| Full name | Bootle Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | North Enders [1] | |
| Founded | 1879 | |
| Dissolved | 1893 | |
| Ground | Hawthorne Road | |
| League | Second Division | |
| 1893 | 8th (resigned) | |
| ||
Bootle Football Club was an English football club based in Bootle, Lancashire. Founder members of the Football Alliance, the club was one of the first two clubs to resign from the Football League. [2] and also one of only two clubs (the other being Middlesbrough Ironopolis F.C.) to spend a single season in the League.
Bootle F.C. were formed in 1879 as Bootle St Johns AFC and played their first fixture in October 1880 against Everton. [2] Later that year the club changed its name to Bootle F.C. and then entered the FA Cup for the first time the following season. [2]
In 1887 Bootle signed former Scotland international Andrew Watson, the first black international player. If, as is likely, he was paid then he was the first black professional footballer in history, pre-dating Arthur Wharton. [3]
When the Football League was founded, William MacGregor invited Everton as the representatives of the city of Liverpool, rather than Bootle. Instead, in 1888-89 Bootle joined the Football Combination, and then in 1889-90 were founder members of the Football Alliance. [2] That season was their most successful as they finished league runners-up (winning every home match), and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost 7–0 to Blackburn Rovers. [4]
However the club suffered when playing away from Hawthorne Road; in its second Alliance season, the club only secured 1 point away from home, and in the third and final season only 1 away win. At the end of the 1891–92 season, the club was in serious financial difficulties, owing £300 to lenders and £800 for the construction of new stands, against annual income of £2,000. In order to raise funds the club decided to form a limited liability company. [5]
When the Alliance merged with the Football League in 1892, Bootle became founder members of the new Second Division. [6] The club's crowds however declined from the usual 2–3,000 in the Alliance to just 1,000 by the end of its one League season. Despite finishing in eighth position, the club resigned, its last League action being supporting a resolution to increase the First Division to 20 clubs (opposed by Everton) to avoid Liverpool becoming a one-club monopoly. Bootle was one of the first two clubs to resign from the League, the other being Accrington F.C., and is one of only two clubs to have spent just one season in the Football League, the other being Middlesbrough Ironopolis. [7]
In its final season the club's expenditure was £2,198, half of which was due to wages, as against an income of £1,355 plus donations of £155. [8] The club did enter the FA Cup for 1893–94, and was drawn to play at Stockport County in the qualifying rounds, [9] but, on 28 August 1893, before the tie could take place, the club passed a resolution putting itself into liquidation. [10]
Four Bootle players appeared for Wales: [11]
1893 in sports describes the year's events in world sport.
Middlesbrough Ironopolis Football Club was a football club based in Middlesbrough, England.
Andrew Watson was a Scottish footballer who is widely considered to be the first black person to play association football at international level. He played three matches for Scotland between 1881 and 1882. Arthur Wharton was previously commonly thought to be the first black player, as he was the first black professional footballer to play in the Football League, but Watson's career predated him by over a decade. There is evidence that Watson was paid professionally when at Bootle in 1887, two years prior to Wharton becoming a professional with Rotherham Town; however, the Merseyside club did not play in the Football League at the time Watson played there.
Bootle Football Club is an English football club based in Bootle, Merseyside. The club are members of the Northern Premier League Division One West and play at New Bucks Park.
The 1985–86 season was the 87th completed season of The Football League.
The 1893–94 season was the sixth season of The Football League.
The 1892–93 season was the first season in Liverpool Football Club's existence, and their first year in the Lancashire League and the FA Cup.
The 1892–93 season was Ardwick A.F.C.'s second season of league football. Following the amalgamation of the Football Alliance with the Football League, Ardwick was elected to the new Second Division in the inaugural season of two-tier football in England, and the season marked the start of Ardwick 's exactly 100-year stay in the Football League before leaving in 1992 to co-found the Premier League.
The 1893–94 season was Ardwick A.F.C.'s third season of league football and second season in the Football League. In the latter half of the season, financial difficulties forced the reorganisation of the club into the team Manchester City F.C. on the day of their last league game of the season. By this name the club have been known for the rest of their history.
The 1892–93 season was the first season in the history of Newcastle United after the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End. The club started the season as Newcastle East End, taking the name Newcastle United during December. They participated in the Northern League, the only season they have not competed in The Football League, finishing in second place behind Middlesbrough Ironopolis. They also competed in the FA Cup, but lost in the first round to Middlesbrough.
The 1893–94 season was Northwich Victoria's second, and final season in the Football League. They competed in the 15 team Football League Second Division, which they had been a founding member of the previous season. The league was then the second tier of English football, where they finished 15th. Northwich were eliminated from the 1893–94 FA Cup in the fourth qualifying round, after being beaten 1–0 at home by Crewe Alexandra.
The history of Liverpool Football Club from 1892 to 1959 covers the period from the club's foundation, through their first period of success from 1900 to the 1920s, to the appointment of Bill Shankly as manager.
The 1891–92 season was the third in existence for Sheffield United. This was their first season playing in the recently formed Northern League as the club sought to establish itself as a major footballing force. The Blades had a reasonably successful season, finishing third in the league, and registering some comprehensive victories along the way. They improved on the previous season by reaching the second round proper of the FA Cup and were victorious in the local cup competitions, winning both the Sheffield Challenge Cup and the Wharncliffe Charity Cup for the first time.
The 1893–94 season was the second season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, and was their first year in The Football League, in which they competed in the Second Division. The season covers the period from 1 July 1893 to 30 June 1894.
The 1892–93 season was the fourth in existence for Sheffield United. This was their first season playing in the recently formed Football League Second Division as the club sought to establish itself as a major footballing force. With some members of the football committee unconvinced of the long-term future of the Football League, the club also retained its membership of the Northern League.
The Paradise Ground was a football ground in Middlesbrough in England. It was the home ground of Middlesbrough Ironopolis.
Great Bridge Unity F.C. was an English association football club from Great Bridge, then in Staffordshire, now in the West Midlands county.
City of Liverpool Football Club is an English fan-owned association football club formed in 2015 and currently based in Huyton, Liverpool. It is currently a member of Division One West in the Northern Premier League, the eighth level of the English football league system.
Higher Walton Football Club was an English football club from Higher Walton in Lancashire, founded in 1882.
Stanley F.C., often referred to from 1887 to 1890 as Liverpool Stanley, was an English association football club, from Liverpool in Merseyside.
