HibeeJibee Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 SD - It wouldn't surprise me if they gave-up after 1932. Say's the excellent Senior Non-League Football in South-West Scotland (by Malcolm Pagan), p52: "the club joined the Provincial League for 1927-28, and there then followed a 2 season stay in the Scottish Alliance, but in 1929 Wanderers reluctantly joined the South of Scotland League for financial reasons. By the autumn of 1931 competing in this league was proving a strain, and they resigned after only 4 matches had been played. They rejoined the league in 1932-33 for a single season, played friendlies and cup-ties only between 1933 and 1935, and then entered the resurrected Scottish Combination, only to resign a couple of games into the 1936-37 season". They played SOS League again in 1946-47 & 1948-50, then went Junior. Theirs is quite a sad story actually... They were among the clubs forming the new Division 3 for 1923-24 and they won it the following season, 3pts ahead of yourselves. They then shocked the Scottish footballing world by winning 8 of the first 10 games in Division 2 and it looked as if the tiny village of Sanquhar might be joining the Rangers, Celtics and so forths in the top division. Sadly their form collapsed and they finished mid-table. Following season, 1926-27, they finished bottom and didn't seek re-election. Evidently they regretted this, as they spent the next half-decade trying to get back in, but to no avail. What might have been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Gateshead? Blimey. Would have been a bit anomolous, notwithstanding the precedent of Berwick. Hadn't realised there was a stage when Clachnacuddin was the most prominent / ambitious of the Inverness teams either. Would have made for a much better name than 'Caledonian Thistle'. Caley and Clach were the two most successful Inverness clubs by quite a distance. Caley finished with 17 league titles which Clach have since equalled (winning 1 league title since ICT were formed). Thistle only won 8. Caley fans have told me that when Clach were doing well they had the biggest support of all three because the whole Merkinch area would come out behind them. If you know Inverness you will know that the Merkinch is almost a distinct community inside the city. Caley and Clach were also local rivals, the grounds were about 5 minutes apart whereas Thistle were over the river and up on the hill. Clach went into decline after winning the league in the 70's (Caley stole their best players) and in the pre merger era Caley and Thistle were the top dogs but that clearly wasn't the case traditionally. Obviously the plan initially was for a three way merger so we could have had Caledonian Clachnacuddin Thistle . I'm glad that never happened, Clach are my local team and I think it's good for Inverness to still have a team in the Highland League. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaffenThinMint Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Since the old Division 3 collapsed in 1926, at least these clubs have applied. I say "at least" as not all are on the SFHA website list, and there may be still more, e.g. I've seen claims that Irvine Meadow applied during the 1960s and Whitehill Welfare during 1990s. There has been a long standing rumour that the SFL in conjunction with the SFA specifically tried to get Irvine Meadow to apply for what would have been a shoe in, as they were keen for the new towns and projected new towns to have a presence. Certainly strings were pulled for the bizarre event where one episode of Scotsport had a routine Irvine Meadow home match broadcast (the first and only time a non-Cup final Junior match was ever shown on terrestrial TV) during this period. Meadow XI however weren't interested (amid rumours of fears of divided loyalties from fans & committee members alike...). Certainly their facilities in those days would have trumped a lot of the old 2nd Div clubs easily. It was also rumoured that one of the reasons a blind eye was turned to the carry on at Third Lanark at this time was the stories of aimed relocation to East Kilbride or Bishopbriggs, which would also have suited the blazers' agendas. Have to say this is the first I've heard the Whitehill Welfare rumour though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HibeeJibee Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Interestingly - and it would be before the attempt you mention above - Stirling Albion proposed league reconstruction in 1952 that would have added 4 new clubs... specifically a club each for Cumbernauld, East Kilbride, Glenrothes, and Livingston - i.e. with Irvine the notable absentee of a co-ordinated plan to tap 'New Towns'. I think it's good for Inverness to still have a team in the Highland League. Agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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