The Early Years

"That this club be called the Morton Football Club"

Greenock Morton were formed in 1873 by James Farell, , Robert Aitken, Alexander Ramsay, Mathew Park and John Barrie with the words above the first to be spoken at the original meeting. The reason for the name Morton is unclear but a couple of possibilities are that the founding group were all from and/or played around the area of Morton Terrace in Greenock, which is only a short distance from todays Cappielow Park, the other possibility is that it could be named after the provost of greenock between 1868-71 James Morton.

Around the 1880s there were a dozen or so teams in the area but Morton were regarded as one of  the best.

The initial group played on ground near Morton Terrace before moving to Garvel Park. In 1879 ,due to demands for the area to be used for industry, Morton moved across the street to the present day Cappielow.

Cappielow had an oval dirt track which was used for athletics and sometimes dog racing around the pitch and the spectators were situated around this perimeter. The area at the west end of the ground become known as, and still is to this day, "The Wee Dublin End". This was due to the housing situated behind this area which housed mainly irish imigrants who had come over to work in the shipyards and docks. A wooden stand was built in the 1880s and replaced by the present day stand in 1931 while an emabankment running along the opposite length of the pitch was replaced with "The Cowshed" in 1958.

In 1890 the Scottish league was formed and professional football was legalised in 1893. Morton decided to become professional in the september of that year and joined the second division. In 1896 Morton formed themselves as a limited company, the first club to do so.

Morton joined the Renfrewshire Cup which was fist played for in 1879 and first won it in 1893 beating St Mirren 3-0.

The 1910s and early 1920s were a very successful time for Morton with the club winning the scottish Cup in 1922, the only time in their history the pinnacle. During this period they also reached the semi-final and won every Renfrewshire cup that was played between 1911 and 1923.

The 1922 cup win was perhaps Mortons greatest success when a Jimmy Goulay goal earned a 1-0 victory over Rangers. Morton having beaten Vale of Leven, Clydebank, Clyde, Motherwell and Aberdeen en route.

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