Queens Park Football Club are one of the oldest and most famous football clubs in the world – and a club which can truly say that it has played a major part in shaping the game as we know it today.
A famous meeting which took place on July 9, 1867 began with the words: "Tonight at half past eight o'clock, a number of gentlemen met at No. 3 Eglinton Terrace for the purpose of forming a football club."
They might not seem the most noteworthy comments ever made, but they are the prelude to possibly the most important moment in the history of Scottish Football.
In the early years, the club set about laying down the foundation of the modern game. It adopted a passing style of play which employed skilful ball control. It also took a decision that its players would not be paid, adopting the motto: “Ludere causa Ludendi” - to play for the sake of playing.
That decision holds good today, with no Queen’s Park player ever having received a wage from the club.
Their amateur status is just one of the many factors that makes Queen’s Park unique in world senior football.
The Club was at the centre of establishing the Scottish Football Association
and organised the first international meeting between Scotland and England under association rules - and indeed it was Queen’s Park who supplied the entire Scottish side on that very first meeting on 30th November 1872.
Down the years, Queen’s Park have made many other contributions to football, introducing changes to the rules such as free kicks, building Hampden Park in 1903 and being pivotal in the creation of a league structure.
As Football became a professional sport, the Club retained its amateur status, and whilst this has restricted it’s success on the field, it can count the development of many famous players amongst it’s many achievements down the years.
Today, Queen’s Park FC continues to play a crucial role in Scottish Football, acting as a ‘nursery’ for the development of young players whose talents may not otherwise be discovered.
The tradition continues.