The first match recorded for the club is a defeat at home to Whifflet Britannia in October 1886.[2] The club turned senior by joining the Scottish Football Association in 1888[3] and it entered both the Scottish Cup and the Lanarkshire Cup for the first time in 1888–89.
The club was however entirely unsuccessful, with Albion Rovers already firmly established in Coatbridge. Its two Scottish Cup ties were both heavy defeats - 6–1 to Carfin Shamrock in 1888–89[4] and 12–0 to Royal Albert in 1889–90;[5] the latter defeat on the heels of the club's biggest victory, an 8–1 win over a poorly-represented Cambuslang St Bride's.[6] Its three entries in the Lanarkshire also all ended in defeat and the club never played in the consolation tournament.
After the introduction of the Scottish League in 1890–91, the club was moribund. Its last recorded fixture was a 5–0 home defeat to Hamilton Harp in February 1891.[7] It entered the Scottish Cup until 1893–94, but did not play a tie, scratching in every season,[8] including in its last appearance in the first round proper in 1890–91 to Summerton Athletic.[9] The last entry in 1893–94 saw the club scratch to Carfin Shamrock.[10] Its last Lanarkshire Cup tie was a defeat at Airdriehill in the first round in 1890–91 and it withdrew from the consolation competition.[11]
The club does not seem to have played in 1892–93, 1893–94, or 1894–95, although it kept its Scottish Football Association membership going until 1894 and hosted a junior football tournament until 1892,[12] but by August 1895, the club had definitely dissolved, "showing the effect that professionalism has had in the provinces".[13]
Colours
The club wore dark green shirts and black knickers.[14]
^"Football notes". Dumbarton Herald and County Advertiser: 2. 26 September 1888.
^"Football". Rutherglen Reformer: 6. 22 October 1886.
^Scottish FA Minutes 1887–90. Glasgow: Scottish Football Association. 21 August 1888. p. 55.
^"Carfin Shamrock v Whifflet Shamrock". Coatbridge Express: 4. 5 September 1888. The report gives the score as 3–0 - presumably a half-time score as later sources record it as 6–1
^"Royal Albert v Whifflet Shamrock". Rutherglen Reformer: 7. 13 September 1889.
^"Thrashing the Bride". Scottish Referee: 4. 2 September 1889.
^"Football notes". Lanarkshire Upper Ward Examiner: 6. 21 February 1891.
^"Linthouse v Whifflet Shamrock". Glasgow Herald: 9. 28 September 1891.
^"Football notes". Rutherglen Reformer: 8. 12 September 1890.
^M'Dowall, John (1894). Scottish Football Annual 1894–95. Glasgow: Hay Nisbet. p. 42.
^""Coatbridge Express" Cup ties". Airdrie & Coatrbdige Advertiser: 6. 4 April 1891.
^"Football notes". Rutherglen Reformer: 3. 25 March 1892.
