Lybster
Full nameLybster Football Club
Founded1887
GroundCow Park[1]
LeagueCaithness Amateur Football Association

Lybster Football Club is a football club from Lybster in Caithness, Scotland.

History

The club was founded in 1887 under the name Portland, often rendered as Portland Lybster, taking the name from the Duke of Portland, who owned an estate at Lybster,[2] and who donated £1 to the club in 1891.[3] Its first match was a defeat to local rivals Dunbeath in the Black Park March 1887.[4] William Alexander Mackay, the founder of Recreativo F.C., was a native of Lybster.[5]

The club joined the Scottish Football Association as a senior club in 1889.[6] This entitled the club to enter the Scottish Cup, which caused immediate problems because of its geographical isolation;[7] its first round opponents in the 1889–90 Scottish Cup, the original Aberdeen club, protested to the Scottish FA because of the distance it would have to travel.[8] Portland instead scratched from the competition, allegedly in return for a "consideration".[9]

The club entered the competition again in 1890–91 and was given a bye in the first round.[10] The club was drawn to visit Inverness Caledonian in the second and again scratched, unable to afford the journey.[11] Understandably, the club did not enter the competition again.

Despite the club's seniority, it was not allowed into the first Caithness County League in 1927 because the club's pitch was in too poor a state.[12] It did however join the League after World War 2 and won the title in 1954–55, 1955–56, and 1957–58.[13] It has been known simply as Lybster since at least 2009.

Colours

The club's original colours were blue and white striped shirts with white knickers,[14] which are its current colours.[15] Its other colours over the years include white shirts, navy shorts, and black socks in the 1950s,[16] and claret shirts with blue sleeves, claret shorts, and white socks in 1975.[17]

Ground

The club's original ground was at Back Park, until in 1925 it was developed into a golf course, and the club moved into Cow Park on the other side of Village Street.[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Lybster v Thurso Swifts". Facebook. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  2. ↑ Scottish Amateur Football Association (2009). 100 Lions - 100 Years. Glasgow: SAFA. p. 34.
  3. ↑ "Local and general news". John O'Groat Journal: 4. 18 August 1891.
  4. ↑ "Football match". John O'Groats Journal: 5. 4 May 1887.
  5. ↑ Leslie, Matt (13 July 2018). "Don of Spanish football forged Caithness link". John O'Groat Journal.
  6. ↑ Scottish FA Minutes 1887–90. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 20 August 1889. p. 170.
  7. ↑ "Athletic Jottings". Glasgow Evening Post: 2. 23 August 1889.
  8. ↑ "Football". John O'Groat Journal: 4. 3 September 1889.
  9. ↑ "The footballing pioneers of rural Caithness". John O'Groat Journal. 27 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Scottish Association Committee". Glasgow Herald: 9. 20 August 1890.
  11. ↑ "Lybster". John O'Groat Journal: 6. 23 September 1890.
  12. ↑ Scottish Amateur Football Association (2009). 100 Lions - 100 Years. Glasgow: SAFA. p. 34.
  13. ↑ "The footballing pioneers of rural Caithness". John O'Groat Journal. 27 September 2020.
  14. ↑ M'Dowall, John (1891). Scottish Football Annual 1891–92. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 97.
  15. ↑ "Lybster v Keiss". Facebook. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  16. ↑ Hendry, Alan (26 March 2023). "Taxi Charity pays tribute to Lybster's Normandy veteran Robbie Larnach". Northern Times.
  17. ↑ "Lybster Football Club 1975". flickr. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  18. ↑ Scottish Amateur Football Association (2009). 100 Lions - 100 Years. Glasgow: SAFA. p. 34.
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