Rumford Rovers& Redding Athletic
From Laurieston to Maddiston there is now a nearly contiguous line of villages just seperated from Falkirk because of Callendar Park.
Back in the 19th Century they existed relatively apart from one another and all based upon their own colliery and/or foundry.
The villages were [indeed still are] Laurieston, Westquarter, Redding, Reddingmuirhead, Brightons, Rumford& Maddiston. With the exception of Laurieston very few senior clubs came out of these 'outskirts', especially when compared to the intense rivalries to the West of Falkirk.
Rumford Rovers
This club, at the very least, began life as a serious club sometime during the summer of 1887, but toward the end, they were simply a laughing stock, if not simply a sham club.
Playing their matches at Wallacelea Park, Rumford were always going to struggle against clubs from bigger town when in the Stirlingshire Cup, never mind the Scottish Cup.
It must be said that not only did Rumford not provide a huge pool of players, but the local clubs largely shunned them when it came to friendlies, only the odd match against the 2nd XI being played. And without good matches they fell by the way. However by the time of professionalism they were still appearing on the rosters of the Stirlingshire & Scottish FAs, the only problem being that they never fulfilled any of their later fixtures.
In fact, there was often controversy, even intrigue, in the local press as to whether they existed as a club at all. The two main theories being that a local un-named politician was paying for the upkeep of the club in order to garner votes in local elections: or that somebody was maintaining a 'paper club' to retain voting rights on the SFA Council, either way both the Stirlingshire & Scottish FAs got too suspicious of their lack of playing record and forcibly ejected them.
Redding Athletic
Unlike their cousins up the Braes, Redding Athletic were never involved in any controversies, like Rumford they were rather inept at football at the senior level. Formed slightly before Rumford [they played their first recorded match on March 2nd 1887] at the end of the 1886/87 Season.
I have no record as yet where they played their home matches, but did read once that they played on the playing fields at the southern tip of Laurieston.
The most famous event in the short history of the club was hosting the largest home defeat in Scottish Senior Football, losing 0-17 to Camelon later in 1887.
Redding suffered from the same problems as Rumford, not enough local talent, not enough of a support base, not enough matches against larger clubs to get a regular income. Without the income they just fizzled out during 1892. Not with a bang like Rumford Rovers, they just stopped, with no announcement, being in the papers.
From Laurieston to Maddiston there is now a nearly contiguous line of villages just seperated from Falkirk because of Callendar Park.
Back in the 19th Century they existed relatively apart from one another and all based upon their own colliery and/or foundry.
The villages were [indeed still are] Laurieston, Westquarter, Redding, Reddingmuirhead, Brightons, Rumford& Maddiston. With the exception of Laurieston very few senior clubs came out of these 'outskirts', especially when compared to the intense rivalries to the West of Falkirk.
Rumford Rovers
This club, at the very least, began life as a serious club sometime during the summer of 1887, but toward the end, they were simply a laughing stock, if not simply a sham club.
Playing their matches at Wallacelea Park, Rumford were always going to struggle against clubs from bigger town when in the Stirlingshire Cup, never mind the Scottish Cup.
It must be said that not only did Rumford not provide a huge pool of players, but the local clubs largely shunned them when it came to friendlies, only the odd match against the 2nd XI being played. And without good matches they fell by the way. However by the time of professionalism they were still appearing on the rosters of the Stirlingshire & Scottish FAs, the only problem being that they never fulfilled any of their later fixtures.
In fact, there was often controversy, even intrigue, in the local press as to whether they existed as a club at all. The two main theories being that a local un-named politician was paying for the upkeep of the club in order to garner votes in local elections: or that somebody was maintaining a 'paper club' to retain voting rights on the SFA Council, either way both the Stirlingshire & Scottish FAs got too suspicious of their lack of playing record and forcibly ejected them.
Redding Athletic
Unlike their cousins up the Braes, Redding Athletic were never involved in any controversies, like Rumford they were rather inept at football at the senior level. Formed slightly before Rumford [they played their first recorded match on March 2nd 1887] at the end of the 1886/87 Season.
I have no record as yet where they played their home matches, but did read once that they played on the playing fields at the southern tip of Laurieston.
The most famous event in the short history of the club was hosting the largest home defeat in Scottish Senior Football, losing 0-17 to Camelon later in 1887.
Redding suffered from the same problems as Rumford, not enough local talent, not enough of a support base, not enough matches against larger clubs to get a regular income. Without the income they just fizzled out during 1892. Not with a bang like Rumford Rovers, they just stopped, with no announcement, being in the papers.