Records of the Clydesdale Harriers, Amateur Athletics Club, Clydebank

The collection includes minute books of committee meetings and annual general meetings (1895-2006) as well as account books (1892-1938, 1964-1982) and correspondence. The collection also contains many ring binders with manuscripts, race results, news clippings, correspondence, photographs, certificates, club handbooks and personal accounts compiled by Brian McAusland in writing various historical volumes about the Clydesdale Harriers. There are also ephemeral items, most notably sashes and a club badge.

The Clydesdale Harriers are an amateur athletics organisation established in 1885 and based in Clydebank in West Dunbartonshire. The Clydesdale Harriers were founded following a meeting in Glasgow on 4th May 1885. Originally a multi-sport outfit, with football, cycling and rowing sections, the focus of the group soon changed to the promotion of "amateur athletics generally, and cross country running in particular". Members were drawn from the wider west of Scotland area rather than just Clydebank or Glasgow with different sections set up in various locales, with the central base being Glasgow. Other clubs soon sprung up, some originally sections of Clydesdale, which helped to boost the profile of amateur athletics and led to the foundation of a Scottish Cross Country Association in 1886.

Membership numbers grew from 120 in 1887 to a high of almost a thousand by the start of the First World War. Notable early members included various footballers, including early players and administrators of Rangers and Willie Maley who was manager of Celtic, as well as Sam Stevenson, who competed in the 1908 Olympic Games in London - the only Clydesdale Harrier to have competed in the Olympics.
The club's early success meant it was possible to host regular athletics meetings and competitions, as well as attract commercial sponsorship and have the means to send a team to the British National Cross Country Championship. The club seems to have been set up along the lines of a 'Victorian gentlemen's club' with club rooms in Glasgow and was renowned as early for 1887 for 'having more really first class members in every department...The West of Scotland may well be proud of having such a strong club' ('The Scots Umpire', 6th September 1887).
The First World War saw a drop in membership, with many committee members killed in action. The club's minute book for the period has no committee or annual general meetings between April 1915 and January 1919 with the last meeting making note of the loss of William Johnstone in France. Membership numbers were also low due to athletes moving for work.
The 1930s saw more successes and greater numbers. A ladies' section was established in 1932, with members Jean Tait and Alison Ritchie winning the Scottish championships. The Second World War had less of an impact than the first, with committee meetings and races continuing, albeit in a somewhat diminished form (though no minutes exist of committee meetings between 1943 and September 1945). By the Second World War, activities were centred around Clydebank with most committee meetings by this time and indeed afterwards held at the Bruce Street Baths, now disused.
The 1950s were a particularly successful decade with championship titles won by men and women's section, though that this success was short-lived with many members leaving the area by the end of the decade. Successes were soon more forthcoming with numerous athletes representing Scotland at various levels and the club winning the Western District Championship of Scotland three times in the 1970s. The ladies' section was particularly successful in the late 1960s - at the SWAAA Championships in 1967, 'they won more points than any other club except the all-conquering Maryhill Harriers Ladies'.
Difficulties in the operation of the club in the later part of the 20th century included the lack of adequate athletic facilities, the use of various, disparate facilities for the various groups represented within the club that followed as well as the effect of rival clubs, such as the now-defunct Clydebank AC, making membership recruitment and retention harder.
The club still exists as of this date (November 2013) with senior and junior training taking place in the Clydebank area. Club results and information are now disseminated through the club website and blog. Regular reports of club activities appear in the local press.

Sources -
Clydesdale Harriers (http://www.clydesdaleharriers.co.uk/index.html) (accessed 13th November 2013)
Clydesdale Harriers (http://www.clydesdaleharriers.blogspot.co.uk/) (accessed 13th November 2013)
'Clydesdale Harriers – Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clydesdale_Harriers) (accessed 13th November 2013)
Google News (http://www.google.co.uk/search?aq=f&hl=en&gl=uk&tbm=nws&btnmeta_news_search=1&q=Clydesdale+Harriers&safe=active) (accessed 13th November 2013)
McAusland, Brian (2007) In The Beginning...A Selection of the Founding Fathers, self-published
McAusland, Brian (2008) A Further Selection: Selected from 120 Years of Athletics, self-published
Minute books
Online history article (http://www.clydesdaleharriers.co.uk/Following_a_meeting_in_Glasgow_on_May_4th_1885.pdf) (accessed 13th November 2013)

The materials have been arranged into five series – minute books, account books, collected papers, manuscripts and miscellaneous items. The minute books are bound volumes with minutes of committee meetings and annual general meetings with each book constituting an item. The account books are also bound volumes with records of accounts over time. Each book constitutes an item. The collected papers are made up of various ring binders, with each ring binder constituting a file. These folders were organised by the donor and it was felt to keep the original system. The manuscript series are a series of binders, each containing a manuscript of a text regarding the history of the Clydesdale Harriers.

This collection is open to use. To view the collection, please contact the archivist to arrange a visit.

The full catalogue is available on our website. To view the catalogue, please click here: Records of the Clydesdale Harriers

Further accruals are anticipated.