Govan (/ˈɡʌvən/ GUV-ən; Cumbric: Gwovan;[3] Scots: Gouan; Scottish Gaelic: Baile a' Ghobhainn) is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland.

Govan was the site of a ford and later a ferry which linked the area with Partick for seasonal cattle drovers.

During the Viking Age, following the sack of Dumbarton Rock in 870, Govan is believed to have been one of the major centres of the Kingdom of Strathclyde.

It may have been used to contain the body or relics of St. Constantine, a Pictish king seemingly killed by Vikings in 877 – the style of carving indicates an origin in the late 9th or early 10th century.

Govan's earliest recorded name may be found in the Historia regum Anglorum attributed to Symeon of Durham.

This is a 12th-century Latin source, but one believed to be based on much earlier materials; it records a place near Dumbarton Rock named Ouania.

Bishop Leslie in his Scotia Descriptio of 1578 says it got its name from the excellence of its ale (God-win), whereas Chalmers in his Caledonia says it is derived from Scottish Gaelic, Gamhan (a ditch).

[10] Not much is known about any medieval village that may have surrounded the church until 1454 when it is recorded that whole houses, barns and mills in the village were brought down by a great flood.In 1756 the Govan Weavers Society was formed to assist members and their families and this organisation continues as a charity in Govan holding annual events and supporting local causes.

When the railway was to be built in the late nineteenth century, however, the confusion over proper descriptions in the land titles made necessary legal transactions difficult and had to be reconciled.

"[13] By the early part of the 19th century, Govan was rapidly losing its rural appearance and assuming the character of a town with the development of new industries and factories, including Reid's Dye Works and Pollok's Silk Mill.

By the 1860s, the village needed a higher order of administration and it was made a burgh in 1864, under the General Police (Scotland) Act 1862.

At the time, it was the fifth largest burgh in Scotland and contained within its boundaries the areas of Plantation, Cessnock, Ibrox, Craigton, and Drumoyne.

[15] With Morris Pollok as its first Provost, the Burgh and its Commissioners ensured that during the next 48 years Govan became a well-equipped, modern town.

The latest victory for the SNP was in the 2007 Scottish parliamentary elections, when Nicola Sturgeon became the MSP for the constituency.

[21] The area has had a reputation for deprivation and poverty, partly due to the construction of housing estates in the 1930s to relieve the overcrowded slum district of The Gorbals.

The most famous of these housing estates is Moorepark, sometimes referred to jocularly as "The Wine Alley"[22] – this area was named by The Independent newspaper in April 1994 as one of the worst areas in Britain, with drug abuse being a widespread problem and unemployment standing at nearly 30% (up to three times the national average at the time).

He also procured a contract with the Royal Navy to produce vessels, notably the Jackal, the Lizard, and the Bloodhound.

The following year, Fairfields and the other major Clydeside yards (Stephens, Connels, Yarrows and John Browns) were merged to form Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS).

[27] In 1971, Upper Clyde Shipbuilders went into receivership and the Conservative government led by Edward Heath refused to give them a £6,000,000 loan.

Rather than go on strike, which was the traditional form of industrial action, the union leadership of the yards decided to have a work-in and complete the orders that the shipyards had in place.

[29] Kværner of Norway, as part of a planned development of a large international shipbuilding group, took over Govan.

[31] In 1999, GEC's Marconi Marine division purchased the yard when Kværner announced its departure from the shipbuilding industry.

who traditionally incorporate the red and black civic colours in the socks of their kit;[43] their Ibrox Stadium has a stand named for Govan (the closest to the heart of the burgh), although officially this was re-named after their former player Sandy Jardine in 2014.