11–0 at Crieff F.C., but Montrose F.C. knocked City out in the third round. By now, St Johnstone had caught up with the Fair City within Perth. The Saints won the Perthshire Cup in 1889–90, and, when the clubs met in the 1890–91 Perthshire Cup, St Johnstone won 4–1. The Fair City finally won the Perthshire Cup in 1893–94, but by default, as St Johnstone refused to play the final; on the day of the match, City played Vale of Leven F.C. instead, winning 5–2 "to the surprise of everyone". The club won the competition again in 1897–98, beating Rob Roy F.C. of Callander in a replayed final at Recreation Park. For the match, the club changed at the Waverley Park hotel, and, en routel, their brake lost a wheel and overturned, but fortunately none of the players was seriously injured. The club successfully retained the trophy in 1898–99. The club hammered St Johnstone 9–0 in the semi-final, although the Saints were not fielding a first choice side, and beat Vale of Atholl F.C. 5–2 in the final at Recreation Park, in front of a record 3,000 crowd. Leagues The introduction of the Scottish League, requiring qualifying rounds for the Scottish Cup, adversely affected the club, as it never made the first round proper after 1891. The Athletics sought to play in an alternative league, and joined the Northern League in 1892. The club however finished bottom, with only 1 point from 17 games, and in two other attempts in the league (1895–96 and 1900–01) only won 8 matches out of 24. In between, F.C.A. played in the Central Football League, finishing second, but ahead of St Johnstone, in a five-club league in 1896–97; and the Central Football Combination, finishing in the bottom three, again ahead of St Johnstone, in 1897–98. At the end of the season, both Perth clubs failed re-election back into the Combination. The club had a little more success in its first attempt at the Perthshire League, in 1899–1900, finishing second to Dunblane, but the competition only had five entrants. End of the club The expense of moving to a new ground in 1899 was a financial millstone. The club had the benefit of a large crowd from a visit by Celtic F.C. in April 1900, the visitors winning 7–1, and after the end of the season held a "sale of work" in the Masonic Hall