Renton Thistle Football Club was founded in the first flush of new Vale football clubs, in 1873. It co-existed with 2 ot...her Renton football clubs at that time and went on to outlast all of them. We have to thank Billy and Christine Livingstone for this photo of a Renton Thistle team of 1926, displaying a cup which they had won. In 1926 Renton Thistle were playing in the Vale District League against other locals teams such as Bonhill Athletic, St Martin’s Boys Guild, St Agnes’ Boys Guild who came down from Glasgow to play in the league, Bonhill Union, Young Emmett, Bonhill Celtic, Renton Boys Guild, and Renton Victoria, the team for which the great Alex Jackson and his brother had played.
They competed in the Scottish Secondary Cup, but lost, so it is not that trophy which appears in the photo. So far, we have been unable to find any reference to them winning a cup in 1926, but it’s possible that the cup is actually for winning the league – a flag wouldn’t have been a great deal of use to these clubs. However the search for the Cup’s name will continue.
On the other hand, and unlike most photos of that vintage, we do have the names of everyone in the photo. The line-up is as follows:Back Row: R McLeod, R Davies, W Kennedy, J.Folan, D Brown
Middle Row: J Bell, P Folan, T Lamont, R.Law, W Chalmers, T Wrethman, J.Moore, R Smith, J McLure
Front Row: J Beaton, Bunty Mills, A McDermid, A Henderson, H Duffy, R Livingstone, T Mulholland
