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Why?


delboy
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The other day a colleague at my work and I were talking about football and why we support the teams that we do. She said that she loved the fact that Celtic was started by a priest as a charity to help poor catholic children and had a strong sense of it's Irish history and then she asked me why Motherwell FC had been started?

 

I thought for a moment and said that there were two teams in Motherwell Glencairn and Alpha FC and they join forces to form Motherwell FC.

 

But this wasn't good enough for he and she again asked why had they started the club, what reason did they have, was it for charity, religion or money?

 

To be honest I wasn't sure what to say but then I realised what the answer was and I told her they just wanted to play football and it was nothing to do with religion or charity.

 

It was a bit of a guess on my part but it has made me wonder if I was write and from what I've read I think I was right.

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I'm sure we were started as an option for slightly more streetwise c***s that weren't into any of that bigotry shite and were fed up seeing convoys of horses and carts heading out of the place on a Friday night to see the soup drinkers and soap dodgers knock fuck out of each other on a Saturday.

 

Mibbe

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I'm sure we were started as an option for slightly more streetwise c***s that weren't into any of that bigotry shite and were fed up seeing convoys of horses and carts heading out of the place on a Friday night to see the soup drinkers and soap dodgers knock fuck out of each other on a Saturday.

 

Mibbe

Possibly, but Celtic didn't form till two years after us.

 

I could quite believe that it was from just wanting to play football though. Celtic looks like they just wanted to get money out of people. Were they the first of the "Chuggers"?

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We were, and still are, a football club. Celtic were set up originally as a charity. We are still true to our roots, are Celtic?

 

Celtic gave up their charitable origins within a very short space of time from their foundation. Within a year or two of being established Celtic had no links to charitable organizations or the Catholic church and were being run for profit. Basically as soon as they realized their was money to be made out of it long term, charity got shown the door quick smart!

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Celtic gave up their charitable origins within a very short space of time from their foundation. Within a year or two of being established Celtic had no links to charitable organizations or the Catholic church and were being run for profit. Basically as soon as they realized their was money to be made out of it long term, charity got shown the door quick smart!

 

 

I know its celtic and we all must hate them but im afraid what your saying there is untrue. Its so untrue that im sure you just made it up.

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I know its celtic and we all must hate them but im afraid what your saying there is untrue. Its so untrue that im sure you just made it up.

 

how do you work that out? Aye ok they might make the odd charitable donation these days, but they were set-up to solely help the needy of the East End, they jacked all that in pretty quickly though.

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The origin of Motherwell FC can really be attributed to massive changes in society in the 1870's which gave birth to a new generation of leisure pursuits and saw football become the sport of the masses.

 

The revolutionary introduction of half days on Saturday for many trades gave the working class man the time to indulge in these pursuits. During this time many teams were founded throughout the Lanarkshire area. These teams were most notably work teams.

 

The early teams in Motherwell were dominated by Glencairn, who started up in 1877. Named after John Glencairn Carter Hamilton of Dalziel, they initially called open ground at Craigneuk their home, using a local school as their facilities. This park was known as the 'Foot of the Knowe.' However, they soon moved to 'The Meadows' via a short stay at a pitch at Broomside near Kidstones Pit, in the area now known as North Lodge.

 

The Meadows was an in demand park, hosting the annual gala occasions as well as being the home of Glencairn's fierce rivals, Alpha FC. Alpha FC would go on to become the most popular side in the area and eventually become the backbone of Motherwell Football Club.

 

Founded in 1881 by the workers in George Russell's Alpha Steam Crane and Engineering Works, which was based in Park Street, they developed by playing against a host of other amateur teams that had sprung up in Motherwell, Wishaw and Bellshill. Some of the more prominent names at the time were; Dalziel Rovers, Milton Rovers, Motherwell North End, Motherwell Amateurs and Hamilton Park.

 

In 1886 a Motherwell Charity Cup was established to engage local teams in a tournament that was to be for the 'benefit of the poor.' Another game that was set up at this time was an exhibition between Glasgow Ancients – as the name suggests, a selection of older players from Glasgow – and a select eleven made up of players from both Alpha FC and Glencairn. This was a huge deal; as the months prior to the game had been filled with talk of the two top sides in Motherwell amalgamating to form a stronger team. This argument was done no harm when the select eleven overcame the more experienced Ancients two goals to one in front of a large crowd.

