Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football team that existed from 1872 to 1967 and were based in Glasgow. One of the great clubs of early Scottish Football, Third Lanark were the first high profile Scottish football club to be declared bankrupt and dissolved.

Third Lanark started as the football team for the Third Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers. Known as 3rd LRV the name was changed to Third Lanark A.C. when the official links with the military were severed. The club was a founder member of the Scottish Football League. They had also won the league championship in 1904, as well as winning the Scottish Cup in 1889 and 1905 and the Glasgow Cup in 1903, 1904, 1909 and 1963.

Third Lanark were known as Thirds, the Warriors, the Redcoats or the Hi-Hi.

Third Lanark played at Cathkin Park. This was previously known as Hampden Park (the second of three grounds to bear this name) before Queen's Park sold it to Third Lanark. Cathkin Park is currently owned by Glasgow City Council, and remains of the terracing can still be seen.

The club was declared bankrupt and was liquidated in 1967. Boardroom corruption allegedly played a role in this, the chairman of Thirds may have wished to personally profit from the sale of Cathkin Park for property development. Cathkin still stands as a monument to a once-great football club. Many Third Lanark fans began supporting Pollok in the Scottish Junior Leagues, and most still do so to this day.

However a youth team recently adopted the name Third Lanark Athletic, and are playing from Cathkin Park once more.

Recently Billy Connolly annonced on a local radio station that he has always wanted to buy a Scottish football club and that he was interested in either buying financially troubled Partick Thistle or revive Third Lanark with fellow legendary Scots showman Sean Connery. This was said in a rather informal and humorous manner. However, any person interested in taking on the Third Lanark revival campaign will have to be willing to spend a fair sum of money in order to seat the old stands, re-lay the pitch and pay the players more than just £20 as was demanded by the original Third's footballers, to name just a few things. Talk of a revival did spark up loyal Third's fans hopes who haven't seen their side play since 1967.

External links

• History of Third Lanark
• In-depth history of Third Lanark
• Pictures of Cathkin Park
• Some more pictures of Cathkin Park
• The Guardian research on Third Lanark

Scottish football clubs | Sport in Glasgow | Historical football clubs | Defunct Scottish football clubs

Third Lanark AC