Aberdeen Harp
Another example of an Irish diaspora football club in Scotland, this time a club from Aberdeen. This club, while they weren’t around for long, still have their place in footballing history, simply for being around. The ‘Harp’ name seems to be a popular one that the Irish community in different Scottish communities picked when thinking of a name for their clubs that they founded. It is funny that in modern football there is only one club that (knowingly by me) use the name Harp in senior football, and they come from Donegal, in the Republic of Ireland. They are Finn Harps FC, who currently play in the League of Ireland First Division (As of writing in 2024). Alas, this is the story of another club who couldn’t keep up the pace of being a senior club. This is the story of Aberdeen Harp.
Aberdeen Harp were founded in 1904 however there were an Aberdeen Harp before them, who only lasted one season back in 1889-90. These two clubs are not connected. And the club I am about to write about are a separate entity altogether. The second Aberdeen Harp first appeared in competitive football when they played in the Aberdeenshire Cup, a cup competition that was only exclusive to clubs in that region. Back in the late 19th century and early 20th century reginal cup competitions were a huge deal as national cups were often seen as to expensive for some clubs to take part in due to travel costs and time constraints.
The first time they entered the competition they reached the final but lost to the newly formed Aberdeen FC (There had been an Aberdeen FC 1881 before the original Aberdeen FC were formed, however a few clubs in the area decided to merge to form Aberdeen FC, the club who play in the SPFL currently.) This Aberdeen FC team were seen as the reserve team of the first team squad of the Aberdeen FC side. The final ended up 3-2 to Aberdeen, but the early success for Aberdeen Harp encouraged the club to push on.
Whilst they didn’t reach another Aberdeenshire Cup final until 1906-07, once again losing to Aberdeen FC in the final, 3-1, the club did apply to enter the Scottish Football Association in 1907, having been refused entry the season before. There inclusion as a member of the SFA meant they were now seen as a senior football club for the first time. The club entered the Scottish Qualifying Cup in the 1907-08 season. This competition was designed as to make sure the Scottish Cup did not have as many mis matches in the early rounds and helped manage fixtures.
Before they played a cup game, they warmed up by playing Montrose in a friendly, winning the game 5-3, making senior football look easy. The Granite City Irishmen as they were nicknamed, followed that win with a win in the first round of the Scottish Qualifying Cup, beating Peterhead, 3-2. They progressed to the second round and faced Elgin City. The first tie was drawn, with Elgin scoring a last-minute equaliser. The replay was lost to Elgin, however Aberdeen Harp saw the season as a success and were determined to progress even further the next season.
That is what they did when they qualified to the third round of the qualifying cup in 1909-10. In the third round they played East Fife, who proved to be too strong for the Harp, winning the game 3-0 thanks to a first half hat-trick from their striker, Willie Wilkie. Wilkie had been the first ever player to score a hat-trick in the Scottish League, a record he gained just one week previously.
Being knocked out by East Fife in the third round of the Scottish Qualifying Cup was a bitter blow, as qualifying for the fourth round of the competition meant an automatic place in the Scottish Cup. The 1910-11 season saw the club compete for the last time in the Qualifying Cup, beating Peterhead Hibernians 8-2 in the first round, but in August 1911 the club was expelled from the Scottish FA’s membership roll and that was the end of Aberdeen Harp as a senior club, and as a club overall.
The club, who usually played their games at Central Park, also played at Pittodrie for cup games. Their expulsion could have come much earlier as they were left without a ground in the 1909-10 season, which nearly resulted in the SFA kicking them out of all competitions.
The men in Maroon only existed for a short period of time, with little success, never lifting a single trophy, however they are still embedded in Aberdeenshire football history and should never be forgotten.