The minutes of a meeting held on July 9, 1867 begin 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. That meeting in 3 Eglinton Terrace on the south side of Glasgow saw the formation of
Queen’s Park Football Club, and the start of Scottish Football.
The game had been played before then, in public schools where they had their own code and their own established rules. But it was Queen’s who really set the ball rolling. The club set about laying down the foundation of the modern game, adopting a passing style of play which employed skillful ball control. The team worked as a unit, utilizing team tactics, unlike that of their contemporaries of the day who played an ‘individualistic’ style of game which used kick-and-rush tactics, ‘dribbling’ with the ball, hacking and rough play.
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.
That amateur status is just one of the many factors that makes Queen’s Park unique in world of senior football.
From the history section at www.queensparkfc.co.uk
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Well, after a two-year sabbatical from the dynasty forums here, I’m back with what I hope will be a reasonably entertaining foray into the newest version of Football Manager, FM19.
If you can recall, I wrote for a number of years about a long-term FM11 save using little
Dover Athletic FC from the sixth tier of English football (that thread can be found here:
FM – From Semi-Pro Minnows to Champions League Glory: Dover Athletic FC - Front Office Football Central.
I’d take that little club all the way to the top, winning multiple Premier League titles and three Champions League titles, in addition to countless other honours.
It was easily the longest time I ever spent with a save in any game I’ve played.
I played FM11 for over six years and finally broke down and bought FM18 a year ago but never really got into it…the scouting system was just too much for me and the game didn’t seem as fun anymore.
But great reviews for this year’s version of the game brought me back for another go. I started doing some research on finding a new team to manage and I’d eventually come across the fascinating story of
Queen’s Park FC in Glasgow.
It looks like the club’s amateur status has been hardcoded into the game so you can immediately imagine the challenge of trying to forge ahead with a squad of volunteer, unpaid amateur players in a professional league, directed by a staff of volunteer, unpaid coaches.
It certainly won’t be easy but I’m guessing it will be a fun challenge.
The one difference from my Dover dynasty is this: while I always hoped I could get Dover to the top of European football, I have no such illusions about Queen’s Park FC. Therefore, I plan on handling this dynasty much differently and more like I would if I was an actual “Sunday Afternoon Footballer” trying to get into real-life management – I’d start at the bottom with a volunteer position and try to work my way into better paying jobs and bigger clubs as time moved forward.
So, if I have a chance to leave Queen’s Park for greener pastures, I will. I think my end game here is to work my way up the proverbial “management ladder” and eventually take the reins at one of the larger clubs in the world.
Hopefully I can take some readers along for the ride.