List of Scottish football clubs in the FA Cup

This is a list of appearances by Scottish football clubs in the FA Cup. The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout competition in English association football. It is the oldest football competition in the world, having commenced in 1871.cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/greg_lalas/09/04/open.cup/index.html|title=Open up and say ... Ahhhh!|author=Greg Lalas|publisher=Sports Illustrated|accessdate=2007-09-04|date=2008-05-15] Although the Cup is organised by The Football Association, the governing body of the sport in England, and is open only to clubs playing in FA-affiliated leagues in the modern era, all of which are based in England,cite web|url=http://www.thefa.com/NR/rdonlyres/EAB1CE14-3F47-4B83-A8EB-B364E6CF8BC0/117862/FACupRules200708.pdf|title=Rules of the FA Challenge Cup Competition|publisher=The Football Association|accessdate=2008-05-15] a number of teams from Scotland have also entered, primarily in the competition's early years.

The first Scottish club to enter was Queen's Park, who accepted an invitation to take part in the very first competition after a number of the clubs which had originally entered withdrew. The Glasgow team were by far the dominant force in Scottish football, and no other team had even managed to score a goal against them. [Cite book|last=Soar|first=Phil|coauthors=Martin Tyler|title=Encyclopedia of British Football|date=1983|publisher=Willow Books|id=ISBN 0-0021-8049-9|pages=p.64] Because of a combination of byes and the withdrawal of opponents, "Queen's" reached the semi-finals without playing a match, but after holding Wanderers to a draw the Scottish club was forced to withdraw as the funds could not be raised to return for a replay.Cite book|last=Soar|first=Phil|coauthors=Martin Tyler|title=Encyclopedia of British Football|pages=p. 154] The following season Queen's entered the competition again and, to ease the travelling expenses required to take part in a competition in which virtually every other team was based in the home counties, were afforded byes all the way to the semi-finals. At this stage the club was drawn against Oxford University, whereupon the Scots withdrew from the competition, although one account states that Queen's in fact beat Oxford only to then withdraw as the team could not afford to travel to London for the final. In 1873, the newly-formed Scottish Football Association launched the Scottish Cup,cite web|url=http://fchd.info/cups/scottishcup1873-74.htm|title=Scottish Cup 1873–74|publisher=The Football Club History Database|accessdate=2008-05-14] but Queen's Park continued to enter the FA Cup draw, although for unknown reasons the club withdrew each time without playing.

In 1883, Queen's returned to the FA Cup and reached the final, scoring resounding wins over Crewe Alexandra (10–0) and Manchester F.C. (15–0) en route, only to be defeated by Blackburn Rovers. The match against Manchester was the first FA Cup tie to be staged in Scotland, hosted at Titwood, the home of Clydesdale CC. [cite book |last=James |first=Gary |title=Manchester – A Football History |publisher=James Ward |location=Halifax |date=2008 |id=ISBN 978-0-9558127-0-5 |pages= p. 37] A year later Queens met Blackburn Rovers in the final once again, with the English team again emerging victorious. The 1885–86 competition saw the first participation by other Scottish clubs, as Queen's were joined by Partick Thistle, Third Lanark, Rangers and Heart of Midlothian, although the latter two withdrew without playing a match. These clubs all returned for the 1886–87 competition, along with newcomers Renton and Cowlairs.

In 1887, the Scottish Football Association banned its members from taking any further part in the FA Cup. [cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/sports_talk/1179349.stm|title=Ask Albert – Number 5|publisher=BBC Sport|accessdate=2008-05-13|date=2001-02-19] No more Scottish clubs participated until Gretna F.C. entered the competition in the 1980s. Because the town of Gretna is located extremely close to the border, the local football club had opted to play in the English football league system and by the 1980s had reached the Northern Premier League, making the team eligible to enter the FA Cup. Gretna played in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup for nineteen seasons, making the first round proper twice, until the club joined the Scottish Football League in 2002.cite web|url=http://www.fchd.info/GRETNA.HTM|title=Gretna|publisher=The Football Club History Database|accessdate=2008-05-13]

Performance of Scottish clubs by season

References