Olympic Football Club, occasionally called Paisley Olympic, was a Scottish football club based in Paisley, Renfrewshire, that existed from 1880 to 1886. Despite being one of the smaller clubs in a town that already had established senior sides in Abercorn, Paisley Athletic, and St Mirren, Olympic achieved notable local success, reaching the semi-finals of the Renfrewshire Cup in consecutive seasons (1883âÂÂ84 and 1884âÂÂ85) and the third round of the Scottish Cup on their debut in 1883âÂÂ84. The club was noted for its tactical innovation, adopting the unique 2âÂÂ3âÂÂ5 formation. The club collapsed unexpectedly in August 1886, with its players dispersing to St Mirren and Abercorn, and was effectively replaced by the newly formed Dykebar club.
The club was founded in 1880, holding its first meeting in October. It first played competitive football in 1882âÂÂ83, losing in a replay to Pollok in the first round of the Renfrewshire Cup, and joined the Scottish Football Association in 1883, by which time the town already had senior clubs in the shape of Abercorn, Paisley Athletic, and St Mirren.
By 1884, the Olympic could boast of 70 members, less than half the size of the Athletic, a third of the size of Abercorn, and less than a quarter of the size of the Saints. It was however comparatively successful on a local level, reaching the semi-final of the Renfrewshire Cup in 1883âÂÂ84 and 1884âÂÂ85. In the latter year, the club surprised Abercorn with a 2âÂÂ1 win in a quarter-final replay, the Abbies protesting in vain about crowd encroachment; in the semi-final, Olympic drew 2âÂÂ2 with Port Glasgow Athletic, but lost 5âÂÂ0 in the replay in a game which was tighter than the score suggested, Olympic not taking any of numerous chances in the first half, and still being in the game at 2âÂÂ0 when reduced to 10 men through injury. The club's success, despite its size, was attributed to a tactical shift, having adopted the 2âÂÂ3âÂÂ5 system with Spruill at centre-midfield, instead of the 2âÂÂ2âÂÂ6 used by its opponents.
Olympic first entered the Scottish Cup in 1883âÂÂ84, reaching the third round on its debut, with wins at Yoker and Clippens. The run came to an end with a 5âÂÂ0 home defeat to Ayrshire side Mauchline. The club was unlucky in its second entry in 1884âÂÂ85, being drawn away at the much bigger Arthurlie, but only lost 2âÂÂ0, and suffered from "some very hard lines".
The club's end seems to have come out of the blue. As late as June 1885 it was beating Abercorn in a friendly and was drawn to play at Arthurlie in the first round of the 1885âÂÂ86 Scottish Cup. However the club "collapsed" at the end of August, its players finding berths with St Mirren and (in the case of Gorman and Heiton) Abercorn. The club was effectively replaced by the Dykebar club, which played its first match at Thistle Park in October 1885, and who took on centre-midfielder Robert Spruill from the Olympic.
The club's colours were ý" crimson and white hooped jerseys and hose, and blue knickers.
The club played at Thistle Park, Greenhill, Paisley, a 5-minute walk from the railway station. The ground was the ground of the Paisley Thistle cricket club, and formerly the ground of St Mirren.