Clyde F.C.
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| Clyde F.C. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Clyde Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The Bully Wee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1877 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Broadwood Stadium, Cumbernauld, Scotland |
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| Capacity | 8,029 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |  Len McGuire |
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| Manager | Joe Miller |
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| League | Scottish First Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | Scottish First Division, 5th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Clyde Football Club is a Scottish professional football team currently playing in the First Division of the Scottish Football League. They are currently managed by Joe Miller. Although based for the last decade in the new town of Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, they are traditionally associated with an area that covers Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire and south east Glasgow.
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[edit] History
Nicknamed The Bully Wee, Clyde were founded in 1877 and initially played at Barrowfield Park, close to the River Clyde (they are reputed to have been founded by members of the Clyde Rowing Club as a way to keep fit) before moving to Shawfield Stadium in 1896. Like other clubs in and around Glasgow, Clyde have struggled to match the appeal of Celtic and Rangers, but club honours have included winning the Scottish Cup in 1939, 1955 and 1958 and the Glasgow Cup in 1915, 1926, 1947, 1952 and 1959. Despite finishing third in the Scottish League in 1967, Clyde were refused entry to the Fairs Cup due to the "one club per city" rule; Rangers, who finished second, were given Glasgow's place. Thus Clyde have never qualified for European competition.
In 1986, the Club were evicted from Shawfield and were forced to spends periods groundsharing at Partick Thistle and Hamilton Accies before finally moving to their present home at Broadwood in 1994. Despite struggling to attract crowds since the move, Clyde have established themselves as consistent contenders in the top half of the First Division, but despite finishing as runners-up twice in recent years have been unable to reach the Scottish Premier League under the present one-up, one-down arrangement for promotion and relegation.
In January 2006, Clyde recorded their most memorable result of recent years, a 2-1 Scottish Cup victory over Celtic.
Clyde reached the Scottish League Challenge Cup Final in the 2006/07 season but lost to Ross County 5-4 on a penalty shoot-out, after the game finished 1-1.
[edit] Colours and badge
Clyde's traditional colours are white with red and black. The club badge depicts a sailing ship, in recognition of the maritime heritage of the river from which they take their name.
Main articles: Shawfield Stadium, Broadwood Stadium
Clyde spent their first two decades playing at Barrowfield Park before taking possession of Shawfield in 1896. Financial pressures led to the club relinquishing ownership of the stadium in 1935, selling it their former tenants, the Greyhound Racing Association. This arrangement continued satisfactorily for over fifty years, until the GRA announced redevelopment plans for the stadium and gave Clyde notice to quit in 1986. After tentatively investigating a number of local options, Clyde secured an agreement with Partick Thistle to share their ground at Firhill. This move was highly unpopular with Clyde supporters, given the venue's location on the other side of Glasgow from their Rutherglen heartland, and the fierce rivalry between the two clubs.
By 1990, Clyde had secured an agreement to build a home of their own in the new town of Cumbernauld, which due to shifting population patterns was by now one of the larger settlements in Scotland without senior football. After numerous delays in construction of the new all-seater venue, during which Clyde spent a further three years groundsharing at Douglas Park, Hamilton, Broadwood Stadium was finally ready in 1994 for Clyde to move in.
[edit] Supporters
Clyde have a core support of around 1,000 fans.
Despite not having played there for twenty years, Clyde still draw a significant proportion of their support from in and around Rutherglen. The supporters' fiercest rivalry is with Partick Thistle, given that the two clubs were formerly of comparable stature as small, mid-ranking Glasgow professional teams. Rivalry with Glasgow's bigger clubs, Celtic and Rangers, has never been quite as marked due to their different levels of support and success.
The number of years Clyde spent without a permanent home of their own has led to the fans identifying themselves as the Gypsy Army in reference to this.
[edit] Managers
- Paddy Travers (1938-195?)
- John Prentice (1962-1966)
- Davie White (1966-1967)
- Archie Robertson
- Stan Anderson (-1977)
- Billy McNeill (1977)
- Craig Brown (1977-1986)
- John Clark (-1992)
- Alex Smith (1992-1994)
- Gardner Speirs (1994-1998)
- Ronnie McDonald (1998-1999)
- Allan Maitland (1999-2001)
Alan Kernaghan (2001-2003)- Billy Reid (2003-2005)
- Gary Bollan (caretaker) (2005)
Graham Roberts (2005-2006)- Joe Miller (2006-present)
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] External links
- Official site
- Unofficial site
- Halftimebovril.com - A Tour of the 42 professional Scottish Football Grounds
