1946 - 1976:
The end of the Second World War was
quickly followed by the resumption of normal football, with
the league programme reinstated and the Scottish Cup up for
grabs again.
Queen's recommenced season 1945/46 in
the "A" division, and the following season there was
a game at Hampden every Saturday as Third Lanark shared
Hampden while Cathkin underwent major refurbishment.
However, the stay in the top division
only lasted three seasons, and 1948/49 saw Queen's down in the
"B" division. Five straight defeats in the first
five games of the season meant it was always unlikely that
Queen's could go straight back up, although a 13 match
unbeaten run in January and February meant that they finished
in 5th place out of 16 teams.
Queen's usually finished towards the
top of the table, with 3rd place in 1952/53, 4th in 1954/55,
then in 1955/56 Queen's secured the "B" division
championship with 23 wins out of 36 games. With only two
defeats by the end of the year, and six wins out of the first
seven games of the New Year, the title always looked destined
for Hampden.
Queen's last stay in the top division
was to last two seasons. The first, 1956/57 was comfortably
negotiated, and any thoughts of relegation were banished with
nine games left of the 34 when Queen's drew with Falkirk at
Hampden.
The following season started
moderately well with two wins from the first five games, but
after a disastrous run of 13 straight defeats through to
January the writing was on the wall. Only a further two
victories were garnered, and Queen's departed the top division
with five straight defeats.
Hopes of a quick return to Division
One were quickly banished as Queen's struggled to 18th place
out of 19 the following season, with a young Alex Ferguson
making his debut midway through the season. The next four
seasons saw finishes in the bottom half of the table, but by
the mid sixties finishes in 7th and 4th place were achieved by
teams that included the likes of Bobby Clark, Niall Hopper and
Peter Buchanan.
Although the team flirted with
promotion occasionally, there was no sign of success on the
horizon. Until 1974 the starting eleven on a Saturday had been
selected by the match committee, with input from trainers such
as Bert Manderson, Harold Davis and Eddie Turnbull. All that
was changed when Davie McParland was appointed coach with full
responsibility for selecting the first eleven.
With the reorganisation of the leagues
into three divisions at the start of the 1975/76 season
McParland took Queen's to 4th out of 14, but he left to join
Partick Thistle at the end of the season. Queen's looked to
his successor to continue the good work and take us up a
division.
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