Hamilton

Clyde Football Club was established in 1877. The club’s first home ground was called Barrowfield Park, located near the Glasgow district of Bridgeton, on the northern bank of the River Clyde, from which the club took its name.

In 1891, Clyde joined the Scottish Football League and their first league match resulted in a dominant 10-3 victory over Vale of Leven. By 1898, the club had outgrown their home at Barrowfield and relocated to Shawfield in Rutherglen, where they would compete until 1986.

During the first half of the twentieth century, this modest club, nicknamed ‘the Bully Wee’, had become a formidable side within Scottish football. Clyde won the final of the Scottish Cup three occasions (1938/39, 1954/55 and 1957/58) in six appearances.

By the late 1960s, many urban areas in Glasgow were being cleared for new developments. Large swathes of the population in these areas were forced to relocate to more remote regions of the city. A significant number of Clyde’s supporters resided in Bridgeton, Dalmarnock, the Gorbals, Oatlands and Rutherglen, all of which experienced significant population reduction during this period. Clyde’s support dwindled and the club has bounced around the lower divisions ever since their last spell in the top tier, which ended in 1975.

In addition to bouncing around the lower tiers of Scottish football, Clyde has moved their home several times since leaving Shawfield in 1986. And although they are now based in Cumbernauld (where they have played since the middle of the 1994/95 season and some nine miles north of the River Clyde as the crow flies), they retain their original name.

At the end of the 2018/19 season, Clyde finished second in the League Two (the bottom tier of the Scottish Professional Football League) table, qualifying them for the League One play-offs alongside third-placed Edinburgh City and fourth-placed Annan Athletic. In the play-off semi-final, Stenhousemuir, who finished second-bottom in League One, were drawn against Annan, while Clyde faced Edinburgh City. After dispatching Edinburgh City with a 4-0 aggregate score over two legs, Clyde faced Annan in the two-leg play-off final. Annan came out ahead in the first leg with a 1-0 victory over Clyde, but the Bully Wee made up the difference with their 2-0 victory in the second leg, securing their promotion from the bottom tier.

To celebrate their centenary in 1977, a version of the current Clyde badge came into regular use, though some version of it may have appeared as early as 1934. This badge features a ship in full sail encircled by a floral wreath. My redesign is an update of this badge. To commemorate their three Scottish Cup victories, I have included three sails for each of the ship’s three masts.

The redesigned home kit is inspired in part by the 2012/13 home kit. For the away kit, I decided to go with an all-red number (used as the third kit colour scheme as recently as the 2019/20 season), a reference to the left-wing political movement known as ‘Red Clydeside’, a major figure of which, James Maxton, served as an MP for the Bridgeton district for more than two decades.

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

Hamilton Academical Football Club was established in 1874 by, as the name suggests, pupils and the rector of Hamilton Academy (1588-1972).

Although the academy’s colours were blue and green, the Accies played in red and white so as to distinguish themselves from the earlier Hamilton Football Club (which folded in 1878).

The Accies competed as founding members of the Lanarkshire Football League from 1893 until, following the resignation of Renton Football Club (1872-1922) in 1897, they were elected to the third division of the Scottish Football League. Since that time, the Accies have reached two Scottish Cup finals (1910/11 and 1934/35), though their spells in the top flight have been mixed. Their best ever top tier performance came in the 1934/35 season, when the Accies finished in fourth place with 48 points, behind Hearts (50), Celtic (52) and Rangers (55).

More recently, at the end of the 2013/14 season, the Accies gained promotion from the Scottish Championship to the Scottish Premiership, joining Dundee in the top tier for the 2014/15 season. Because of 2013’s launch of the Scottish Professional Football League and the restructuring of the Scottish league system, the Accies, who came in just behind Dundee in the Scottish Championship, had another opportunity for promotion by competing in several playoff rounds. There, they faced the Scottish Premiership‘s Hibernian in the second leg of their playoff schedule, playing away at Easter Road with a 0-2 deficit for which they had to make up in order to gain promotion. The Accies performed brilliantly, leading 1-0 at half time and adding a second goal in the 90th minute. After extra time, the score remained 2-0, leaving an aggregate score of 2-2 over two matches, forcing a penalty shootout. In the end, the Hamiltonians were victorious, sending Hibs down to the Scottish Championship and gaining promotion to the top tier for yet another shot at the top tier since their consecutive promotions and relegations in 2008 and 2011, respectively. The Accies’ stay in the top tier would last until the end of the 2020/21 season, when the club finished at the bottom of the table and were relegated to the Scottish Championship.

The Hamilton Academical kit did not feature a badge until 1979, when the current badge was introduced. This badge features a shield with three white cinquefoils derived from the Clan Hamilton coat of arms. The shield is encircled by a ring with the club’s name and founding date. For my redesign, I’ve drawn heavily from the original crest of Hamilton Academy, creating a minimalist ‘HA’ monogram within a shield, topped with a singular white cinquefoil.

I went with the Accies’ classic red and white hoops (used for most home shirts from at least 1876) for the home top and a historical and [an unintentional, though admittedly Inter Milan-esque] black and blue-striped away top. The away strip and both pairs of shorts feature the ‘HA’ monogram alone.

As ever, I am indebted to Dave at Historical Football Kits for some of the historical information used above.

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design & illustration

ReBrand: Clyde FC

ReBrand: Hamilton Academical FC