Benburb (Scotland)

Benburb FC is a Scottish football club from the Govan district of Glasgow in Scotland, who were formed in 1885. It is thought that the name derived from a village in Northern Ireland of the same name, as many Irish immigrants were involved in the club at the time, with the club colours being green and white.

A merger with Crown Athletic was mooted in 1895 to form a new Oatlands FC, but it fell through owing to differences in opinions at the time. Three years later, the club changed its colours to blue and white.

The original Tinto Park

Their Benburb Park home was lost, but the club found a new home at Govandale Park, the home of a former club called Linthouse. In their early days, 'Bens' produced many players who went on to play for Celtic before the club hit its heights around the 1930s, with success in the Scottish Junior Cup.

The club had moved to Tinto Park in the shadows of Ibrox in 1932 as the cup was lifted in 1933-34 with a 3-1 victory against Bridgeton Waverley and again in 1935-36, as and then Yoker Athletic were defeated 1-0.

They also reached the finals of 1938 and 1943 before being beaten the first time by Cambuslang Rangers, followed by disappointment as Kirkintilloch Rob Roy inflicted heartbreak after the tie went to a second replay.

The prestigious West of Scotland Cup had been won in the 1940-41 and 1941-42 seasons before this epic.

Many top-quality players began their careers with Benburb. Frank Dunlop and George Johnstone, who starred in the win against Yoker, returned to Hampden Park the following season when they appeared for Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Final in front of 137,000 fans against Celtic.

Jock Shaw began his career with Benburb before moving on to Airdrieonians, from where the legendary Bill Struth signed him for Rangers in 1938. Smith went on to a glittering career with the Ibrox club and Scotland before joining the coaching staff. Alex Forsyth appeared in the Benburb goal for seventeen years after a trial at Rangers came to nothing.

John 'Eric' Smith moved from Bens to Celtic in 1953 and then on to Leeds United in 1960.  Around this period, Alex Ferguson was a regular at Tinto Park as a supporter cheering on his favourite player of the time, Tommy Douglas.

Future Celtic legend Tommy Burns started his career as a goalkeeper at Tinto Park before finding a midfield place more to his liking as he moved on to Maryhill. Benburb returned to Hampden for the 1980 Junior Cup Final, but they were overpowered on the big day by Baillieston. The West of Scotland Cup was won for a third time in 1982-83.

In the 1999-2000 season, league honours were registered as the West of Scotland Central League title was clinched. Following junior football reorganisation, Benburb were placed in the same division, before Frank Lovering took over as manager in 2002.

Over the years, Tinto Park was hit by vandalism and neglect after crowds dropped off after the post-war boom years. However, this didn't stop the now Sir Alex Ferguson from making a visit in 2010 to visit his old hero Tommy Douglas and the club's committee.

Ferguson chatted about the good old days before signing autographs and posing for pictures with the fans. The future Aberdeen, Scotland and Manchester United boss had attended the match when the record Tinto Park crowd of 20,000 turned out.

The final game at Tinto Park came on March 29th, 2014, as Benburb defeated Johnstone Burgh 2-1 in a Central District First Division game. The club played at various venues while the old ground was prepared for redevelopment.

The Bens finished the season in third place, while their 2014-15 season on the road ended in relegation. New Tinto Park, which was built on land behind the old ground, was opened with a new artificial surface in the summer of 2015 as Paul Lovering took over as manager from his father.

Benburb took an immediate liking to their new home as a runners-up spot in the West of Scotland Central District Second Division fired them to promotion at the end of the 2015-16 campaign. The momentum continued as the side went up to the Premiership from the newly formed Championship in 2018-19.

All SJFA clubs joined the SFA West of Scotland League, with Benburb relegated from its Premier Division in 2021-22, before they regained their sixth-tier status in the league pyramid twelve months later. Lovering Jr departed after nine years in charge of the team to be replaced by Marty Campbell in February 2024.

Benburb dropped down a level once more at the end of the 2024-25 season.

Benburb FC will compete in the West of Scotland League First Division in the 2025-26 season.

My visits

Thursday 28th January 2010

Google Maps continued to be a non-stop source of assistance to me on my travels to various places in judging distances and finding my way around many new places. It was while I was working out a possible shortcut by alighting from the train at Cardonald on my way back from a visit to St Mirren in Paisley to get to Ibrox.

I noticed a football ground between the station and the stadium, and after research, I came across Benburb FC.

When the day in question came, I ended up taking the Glasgow Subway to Ibrox. I couldn't get inside, but I took the ten-minute walk up Edmiston Drive and then Shieldhall Road before taking a turn up Craigton Road and Drive to the locked gates of the ground.

This small obstacle wasn't to stop me from seeing inside. The road led to an open field from where I was behind the south goal with an open view of the magnificent arena. I have subsequently read similarities being made with the old Champion Hill ground of Dulwich Hamlet, and I could see that.

Overgrown open terracing was behind the near goal and down the far side. The near side had a full-length covered terrace with cinder stepping. The far end had a small overgrown bank, and then the changing rooms and vandalised clubhouse in the corner by the entrance.

I walked away trying to visualise what the ground must have been like with all the terracing intact and huge crowds filling it at a time when the club was the pride of the community rather than a playground for mindless vandalism.

Hopefully, the future would see the good times return to Tinto Park and offer a rest bite to the heroic volunteers keeping the club going.

Thursday 18th May 2017

I was visiting Glasgow for the evening’s Premiership clash between Partick Thistle and Celtic, but I had plenty of time to kill after arriving at Glasgow Airport. I’d already visited the homes of Renfrew and then St Anthony’s.

From Cardonald Park, it was just a ten-minute walk through the mini industrial estate below the M8 motorway. A path at the end of Meiklewood Road took me through to Drumoyne Road, from where another path led to the back of New Tinto Park.

The new ground was enclosed by a high wire fence on top of a bank. It had been built on the old land where I’d taken my photos of the original ground. It was easy to take photos through the fencing. I’d read of plenty of traditionalists who bemoaned the lack of character of New Tinto Park, and they had a point. 

However, the new place was sustainable, neat, tidy and built for community use with its new brick changing rooms and artificial pitch. There was spectator access on all four sides of the ground, with hard standing behind the pitch rail. The only real ‘furniture’ for supporters was a semi-permanent bank of open seating down the motorway side.

The main entrance was on Craigton Road. It looked like the car park was used by other patrons on non-match days. There was even a Benburb FC minibus parked up. It looked like the club had a bright future ahead. In contrast, I headed to take some photos at Ibrox; a club who were in a total mess at the time, but at least they had their traditional home!