 

On the 6th May 1886, the Alpha board met and decided to disband the club as it was, and reform it under a new constitution and set of rules. The plane was to keep the same name, but eleven days later representatives of Glencairn and Alpha met in Baillie's Pub in Parkneuk and decide to form a new club altogether. This new club was to be called Motherwell Football Club. A committee was formed and they were able to field a team, albeit and Alpha dominated one. Their debut fixture proved to be a successful one as they outshone Hamilton Academicals 3-2.

 

On the dawn of this new era the Motherwell Times commented that the merger of the two sides could make "Motherwell second to none in the West of Scotland as a country club." In the early years life was somewhat chaotic for the fledgling Motherwell with no regular competition to play in, although the Lanarkshire Cup was still seen as a prestigious tournament at this time.

 

The new side reached their first final in 1888 where they lost to Airdrie. Not only was competition difficult to find but games would still start with players short, as they struggled to make the game after a shift in the local iron works.

 

The Scottish Cup did offer one major tournament that was available for Motherwell to compete in. They entered the competition for the first time in 1886, losing 6-1 to Cambuslang in the first round. They did make Round three in 1888, only to lose 6-2 to Dumbarton.

 

Then in a move to push the club forward, the AGM of 1893 heard the heated debate of whether the club should turn professional or not, and in the end it was decided unanimously in favour of turning professional. This also meant an increase in gate prices with entry now costing 6d (2.5p) and season tickets moving to 7/6 (37.5p).

 

The decision of the Scottish League to form the Second division in 1893/94 allowed them to expand into geographical areas that they were previously absent from, such as Tayside, Edinburgh and Industrial Lanarkshire. Motherwell were therefore duly elected along with nine other teams to form the Second Division for the start of 1893/94.

 

The other nine teams who joined Motherwell for this historic season were Hibernian, Cowlairs, Clyde, Partick Thistle, Port Glasgow Athletic, Abercorn, Morton, Northern and Thistle.

 

Motherwell's first game was a 4-1 home win against Clyde, with the first professional Motherwell side striding out in maroon shirts and satin knickerbockers. Although the preferred colours throughout the period were to remain the original blue. In their first season in the division, Motherwell managed a respectable fourth, winning 11 of their 18 games.

 

1895 saw two major developments at the club. They brought home their first professional silverware in the form of the Lanarkshire Cup and the club moved for the final time. The tight muddy Dalziel Park was deemed unsuitable for League football, but Lord Hamilton solved the problem by granting a lease on a piece of land at the Northern end of his Dalziel Estate. The club took Fir Park as the name of their stadium. drinks.gif

 

I can't actually remember who published this originally but Flow has had this and the rest of our history up on the official site for quite a while. It's an interesting and colourful read that will make you proud to be a dosser!

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I know its celtic and we all must hate them but im afraid what your saying there is untrue. Its so untrue that im sure you just made it up.

 

OK maybe the exact time scale isn't correct but it wasn't much longer that stated and the general truth of the statement stands.

 

That's if you accept, like me, information broadcast on a BBC religious affairs programme which looked at sectarianism in Glasgow and which seemed to be pretty well informed since it quoted figures from Celtic's accounts.

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1326323296[/url]' post='324981']

OK maybe the exact time scale isn't correct but it wasn't much longer that stated and the general truth of the statement stands.

 

That's if you accept, like me, information broadcast on a BBC religious affairs programme which looked at sectarianism in Glasgow and which seemed to be pretty well informed since it quoted figures from Celtic's accounts.

 

 

Do Celtic not have their own charity ? I thought that the proceeds of the Phil testamonial at Celtic park went to the Celtic foundation ? Could be wrong though

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Just tell you're collegue at work that we support Motherwell cos we're a SCOTTISH team and our fans dont sing songs about terrorists and dont turn our backs and hold banners critisising the poppy collection for our brave troops once a year. We support Motherwell cos we aren't blinded by stupid tendencies for a foreign country cos we drink guinness. :mellow:

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The one I loved at last weekends cup game was the Queens Park flag in the south stand that quite simply stated "1867"

It kinda said to me "screw you, we were here 1st"

 

 

why dont we reply with a flag saying "proffesional"

 

 

 

kinda says to me "screw you, your still amateurs"

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