Glasgow United (Scotland)

Glasgow United FC is a Scottish non-league football club that changed to its current name after being formed as Shettleston Juniors Football & Athletic Club in 1903.

Shettleston were crowned Glasgow League champions in 1923-24 and 1926-27 before a young Tommy Docherty started out his career at Greenfield Park before joining Celtic in 1945. Honours came in the 1950s as the Glasgow Junior Cup was lifted in 1956-57 and 1958-59. 

'The Town' were also runners-up to Irvine Meadow XI at Hampden Park in the Scottish Junior Cup Final during the season of their second success. Another Glasgow Junior Cup came along a year after, with another one following in 1967-68. 

League honours came when Shettleston won the Central Division One title in 1985-86, 1998-99 and 2001-02 after being relegated the previous season. Three West of Scotland Cup wins were also interspersed throughout the same period. along with a trio of Central Sectional League Cup victories.

In 2000-01, Shettleston reached the semi-finals of the Junior Cup and then the last eight the following season as the club had a resurgence under manager Willie Knox, winning the SJFA Central Region Division One title in 2001-02 to be placed in the West Region Super League Division One after reorganisation took place.

Relegation to Central Division One followed in 2003-04, by which time Hugh Kelly had taken over as manager, with Davie McKellar also having a spell in charge of the team for a short period. Another relegation to Division Two followed in 2005-05, before Shettleston won the title in 2009-10 to return to Division One.

Promotion to Super League Division One followed in 2013-14, with the side finishing as runners-up the following season to go up to the Super League Premier Division. Relegation came after just one year at the elevated level via a playoff defeat to Kilwinning Rangers. 

Peter Weatherson arrived as manager in 2016, as the team lost a playoff against Neilston for a place in the higher tier, as once again, Junior football had a reshuffle. Clyde FC announced plans to move into Greenfield Park and redevelop it in readiness for the 2016-17 season, which never came to fruition.

Club owner Hugh Kelly resumed his role as manager as Shettleston were placed in Division One of the West Region ahead of the 2018-19 season. The side was crowned champions of the division on a points per game basis for the aborted 2019-20 season, disrupted by the worldwide pandemic.

Clubs in the SJFA then moved to join the SFA West of Scotland League, with Shettleston sitting out the 2020-21 season, and then changing their name to Glasgow United FC. Their performance in Conference B in 2021-22 saw the club placed in the Second Division for the following season, from where they were relegated to the Third Division in 2022-23.

A midtable and lowly league finish in 2024-25 then ensued.

Glasgow United FC will play in the SFA West of Scotland League Third Division in the 2025-26 season.

My visit

Monday 30th September 2013

A year earlier, I had realised that I had missed a club off my list of those to visit in Glasgow, especially after whizzing by on the train from Edinburgh. I wasn't going to kiss out twice, so while on a visit to the city for a couple of days, I made sure that I fitted a call to Shettleston into my itinerary.

I had walked up Old Shettleston Road after calling in at nearby Vale of Clyde FC and found a couple of blokes going into the ground through a door on the main road. They kindly let me inside past the dressing rooms to the pitchside, where I could survey the scene.

Greenfield Park appeared to be a ground in transition. I was told that it once had a Main Stand down the Railway Side, which was now open hard and grass standing. There were hopes that a replacement would go up in the near future. The right-hand goal was a similar story. 

Where there was once cover, there was now nothing. The Clubhouse End had a fine cover over it with a separate small seated cover behind the goal. The Old Shettleston Road Side consisted of flat standing and then terracing in front of the players' facilities, and then a covered terrace. 

That side of the ground had seen better days, but it oozed character. Work looked to be underway to make improvements. I mentioned to one of the gents that I was going to St Mirren against Aberdeen that evening. He suggested that it could be a decent game and predicted a 1-1 scoreline. 

He also suggested I use the inviting-looking clubhouse for some refreshment before I set off to my next destination. Sadly, as ever, time was my master and with a tight schedule ahead, I declined and walked down to Carntyne station to set off to Yoker, my next Scottish non-league destination.