| Clubname: | Gordon Highlanders |
| Fullname: | Gordon Highlanders Football Club |
| Founded: | 1884 |
| Dissolved: | 1939 |
| Ground: | varied according to stationing |
| Pattern B1: | _bluequarters23 |
| Leftarm1: | 008000 |
| Body1: | FFFF00 |
| Rightarm1: | 008000 |
| Shorts1: | 000000 |
| Socks1: | 000000 |
Gordon Highlanders F.C. was a British association football club. It was the footballing side of the Gordon Highlanders regiment in the British Army.
The first reference to a Gordon Highlanders football club is from the 1884–85 season, when the regiment was based in Devon. Usually based in Aberdeen, the club was a regular entrant to Highland competitions in the amateur era of football. It entered the Aberdeenshire Cup in 1889–90 and 1890–91[1] and the short-lived Banffshire Cup in 1890–91.[2] The club's finest achievements came when the battalion was stationed in Belfast in 1889–90. The Gordons won the Irish Cup, surprising Linfield in the semi-final at Ulsterville,[3] and beating Cliftonville in the final after a replay. The first match (at Ballynafeigh) attracted a record attendance for Ireland, and the Gordons took a two-goal half-time lead, but were pegged back to 2–2 by the call of time.[4] The replay, played in front of 3,000 at Ulsterville, saw the regiment dominate, a goal from Beveridge in the first half and two from Swan - the last right on the whistle - in the second securing the Cup.[5]
The club also reached the final of the 1889–90 Belfast Charity Cup, losing 5–3 to fellow army side the Black Watch.[6] The regiment was re-drafted to Ceylon in 1890; the football side was allowed to stay behind with another battalion,[7] and the regiment formed another side to play football in Asia.[8]
Stationed in Glasgow from 1894, the club entered the Scottish Cup in 1894–95, and the Scottish Qualifying Cup in 1895–96 and 1896–97. It did not win a tie, but did draw twice with first round opponents. 3–3 with Northern in 1894–95 (the replay having to take place at Northern's ground in Springburn),[9] and 2–2 with Linthouse the following season; the Highlanders started the replay in a rush, and took an early 2 goal lead, before the superior stamina of professional players saw the Linties win 7–3.[10] The Gordons also entered the Glasgow Cup in 1894–95 and 1895–96, but lost both ties the club played.[11]
The regiment was redeployed to Aldershot after being drawn against Burnbank Swifts in the 1896–97 Qualifying Cup, so was forced to scratch from the competition,[12] and it did not renew its Scottish Football Association membership.[13] It was replaced at the barracks by the 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.[14]
The Gordons' last major success was via the 2nd Battalion winning the Army Cup in 1897–98, beating the Cup holders Royal Artillery in the final at Aldershot; the strength of support for the army game demonstrated by a crowd of 25,000 attending, including the Duke of Connaught, who presented the trophy and medals.[15] The club also won the Aldershot League, ahead of the K.O.S.B. in second place.[16] In 1898 the regiment was sent to India, where the club's popular secretary, Lt J. H. Outhwaite, died of an attack of dysentery.[17]
The regiment was sent to South Africa in 1899, and suffered an alarming incident when a shell burst on its football pitch during a match; none of the players was injured, and, having filled up the crater, the match duly continued.[18] While based in Egypt in 1912–13, the Highlanders carried off the Large Unit Shield for Egypt and the Sudan, beating the 2nd Devonshire Regiment 3–2 in the final.[19]
After being stationed in India in the 1920s, the regiment returned to Aberdeen, and the Gordons entered the Scottish Junior Cup a number of times in the 1920s and 1930s.[20] It reached the third round in 1934–35, and apparently beat Aberdeen East End at that stage, but the win was thrown out after a protest and the Gordons lost the replay.[21] The club was still active on the eve of the Second World War,[22] but there is no record of the club at any level outside the Army after 1939.
The club wore blue, yellow, and green quartered shirts, and black knickers.[23]
The club is known to have played in the following areas: