The report of the secretary, Mr. A. Hae, to the annual
general meeting of 1873 is so racy, that it is worth reproducing:—
The birth of the club was on this wise: Glasgow, 9th
July, 1867.— To-night, at half-past eight, a number of gentlemen, etc., etc.
(number not given). That night the club was first wrapped in swaddling
clothes. With one important exception, seven of the thirteen nurses, that
night appointed, are still in the family. These are they:—L. S. Black
(captain), Robert Smith (treasurer), J. C. Grant, Robert Gardner, James
Smith, Donald Edmiston, J. M. Skinner (members of committee;. So that, to
change the simile, the ship has some very old timbers, and yet she is not
unseaworthy. She has braved many storms, and many are yet to be braved. She
has now sailed on a voyage of perilous adventure, foes many and formidable
are to be fought; shattered and shredded she may be, but let us hope and
work that, whatever else befall, she may again arrive, still flying at the
main that dear old flag of undefeat. During six years we have had four
captains: Mr. L. S. Black, Mr. W. M. Klinger, Mr. James Smith, and Mr.
Robert Gardner. The early history of the club is interesting and brief.
After anxious inquiries at such eminent authorities as "Cassell's Paper" and
"Sporting Life" (mark the literature of those days!), Association rules were
adopted on 9th of August, 1867, one month after the date of the club's
birth. The first match was played against a club called Thistle, (which has
since departed this life), in 1869, and, of course, was won by the Queen's
Park. For six years, gentlemen, we have endured an unbroken series of
non-defeats, and yet conceit has not killed us. In such circumstances, I
solemnly believe it to be a high virtue that we are only moderately cocky.
This, gentlemen, is the exordium—now to the business of the past year.
Referring to the departure of Mr. Edmiston, he says:—
Of those Who have left us, I may be allowed to name one
who, for his playing abilities and genial character, was respected by the
whole club—I mean Mr. Donald Edmiston. He is gone North to engage in
business. Gentlemen, Mr. Edmiston's health and prosperity!
Mr. Rae's report to the annual general meeting in April,
1874, is equally clever:—
Gentlemen, our year of office is gone, and we are here to
give an account of our stewardship. We have done our best, and we have no
reason to be ashamed of our work. The popularity of the game we love is due
in no small measure to the energy and pluck of this club. Little ragamuffins
invest their joint savings in a gaudy indiarubber, while more ambitious
localities, and schools, trades, and regiments, seek the bubble reputation
in the goal-mouth. The muscular Christianity to which we owe our existence,
for we were evolved (that's the scientific term) from the Young Men's
Christian Association, was not always in favour. John Blows, a preacher, was
not only absent on a day appointed for fasting and prayer, (the Fast Day
draweth nigh), but was that day at a great football play, he being one of
the principal appointers thereof. Being called to account for it, he was at
first disposed to justify himself, but at length confessed that he had been
wrong, and promised to abstain from the like for time to come. Nevertheless,
as he had grieved the saints, and given occasion to the adversary to speak
reproachfully, it was resolved that he should not be suffered to preach
until further fruits meet for repentance did appear. We can have no
preachers among us. Let us practise— our arithmetic [the financial
statement].
Then Mr. Rae gives the number on the roll, seventy, which
he says "represents effective strength, the roll having been
thoroughly weeded, and all mere names removed."
Mr. George O. Norval's report to the 1875 annual meeting
is informative:—
It is my duty as honorary secretary to make you the
annual statement of its affairs. I shall do so as concisely as possible, and
with as little self-laudation as is allowable under the circumstances. This
present season makes the eighth year of the existence of the club, 1867
being the year in which a number of gentlemen met somewhere in "No Man's
Land" for the purpose of forming a football club, the object of which was to
be "the recreation and amusement of its members." From that modest beginning
the club has grown to its present exalted and prosperous condition. Little
did that body of gentlemen who were on the first roll of the club, of whom,
I regret to say, there is only one remaining amongst us, think that in thus
joining together for mutual recreation they were really laying the
foundation in Scotland of the now most popular code of football rules, the
Association code, which is adopted by over forty clubs ] in the district,
and makes no empty title that generally given to the Queen's Park of the
"senior club."
"No Man's Land " was a disputed district between
Govanhill and Crosshill.
Mr. T. Lawrie, honorary secretary, gave a brief but
interesting report to the annual meeting, April, 1877 :—
It is my pleasant duty this evening to submit to you a
most gratifying report on the progress of our club during the past year.
There is a special interest attached to this meeting, in the circumstance
that it marks the completion of the first decade of our existence as a club,
and in looking back upon these years we cannot fail to be astonished at the
marvellous success that has attended our efforts. Storting as we did from
such humble and modest beginning as twelve to fifteen members, kicking a
ball about for their amusement in a corner of the public park, sporting for
uniform a small badge on one arm, and paying the extravagant subscription of
one sixpence per annum—starting from that, we have risen to the eminent
position we now occupy, and which, I trust, we will ever continue to hold.
Once on a similar occasion to the present a distinguished predecessor of
mine compared our club to a vessel that had braved many storms, and that had
many more to brave. His prediction w!as right. Since then she has braved
many a storm, but none so great as those of the past year. In one of those I
regret she was taken unawares, and suffered very great damage, but, thanks
to the able exertions of her crew, she has righted herself, and once more
rides Queen of the Seas. I have to refer to the success of the club in
competing for the Glasgow Charity Cup, which now stands before you, and I
trust it will long continue in our possession, and although unfortunately it
is not accompanied by the Scottish Association Cup, yet I hope that the
members will exercise such diligence in the coming season as will ensure a
recapture of that trophy.
The "great damage" Mr. Lawrie refers to was the defeat by
Vale of Leven in a Scottish Cup tie, the first the club had ever sustained
in Scotland.
Mr. Arthur Geake, match secretary, in his report to the
annual general meeting, April, 1881, congratulated the members on the proud
position of the club, and also on its having passed through one of the most
prosperous years since its formation. In conclusion, he said :—
The committee have now to demit office for the year, and
in handing back to you the trust given them a year ago—i.e., the good name
of the club—they give it back to you, as bright and untarnished as when they
received it.
