Levendale F.C.

The club was founded in 1879 in the wake of fellow Alexandria side Vale of Leven. It joined the Scottish Football Association in 1883,^[1] after winning 5 of its 10 matches in 1882–83, although one of its players (James Buchanan) had suffered a serious leg break in a friendly against the 1st D.R.V. in February (which Levendale nevertheless won 7–1).^[2][3]

Levendale was always a minnow on the Dumbartonshire scene, never claiming more than 30 members; in its final season it was the smallest club in Dumbartonshire.^[4] Given the power of the county in the Scottish game - from 1875 to 1888, only one Scottish Cup final did not include a club from the shire - the chances of such a small club ever gaining success were non-existent.

This was borne out by Levendale's record in competitive football. The Scottish Cup was drawn on a regional basis in the era and the only tie the club played - against Vale of Leven in its first entry, in the 1883–84 Scottish Cup - was a 12–0 defeat, 9 of the goals coming in the first half.^[5] Faced with the same sort of humiliation the following season against Dumbarton, the club scratched,^[6] allowing Dumbarton to arrange a more lucrative friendly with Walsall Swifts - the speed of such arrangements suggesting Levendale had accepted a consideration to step down.^[7]

Levendale also withdrew from its two entries in the Dumbartonshire Cup in 1884–85 and 1885–86,^[8] and even scratched to the moribund Rock in the first round of the 1885–86 Scottish Cup.^[9]

A new Levendale club was formed in 1889,^[10] which turned senior in 1892.^[11]

The club wore blue jerseys and hose, and white knickers.^[12]

The club's home ground was on Balloch Road, 5 minutes' walk from the station,^[13] which it shared with Jamestown.^[14]

• Alexander Henderson, who also played for Vale of Leven and Renton^[15]