Carfin Rovers F.C.
{{short description|Former association football club in Scotland}}
{{infobox football club
|clubname =Carfin Rovers
|image =
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|fullname =
|nickname =Rovers, the Dandy Dandy
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|founded =1897
|dissolved =1899
|ground = Beechgrove Park
|capacity =
|owntitle =Hon. Secretary
|owner =
|chrtitle = Match Secretary
|chairman = Hughie Clifford, Philip M'Mahon
|ceo =
|mgrtitle = Captain
|manager =
|league =
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|pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=|pattern_so1=|leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=000000|socks1=FFFFFF
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Carfin Rovers F.C. was an association football club from Carfin in Lanarkshire, active in the late 19th century.
History
The club was formed in 1897, "from the ashes" of the Carfin Shamrock club.{{cite journal |title=Lanarkshire notes |journal=Scottish Referee |date=13 August 1897 |page=2}} The media often referred to the club more simply as Carfin.
Rovers joined the Scottish Football Association that August,{{cite journal |title=Scottish Football Association |journal=Edinburgh Evening News |date=4 August 1897 |page=7}} Its side for its first Scottish Qualifying Cup tie in 1897–98, at home to Albion Rovers, contained Hughie Clifford and William Mason, both of whom had been players at Shamrock, plus Thomas and Galloway, formerly of Motherwell.{{cite journal |title=Lanarkshire notes |journal=Scottish Referee |date=10 September 1897 |page=4}} A good-tempered match ended 1–0 to the visitors.{{cite journal |title=Snapshots |journal=Hamilton Herald |date=17 September 1897 |page=7}}
Rovers bounced back from the defeat with its biggest competitive win - 13–0 in the Lanarkshire Cup, against Airdriehill{{cite journal |title=Football results |journal=Airdrie Advertiser |date=23 October 1897 |page=7}} - which put the club into the semi-final, against Motherwell, but the Steelmen had an easy time of it, winning 6–1.{{cite journal |title=results |journal=Scottish Referee |date=13 December 1897 |page=3}}
Rovers only had one more season in senior football, and beat Uddingston in the second round in the Qualifying Cup (after walking over a "non est" Blantyre),{{cite journal |title=Notes from the east |journal=Scottish Referee |date=30 September 1898 |page=4}} but lost at Renton in the third, when a win would have put the club into the Scottish Cup proper; Carfin was reckoned without a chance before the game,{{cite journal |title=Lanarkshire notes |journal=Scottish Referee |date=7 October 1898 |page=1}} but nearly caused a great shock, the balance of play favouring a draw.{{cite journal |title=Round the country |journal=Scottish Referee |date=10 October 1898 |page=1}} However Carfin lost to East Lanarkshire in its first round Lanarkshire Cup tie, the blame in part being put on a decision to go to Harthill by brake in windy conditions, which left the team not only unfit, but at a disadvantage in gauging the effect of the wind on an exposed and unfamiliar ground.{{cite journal |title=Lanarkshire notes |journal=Scottish Referee |date=24 October 1898 |page=2}} The E.L. repeated the result when the clubs met in the Consolation Cup.{{cite journal |title=Lanarkshire notes |journal=Scottish Referee |date=10 April 1899 |page=4}}
The club was also one of the five which formed part of the Lanarkshire Football Second League, scheduled for the latter half of the 1898–99 season, but which does not seem to have completed.{{cite journal |title=Lanarkshire notes |journal=Scottish Referee |date=17 February 1899 |page=2}}
The club died as the result of a breakaway; perhaps notably, the club had changed secretary the previous season amid some rancour.{{cite journal |title=Lanarkshire notes |journal=Scottish Referee |date=23 September 1898 |page=1}} The new club, Carfin Emmet, claimed it had the right to use Beechgrove Park.{{cite journal |title=Notes on sport and pastime |journal=Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser |date=19 August 1899 |page=6}} Rovers' last action was scratching to Albion Rovers in the first round of the 1899–1900 Qualifying Cup, by which time the club existed "in name only";{{cite journal |title=Round the country |journal=Scottish Referee |date=8 September 1899 |page=2}} the club secretary tried to claim that Emmet had inherited Rovers' debts, but after the Scottish FA investigated the matter and ruled the clubs were separate entities, the Carfin secretary's letter was "relegated to the waste paper basket without being read".{{cite journal |title=Lanarkshire notes |journal=Scottish Referee |date=30 October 1899 |page=2}}
Colours
The club wore white jerseys{{cite book |last1=M'Dowall |first1=John |title=Scottish Football Annual 1899–1900 |date=1899 |publisher=Hay Nisbet |location=Glasgow |page=69}} and blue knickers in its first season,{{cite book |last1=M'Dowall |first1=John |title=Scottish Football Annual 1897–98 |date=1897 |publisher=Hay Nisbet |location=Glasgow |page=65}} and black afterwards.{{cite book |last1=M'Dowall |first1=John |title=Scottish Football Annual 1898–99 |date=1898 |publisher=Hay Nisbet |location=Glasgow |page=66}}
Ground
The club played at Beechgrove Park, which was "not by any means an ideal one", with a small and narrow playing area.{{cite journal |title=Snapshots |journal=Hamilton Herald |date=17 September 1897 |page=7}}
Nickname
The club's nickname of the Dandy Dandy came from the Dandy Rows, streets of miners' cottages in the village.{{cite journal |title=Lanarkshire notes |journal=Scottish Referee |date=13 August 1897 |page=2}} The club was also known as the Double Back Row for the same reason.{{cite journal |title=Lanarkshire notes |journal=Scottish Referee |date=18 October 1897 |page=1}}
Notable players
- Hughie Clifford, later of Stoke
- William "Cosh" Mason, who had played for Nottingham Forest after leaving Shamrock
References
{{reflist}}
{{Defunct Scottish football clubs|status=collapsed}}
Category:Association football clubs established in 1897
Category:Association football clubs disestablished in 1899
Category:1897 establishments in Scotland
Category:1899 disestablishments in Scotland