Club History

There was an Arthurlie Cricket Club in the town reported as playing in 1867. It was one of a number of cricket clubs in the town and seemed to run at least two teams. It’s likely that the cricket club existed before 1867. It was the custom for some of the cricket players to play football during the winter months to stay fit. Football itself was experiencing something of a revolution with things like the development of railways, various Factory Acts and unified rules all contributing to its growth and popularity.

Arthurlie’s first recorded game came in November 1874 in a Scottish FA Cup match against Dumbarton which the club lost. The club played as a senior side until 1929. The club reached the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup in three consecutive seasons from 1880–81, with their 1883 tie with Kilmarnock Athletic taking four games to settle. A notable early result was a 4–2 defeat of Celtic in the first round of the 1896–97 Scottish Cup. Celtic avenged this defeat with a 7–0 victory in Barrhead at the same stage the following season and the two clubs met again in Arthurlie’s last Scottish Cup tie to date in 1929, with the Glasgow side winning 5–1 at Celtic Park.

With regard to league football, the club became a founder member of the Scottish Football Federation in 1891, winning that competition in its first year before joining the Scottish Football Alliance in 1893. Arthurlie obtained membership of the Scottish Football League in 1901 and achieved modest results in the Second Division, with a highest finish of joint second in 1906–07. That division ceased operations in 1915, during the First World War, but Arthurlie did not immediately rejoin the league after the war ended. They instead waited until 1923 to apply for membership of the newly created Third Division. Arthurlie immediately won the Third Division championship, and four reasonably successful seasons in the Second Division followed. Financial problems forced the club to resign its membership of the league with six games of the 1928–29 season to play. As the club had played all the promotion-chasing clubs, their results were allowed to stand.

The club didn’t disband as some suggest, instead, in 1929-30 it played as an amateur team and was undefeated in a title winning season. Keen to continue having a good standard of football in the town, the club moved to the junior ranks in 1930-31. They found success quickly with a Scottish Junior Cup win in 1937 – defeating Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 5–1 in the final in front of a crowd of 23,000 at Celtic Park. Two unsuccessful final appearances followed, against Fauldhouse United in 1946, then derby rivals Pollok in 1981, before they lifted the trophy again in 1998, taking revenge on Pollok with a 4–0 victory in the final at Fir Park with strikes from Mark McLaughlin, Johnny Millar, Steven Convery and Steven Nugent.

In the Junior Super League era, the club were the first ever winners of the second tier West of Scotland Super League First Division in 2003 and enjoyed an unbroken 15 seasons in the West of Scotland Super League Premier Division until relegation to the newly configured SJFA West Region Championship in 2018.

The club had further trophy success in the 2015 West of Scotland Cup final, defeating Kilwinning Rangers 4–2 at Newlandsfield Park, with goals from Gary Smith (3), and Ryan McGregor. It was Arthurlie’s sixth victory in the West of Scotland Cup, a feat equalled by Pollok in 2017 and only Auchinleck Talbot (12) and Irvine Meadow (9), have won the tournament more often.

In 2020, Arthurlie left the Scottish Junior FA’s West Region league and joined the newly formed West of Scotland Football League. With the COVID pandemic causing the opening season to be cancelled, the club spent 21-22 playing in Conference A, winning the League Championship undefeated and gaining promotion to the WoSFL Premier League for season 22-23 but were relegated to Division One the following season. The club, however, managed to get to its 5th Junior Cup Final but, sadly lost to a late goal in the 2-1 defeat by Darvel.

In 2024-25 the club won the Division One title and re-gained promotion to the Premier League. As a result of league re-organisation in 2025-26 Arthurlie will not be eligible for promotion to the Lowland League West due to the ground being unable to comply with Lowland League regulations.

A decision was taken in June 2025 to re-locate the club to an area behind the retail park on Glasgow Road and our 124 year old ground to be sold off for social housing. A further decision was taken in October 2025 for the club to become a registered charity providing opportunities, social and sporting for the community. The new ground is scheduled to open for the season beginning 2027-28 but in the meantime the club will continue to play in its current ground.

© Copyright 2025 Arthurlie Football Club
Dunterlie Park, Carlibar Rd, Barrhead, G78 1AD