Baillieston - Football

Football

Baillieston Juniors was founded in 1919 and played in their early years at a ground presently occupied by Martin Crescent but when Lanarkshire county council decided to build housing there they had to move to a field nearby at Camp Road. This ground was named Springhill Park after the name of the farm to whom it was rented from. The team played there until 1953 when they opened a new stadium at Station Road until the 1990s when the ground was sold off for housing. The team carried on, and, though they are not currently in business, they may still return to Junior football. Their greatest season was 1979-80, when they won the Scottish Junior Cup, the Glasgow Dryburgh Cup and the McLeod Cup. The star player, Davie Wilson was signed from the Juniors to Glasgow Rangers FC in 1956 and played for Scotland. In 1987, Alan Dinnie left the Juniors to play for Partick Thistle F.C. but was never capped for Scotland. That same year Tommy Elliott was transferred from Baillieston Juniors to Partick Thistle.

A Baillieston Thistle team preceded the Juniors in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and won the Scottish Junior Football League twice: in 1893 and 1894. This side also featured a future Rangers and Scotland player, in the form of Willie Reid. Its name is kept alive by the Scottish Amateur Football Association team Baillieston Thistle AFC. The recently formed Baillieston United have just joined the central Scottish welfare fa as of July 2008. Another amateur team, Red Star Baillieston AFC plays at Stepford Edinburgh Road. Glasgow East AFC are another amateur side based in Baillieston who play in the Glasgow Sunday AFL (Amateur Football League). FC Baillieston were formed in 2010 and play in the Sunday Central AFL league. There is a Baillieston Girls Football Club and Baillieston Ladies Football Club, both of whom have supplied players to the national teams.