore their club jerseys, which were dark blue, and this has remained the first-choice kit for the Scotland national team to this day. Contrary to the club's official website, this match was played under the Football Association rules (which had been first written in 1863).
* In the early days of England's FA Cup, Scottish clubs were often invited to compete. As a result, Queen's Park twice finished runners-up in this competition, in 1884, when they lost 2-1 to Blackburn Rovers and in 1885, when they lost 2-0, again to Blackburn Rovers. This was the last time that they entered the FA Cup competition.
* After Queen's Park's tour of Ireland in 1879, it produced so much excitement that the first Irish club, Cliftonville, was founded.
* At Lesser Hampden the old farmhouse used for dressing rooms for the Queen's Park reserves and youth had originally been earmarked for demolition, but this was never carried out, reputedly making it the oldest football related building in existence.
* Queen's Park has the distinction of being the first Scottish club to feature on television. The date was March 1951, when they played a televised friendly match against the famous London amateur side, Walthamstow Avenue F.C. The Spiders won the game 2-0, courtesy of a Derek Grierson double.
* Queens Park and Scotland captain Jack Gardner presented a short film 'Scotland For Fitness - Football Training' in 1938. One of a group of seven documentaries made for the 1938 Empire Exhibition under the supervision of John Grierson, the film was part of a campaign to improve the fitness of the Scots. It can be seen on the [http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/scotlandonfilm/media_clips/clip_display.shtml?topic=leisure&subtopic=sport&clip_name=football_training_v&media_type=video BBC Scotland web site] .

Milestones

Date of formation:
9 July 1867

Most capped player:Walter Arnott (14 caps)

Most League points in a season:57 (Division 2 - season 1922/23) *2 points for a win69 (3rd Division - season 1999/00) *3 points for a win

Most League goals scored by a player in a season: William Martin (30 goals - season 1937/38)

Record Queen's Park victory:16-0 -v- St Peters (Scottish Cup, 29 August 1885)

Record Queen's Park defeat:0-9 -v- Motherwell (Division 1, 29 April 1930)

Record attendance:

For Hampden:149,415 - Scotland v England, 13 April 1937. "This is the record for the largest official attendance at a football match in Britain, though The 1923 FA Cup Final is much higher."

For Queen's Park:95,722 v Rangers (Scottish Cup 1st Round, 18 January 1930).

Honours

*Scottish League First Division Known as second division prior to 1975] :
**Winners (2): 1922-23, 1955-56

*Scottish Second Division:
**Winners (1): 1980-81

*Scottish Third Division:
**Winners (1): 1999-00
**Play-off Winners (1): 2006-07

*Scottish Cup:
**Winners (10): 1873-74, 1874-75, 1875-76, 1879-80, 1880-81, 1881-82, 1883-84, 1885-86, 1889-90, 1892-93
**Runners-up (2): 1891-92, 1899-00

*Glasgow Cup:
**Winners (4): 1889, 1890, 1899, 1946
**Runners-up (7): 1896, 1898, 1929, 1932, 1940, 1965, 1985

* FA Cup:
**Runners-up (2): 1883-84, 1884-85

*Sheriff of London Charity Shield
**Winners (1): 1899

*Glasgow League:
**Winners (1): 1897
**Runners-up (1): 1898

*Charity Cup:
**Winners (8): 1877, 1878, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1891
**Runners up (19): 1889, 1890, 1894, 1896, 1906, 1908, 1917, 1919, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1926, 1928, 1931, 1933, 1935, 1937, 1953, 1957

References

External links

;Official Website
* [http://www.queensparkfc.co.uk/ Official website]

;Unofficial Website
* [http://www.spiderstalk.com/ Spiders Talk - A Forum For Queen's Park Fans] ;News sites
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/q/queens_park/default.stm BBC Queen's Park]