Johnstone Wanderers F.C.
Johnstone Wanderers Football Club, originally called Wanderers before 1891, was an association football club from Dundee, Scotland. History A dispute between the players and committee of the Dundee Our Boys club in 1885 resulted in a number of players deciding to quit the Our Boys club, and set up a new club, named Wanderers. The new club, having "forked off" the Our Boys, was nicknamed the Forkies as a result. Within a season it had 150 members, which made it equal in size with the long-established Strathmore. First season and first silverware The club joined the Scottish Football Association in August 1886, the name being recorded as Dundee Wanderers, although the club was officially called simply Wanderers. It played in the Scottish Cup and Forfarshire Cup from the 1886–87 season, being given an ostensibly easy tie in the national competition at home to Broughty, a club one-third of the Wanderers' size; the consequent "wholly unexpected" 7–2 defeat being such a shock to the crowd that it turned violent, and the referee walked off with 10 minutes to go (with the score 5–1) for his own safety. Christie of Forfar Athletic (who happened to be watching) retrieved the thrown-away whistle to complete the game. The club recovered quickly to beat East End 5–1 in the Forfarshire Cup the following week, but lost 3–2 to Forfar Athletic in the next round, having been two up at half time. The Wanderers even finished the season with silverware, winning the Dundee Burns Club Charity Cup - a competition for the senior clubs in Dundee - by beating Harp, who had won the competition for the previous three seasons. 4,000 people (paying a gate of £27) watched the 9–1 win over East End in the semi-final, Over twice that number watched the final at West Craigie Park, which Wanderers won 4–1 after a "splendid game". 1887–88: Scottish Cup quarter-finalists The club's best run in the Scottish Cup came in the following season. In the first round it defeated Lochee 7–0. In the second round, the club was drawn to play at Aberdeen Rovers, but a financial inducement caused the Rovers to visit Morgan Park instead. Wanderers scored 7 goals in the first half and declared at 10; the Rovers were described as "a strong, heavy team" but lacking "combination" (teamwork). A 5–2 fifth-round win over Carfin Shamrock, despite being reduced to 10 men for the last half-an-hour through injury, put the club into the quarter-finals. The club received the worst draw possible, being drawn away to the Renton club which at the time was nigh-on unbeatable, and the Wanderers also lost half-back Stewart to injury before the game. Nevertheless, the Wanderers took the game to Renton and took the lead after four minutes, before the home side fought back with five unanswered goals. Wanderers' goalkeeper Whitton in particular drew admiration. The club's run in the Forfarshire ended in a semi-final at Arbroath, which attracted a record crowd for Gayfield of over 4,000, and Arbroath -