Mossend Swifts F.C.
Mossend Swifts were a Scottish senior football club from the shale mining village of Mossend, just to the north of the town of West Calder, West Lothian. There is now little left of this village (not to be confused with Mossend in North Lanarkshire – contiguous with Bellshill – which also had teams operating in the same era.
| Full name | Mossend Swifts FC |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1879 (1903 merged with West Calder Swifts FC) |
| Dissolved | c.1915 (as West Calder Swifts FC) |
| Ground | Mossend Park (1879-1903), Burngrange Park (1903-1915) |
A renowned cup team, they once defeated Hibernian in the Scottish Cup 2-1 in season 1888-89 at Mossend Park in front of a crowd of 2,000.[1]
Swifts merged with local rivals West Calder F.C. in 1903, with the new club being known as West Calder Swifts, playing at West Calder's Burngrange Park home in the town.
Honours
- Winner: 1887–88, 1895–96
King Cup
- Winner 1887–88, 1888–89, 1896–97, 1910–11 (as West Calder Swifts)
East of Scotland Qualifying Cup
- Runner-up 1897–98
Linlithgowshire Cup
- Winner 1884–85
- Winner 1888–89
- Runner-up 1887–88
Notable former players
Two players were capped for Scotland whilst with Mossend Swifts. Robert (Bob) Boyd won two caps against Ireland in 1889 and Wales in 1891. Dave Ellis was one of five brothers who played for Swifts and earned his solitary cap against Ireland in 1892.
References
- Allan, David. Scottish Football Historian No.59