Being an offshoot of an existing club meant that it had a large stock of members from which to choose a footballing XI, and in 1878, its 60 members made it one of the larger sides in the Glasgow area.

Indeed, the earliest recorded fixture for the club was between its first two XIs at the start of 1878.

1–0 at Randyford (the ground of the East Stirlingshire cricket club).

[3] Despite this advantage, it conceded a bye to Wellpark in its first Scottish Cup entry in 1878–79,[4] possibly because it was not allowed to play as it did not have a private ground; instead it entered the West of Scotland Cup for teams playing on public parks.

Its only tie in the Scottish Cup - in the first round the following season, by which time the club had shortened its name to Govanhill[5] - was a 7–0 hammering at Whitefield, McDougall scoring five for the home side.