1.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
2.
Thornliebank
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Thornliebank is a suburban area in East Renfrewshire, in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. Part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation, it is located on the Auldhouse Burn about 6 miles south of Glasgow city centre, the original village was founded in the 18th century and began to develop after the opening of a printworks in 1778, and subsequently other light industry. Despite industrial decline in the 20th century, Thornliebank continued to expand due to extensive public, as of the 2011 Census, the area has a population of 4,051. It is not known when Thornliebank was first settled although it has been ascertained that it did not exist prior to the 18th century, in 1789 it was a little street of cottages but it had grown by 1845, to have a population of 1366. This was largely due to the Crum family, who established, john Crum founded the works in Main Street in 1778 to print locally woven linen. Walter Crum who was in charge by 1819 was a chemist and he replaced spinning and weaving by calico printing with bleaching, turkey red dyeing and beetling. This brought immigrants from Northern Ireland and the New Statistical Account of Scotland described Thornliebank as a flourishing village where, thirty years ago. Walters son Alexander Crum who took over the works was a major philanthropist supporting housing, education. He also provided funds for the club and Thornliebank Parish Church. Alexander Crum was Member of Parliament for Renfrewshire from 1880 to 1885, after his death he was commemorated by the Crum Library which was designed by the Scottish architect Sir Rowand Anderson and formally opened on 20 March 1897. Woodfarm is a district of Thornliebank, next to Rouken Glen Park. The housing is a mix of council-owned property, ex Army-owned houses, older bungalows and villas, Woodfarm Playing Fields sports complex was completed in 2004. The development features a football pitch, three five-a-side football pitches, and a clubhouse with changing rooms. Woodfarm High School, opposite the complex, has use of the pitches on weekdays for physical education classes, while the public has access to the facilities on evenings. According to the 2011 census, the Thornliebank census locality had a resident population of 4,051. Public transport in the area is coordinated by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, Thornliebank railway station is on the East Kilbride branch of the Glasgow South Western Line. Originally opened by the Busby Railway in 1881, it is served by trains running between Glasgow Central and East Kilbride. Thornliebank has one secondary school, Woodfarm High School in the Woodfarm area
3.
Renfrewshire (historic)
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Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a historic county and lieutenancy area in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The area is known as Greater Renfrewshire to distinguish it from the modern local authority area. For the purposes of government, Renfrewshire is now divided into three council areas called Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde. The county borders the city of Glasgow and Lanarkshire to the east and Ayrshire to the south, the Firth of Clyde forms its northern boundary, with Dunbartonshire and Argyllshire on the opposing banks. Renfrewshires early history is marked by ancient British and Roman settlement, Renfrewshire can trace its origin to the feudal lands at Strathgryfe granted to Walter Fitzalan, the first High Steward of Scotland. Robert III of Scotland, a descendant of Fitzalan, established the shire of Renfrew-based out of the Royal burgh of Renfrew, during the Industrial Revolution, many of the larger towns became important centres of commerce and manufacturing. The goods produced were chiefly cottons, calicos and silks building on the countys long weaving heritage, other industries such as ship building, distilleries and printworks also contributed to the economy. At this time, Paisley was the largest urban and commercial centre in the county by some margin and this distinction saw the emergence of local government focused in Paisley, rather than the county town of Renfrew. Paisley remains the centre of the Renfrewshire council area today. Parts of the county, such as Govan and Nitshill were incorporated into Glasgow during the early 20th century as the city expanded, Renfrewshire was superseded by the Strathclyde local government region in 1975, until its abolition in 1996. The modern unitary council areas in the county - Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshires origins lie in the religious authority over the Strathgryfe area granted to Paisley Abbey by Walter Fitzalan. However its history goes further, with ancient Roman and Brythonic heritage. The earliest evidence of activity in the area is traces of an Iron Age fort in the Busby area. When the Romans advanced in the year 80 from the Solway Firth, the territory that would later become Renfrewshire was occupied by the Damnonii, the principal Roman stronghold in the area was at Vanduara. Following the end of Roman rule in Britain in 410, the Cumbrian Britons, with their capital at Dumbarton, during the High Middle Ages, Strathclyde was conquered by the Kingdom of Alba, which in turn developed into the Kingdom of Scotland. In the 12th century, during the reign of David I of Scotland, Walter Fitzalan fled the English county of Shropshire due to The Anarchy between Empress Matilda and Stephen. Walter rallied to the support of the Empress, but when her cause was lost, Walter befriended David I, King of Scots who was an uncle of Matilda, and became, Davids Dapifer or Steward. Accompanied by his brother Simon, Walter came to Scotland about 1136 and fought for Scotland at the Battle of the Standard at Northallerton in 1138 under the command of David Is son, Prince Henry
4.
