In the early 20th century the four 'Ancient' Universities (Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St. Andrews) were given a bye into the 3rd qualifying round of the Scottish Cup.

The club have appeared in the Scottish Cup proper on three occasions losing 10–1 to Cowdenbeath in 1923, 3–;0 at home to Bathgate in 1929 and 6–1 away to Nithsdale Wanderers in 1930.

A second XI can be traced back to the 1923–24 season, but it is unknown exactly when the club first entered a second team into the Fife Amateur League.

The format of the QPS changed a number of times over the years, but settled finally in the late 1990s when BUCS took over the co-ordination of Scottish University Football from the now defunct SUSF.

St Andrews 1st XI have, since the late nineties, been in Scottish Conference 2A suffering many years of frustration and near misses in their quest for promotion.

In 2002 the Colleges came close to winning the Trophy and entry to BUSA plate but were lost the league by 1 point to Stirling University.

Since the club has an ever-changing roster of Office Bearers and limited resources, it has been difficult to attract coaches of a high quality on a regular basis.

In the late 1980s, Andy Law, a barman from the Central Bar on Market Street, volunteered to coach the First XI, providing much needed objectivity from the sidelines.

During the 1997–98 season, the then AU president and 1st XI left-back, Thomas Finbar Patrick William Doyle, drafted in Eric Walker to help first team captain Ross Gilder, whose form was suffering as a result of the dual strains of team selection and his ever increasing waistline.

Walker's arrival, a former Scottish Amateur Cup winner (sporting discipline unknown), looked like it would herald a new era of total football within the club.

However, the new managerial duo only ever really hit it off during happy hour which led to both departing (Gilder to The Kinnes Fry Bar and Walker to Bell's distillery) shortly after.