They provided four of the team which played England in the first Scotland Junior international fixture in May 1889, with forward Jock Espie scoring the side's first ever goal.

Espie later enjoyed a career in England with Burnley and Manchester City while full-back Bob Foyers went on to play for Newcastle United and the Scotland senior side.

An 11–0 thrashing of United Abstainers was an auspicious debut and Burnbank eventually reached the fourth round before losing 1–0 to Royal Albert.

[4] Swifts accepted an invitation to join the inaugural season of the Scottish Football Federation in 1891–92,[5] and was considered one of the title favourites, which seemed to be borne out by the team winning its first match (against Kilmarnock Athletic) 7–1.

Other former Burnbank players include Tommy Cairns, Bobby Shearer, Willie Telfer and Jimmy Watson who all went on to win full international caps for Scotland later in their careers.