Inter-club contests used to be much more frequent than they are now.   I’m not talking about League Matches which are multi-club contests.   There was a league system at one point where the eight clubs were scored against each other – eg Shettleston v Victoria Park, Shettleston v Bellahouston, Shettleston against Edinburgh, etc – and the meeting was simply seven inter-clubs fixtures held on the same day at the same venue.   In the 1960’s the men’s league was organised so that the eight clubs in the division arranged their own league matches on a three club basis – eg Clydesdale, Garscube and Hawkhill would be scored CH  v  GH, CH  v  DHH, GH  v DHH and GH v CH, and DHH v the other two.   

There were many inter-clubs outwith the leagues.   Clydesdale Harriers would have summer inter-clubs against Springburn, Greenock Glenpark and Dumbarton, each on a home and away basis.   They were excellent fixtures which formed part of the athletes progression through the season and increased the inter-club friendship and rivalry.   The first ever Inter-club match was held in October 1885, advertised in the Ayr Observer above, for 10th October.   The original datw was 3rd October but the second round of the SFA Cup competition was dated for that Saturday so it was puched back a week.  

The report on it from ‘The Field’ is below.

The Harriers had been formed on 4th May, 1885, and were responsible for many developments in the sport of which this was only one.   It is interesting to note that several of the Ayr FC competitors later joined the Harriers notably AP Findlay who was third in the One Mile but became famous over longer distances and won the first ever Scottish Cross-Country Championship in the Clydesdale Harriers.   In addition some of the Harriers competitors were also members of other clubs – eg Alex Vallance, who would become SAAA 120 hurdles champion, and along with brother Tom was a member of Rangers FC.   

This was the first ever – what an example was set and what a ball was set in motion!