Cathkin Park
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For the original Cathkin Park ground, see Cathkin Park. Cathkin Park is a park in Glasgow, Scotland. The park is maintained by the parks department, and it is a public place where football is still played. The park contains the site of the second Hampden Park, previously home to the football clubs Queens Park, the original Hampden Park is just to the west, as the course of the original Cathcart Road is now in Queens Park Rec. The park formerly contained a stadium, which had played host to organised football since 1884. It was originally known as Hampden Park and was rented by Queens Park between 1884 and 1903, when Queens Park moved to the third Hampden Park, Third Lanark took over the lease. They renamed it New Cathkin Park (as they had played at another stadium named Cathkin Park just to the east of Dixon Halls on the east side of the Cathcart Road. This is also where the first major Anglo-Scottish club competition, the British League Cup final, took place in 1902, Third Lanarks last match at Cathkin took place on 25 April 1967, when they played out a 3–3 draw against Queen of the South. Jimmy Davidson scored one goal for Queens and Brian McMurdo two, including the last ever senior goal at the Park. The stadium subsequently fell into disrepair and most of the fabric was gradually removed, the remains of the terraces from 3 sides of the ground can be seen in the park. However, a reformed Third Lanark team, which plays in the Greater Glasgow Amateur League, currently plays in the park, as do Hampden AFC, video of the remaining terraces May 2011
5.
Hamilton Academical F.C.
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They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilton Academy and remain the only professional club in British football to have originated from a school team. Hamilton have won the Scottish Challenge Cup twice and have finished runners-up in the Scottish Cup twice, the club currently play their home games at New Douglas Park. Hamilton Academical F. C. was formed in late 1874 by the rector, in the 1970s, Hamilton briefly resigned from the league due to mounting debts. In 1994 the club sold its ground, Douglas Park, to Sainsburys supermarket. During this period the club went through hardships and unpaid players went on strike. As a result, Hamilton was unable to fulfil its fixtures during the 1999–2000 season and was docked 15 points, the club moved into its New Douglas Park stadium in 2001. In 2008, for the first time in 20 years, Accies gained promotion to the top division of Scottish football, in the 2009–10 season, a 3–0 victory against Kilmarnock on 17 April 2010 secured a third straight season in Scotlands top flight, with four games remaining. The Accies stay in the SPL ended in the 2010–11 season, after a hard-fought campaign during the 2013–14 Scottish Championship season, Accies finished in second position on the final day of the season following a 10–2 home victory over Morton. Hamilton lost the first leg 2–0 at New Douglas Park, but two goals in the return leg at Easter Road, including an injury time strike, forced the tie to extra time. Hamilton converted all of their spot-kicks and gained back to the top flight. Neil left the club in January 2015, to take up a position at English club Norwich, the club play their fixtures at New Douglas Park, which was opened in 2001. The pitch is a surface, one of two in the Scottish Premiership alongside Kilmarnock. The stadium has a capacity of 6,018 and is composed of two permanent and one temporary stand. The ground replaced Douglas Park, which was the home of Hamilton from 1888 to 1994, the ground was eventually sold to supermarket chain Sainsburys in 1994, with the proceeds going towards the construction of the new stadium, which lies adjacent to the site of Douglas Park. Between 1994 and 2001 the club had no home and they ground-shared at Cliftonhill and Firhill Stadium. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, note, Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality, the following is a list of the officially-appointed captains of the Hamilton Academical first-team
6.
Scotland
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Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain. It shares a border with England to the south, and is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east. In addition to the mainland, the country is made up of more than 790 islands, including the Northern Isles, the Kingdom of Scotland emerged as an independent sovereign state in the Early Middle Ages and continued to exist until 1707. By inheritance in 1603, James VI, King of Scots, became King of England and King of Ireland, Scotland subsequently entered into a political union with the Kingdom of England on 1 May 1707 to create the new Kingdom of Great Britain. The union also created a new Parliament of Great Britain, which succeeded both the Parliament of Scotland and the Parliament of England. Within Scotland, the monarchy of the United Kingdom has continued to use a variety of styles, titles, the legal system within Scotland has also remained separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, Scotland constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in both public and private law. Glasgow, Scotlands largest city, was one of the worlds leading industrial cities. Other major urban areas are Aberdeen and Dundee, Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third-largest city in Scotland, the title of Europes oil capital, following a referendum in 1997, a Scottish Parliament was re-established, in the form of a devolved unicameral legislature comprising 129 members, having authority over many areas of domestic policy. Scotland is represented in the UK Parliament by 59 MPs and in the European Parliament by 6 MEPs, Scotland is also a member nation of the British–Irish Council, and the British–Irish Parliamentary Assembly. Scotland comes from Scoti, the Latin name for the Gaels, the Late Latin word Scotia was initially used to refer to Ireland. By the 11th century at the latest, Scotia was being used to refer to Scotland north of the River Forth, alongside Albania or Albany, the use of the words Scots and Scotland to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the Late Middle Ages. Repeated glaciations, which covered the land mass of modern Scotland. It is believed the first post-glacial groups of hunter-gatherers arrived in Scotland around 12,800 years ago, the groups of settlers began building the first known permanent houses on Scottish soil around 9,500 years ago, and the first villages around 6,000 years ago. The well-preserved village of Skara Brae on the mainland of Orkney dates from this period and it contains the remains of an early Bronze Age ruler laid out on white quartz pebbles and birch bark. It was also discovered for the first time that early Bronze Age people placed flowers in their graves, in the winter of 1850, a severe storm hit Scotland, causing widespread damage and over 200 deaths. In the Bay of Skaill, the storm stripped the earth from a large irregular knoll, when the storm cleared, local villagers found the outline of a village, consisting of a number of small houses without roofs. William Watt of Skaill, the laird, began an amateur excavation of the site, but after uncovering four houses
7.
Scottish Football League
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The Scottish Football League was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland. From its foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, after 1998, the SFL represented levels 2 to 4 of the Scottish football league system. In June 2013, the SFL merged with the SPL to form the Scottish Professional Football League, the SFL was associated with a title sponsor from the 1985–86 season. As this sponsor has changed over the years the league was known in turn as the Fine Fare League, B&Q League, Bells Scottish Football League, the SFL also organised two knock-out cup competitions, the Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Challenge Cup. Organised football in Scotland began in 1873 with the formation of the Scottish Football Association, during the next 15 years or so, clubs would play friendly matches, Scottish Cup ties and local cup ties. The Football League, initially containing clubs from the North West and this had been done in response to the professionalisation of football in England in 1885, with the regular diet of league fixtures replacing the haphazard arrangement of friendlies. Many Scottish players, known as the Scotch Professors, moved to the English league clubs to receive the high salaries on offer. This prompted Scottish clubs into thinking about forming their own league, in March 1890, the secretary of Renton wrote to thirteen other clubs inviting them to discuss the organisation of a league. All of the clubs accepted the invitation, except Queens Park and these concerns were to prove well-founded, as six of the founder members would leave the league before 1900. The Scottish Football League was inaugurated on 30 April 1890, the first season of competition, 1890–91, commenced with 11 clubs because St Bernards were not elected. The eleven original clubs in membership were Abercorn, Cambuslang, Celtic, Cowlairs, Dumbarton, Heart of Midlothian, Rangers, Renton, St Mirren, Third Lanark and Vale of Leven. Renton were expelled five games of the 1890–91 season for playing against St Bernards. Renton raised an action against the SFA in the Court of Session and won, in the 1890–91 season, Rangers and Dumbarton were level at the top of the league on 29 points. The teams drew 2–2 in a match, but no further thought had been given to separating teams by another method. Goal average was introduced for the 1921–22 season and replaced by goal difference for the 1971–72 season, the league proved to be highly successful, and in 1893 a Second Division was formed by the inclusion of a number of clubs previously in the Scottish Football Alliance. Promotion was initially based on a ballot of clubs, automatic promotion was not introduced until 1922, in 1923, the League decided to introduce a Third Division. The Western Football League was used as its backbone but the new set-up lasted only three years before it collapsed under heavy financial losses, from 1926 until 1946, the League returned to two divisions. Post-World War II reforms saw the League resume with three divisions, postwar seasons saw the divisions renamed A, B and C with the last section also including reserve sides
