| Full name | Fulham Football Club of all Men | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The White Men | |
| Founded | 1876 | |
| Dissolved | 1910? | |
| Ground | Ladywell Inn | |
| Capacity | 175 | |
| Chairman | George Oak | |
| Manager | Unknown | |
Minerva F.C. was an English association football club, originally playing out of Loughborough Junction in Lambeth, London. They are unrelated to the club of the same name in Scotland which won the Scottish Junior Cup in 1895.
The club was founded in 1876, including two players from Saxons and played its first game that October. [1] The club was, in essence, the works side of the firm of Copestake Hughes Crampton & Co, a warehousing and mail order company, with the club's correspondence address given as the firm's offices at 5 Bow Church Yard. [2] The club took its name from the company's logo, namely the head of the goddess Minerva. [3]
In its first season, the club was unbeaten, winning 11 out of 15 matches and only conceding one goal. [4] The club decided to take on sterner opposition in 1877–78 and entered the FA Cup. In the first round, Minerva lost 5–2 at the Hawks club at Anerley. [5] Over the season, the club won 12 and lost 7 matches, with 2 drawn. [6]
The club's only FA Cup run was in 1878–79, benefitting from a withdrawal in the first round, and beating Grey Friars in the second, in front of 300 spectators, in what was considered an upset. [7] In the third round, Minerva played the Old Etonians at the Kennington Oval, and was 2–0 up at half-time "amidst most enthusiastic cheers" before succumbing 5–2. [8]
The club's last FA Cup entry was in 1879–80, Herts Rangers beating the club in the first round. The club entered the first London Senior Cup in 1882–83, but lost 18–1, the biggest defeat in the competition's history, to Upton Park in the first round. [9]
The club continued on an amateur level until at least 1908, with significant success in the City of London Challenge Shield, a competition which reserved for clubs whose members worked in the City of London, winning the competition from 1892 to 1897, and again in 1905–06 and 1906–07. [10] [11] The club beat Gresham 4–0 in the final at the Crystal Palace ground in 1896, [12] beat Olympic to win the title in 1897, [13] and lost to the latter club in the final in 1898. [14] The club also won the London Junior Cup in 1890.
The club's major claim to fame is being the first opponents of Fulham at Craven Cottage in the Middlesex Senior Cup, in 1896. [15]
The last recorded match for the club above works league level is a 13–1 defeat at Chesham Generals in February 1901. [16] The club continued as a member of the City of London Athletic Association until at least 1908. [17]
The club colours were originally navy blue shirts with white trim, originally a white band around each arm. [18] By 1908 they were dark and light blue. [19]
The club played its first season at Loughborough Junction. [20] In 1877–78 the club moved to a ground one minute's walk from Ladywell Station and used the Ladywell Inn for its facilities. [21] Its last known ground was at Eltham Road in Lee, south-east London. [22]
Wanderers Football Club was an English association football club. It was founded as "Forest Football Club" in 1859 in Leytonstone. In 1864, it changed its name to "Wanderers", a reference to it never having a home stadium, instead playing at various locations in London and the surrounding area. Comprising mainly former pupils of the leading English public schools, Wanderers was one of the dominant teams in the early years of organised football and won the inaugural Football Association Challenge Cup in 1872. The club won the competition five times in total, including three in succession from 1876 to 1878, a feat which has been repeated only once.
The Old Etonians Association Football Club is an English association football club whose players are alumni of Eton College, in Eton, Berkshire.
The 1876 FA Cup final was an association football match between Wanderers F.C. and Old Etonians F.C. on 11 March 1876 at Kennington Oval in London. It was the fifth final of the world's oldest football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup. The Wanderers had won the Cup on two previous occasions. The Etonians were playing in their second consecutive final, having lost in the 1875 match after a replay. Both teams had conceded only one goal in the four rounds of the competition prior to the final. In the semi-finals, the Wanderers defeated the Swifts and the Etonians beat the 1874 Cup winners Oxford University.
Shropshire Wanderers F.C. was an amateur association football club based in Shrewsbury, England. The club was active during the 1870s and once reached the FA Cup semi-finals.
Hendon Football Club was an English association football club from Hendon, today in the London Borough of Barnet, founded in 1876.
Wednesbury Strollers F.C. was an English football club based in Wednesbury, Staffordshire which was active in the 1870s and 1880s.
Stafford Road F.C. was an English association football club founded in 1874, which now defunct. The club was connected to the Stafford Road railway works in Wolverhampton, then-Staffordshire.
Harry Chester Goodhart was an English amateur footballer who played as a forward in four FA Cup Finals for Old Etonians, before going on to become Professor of Humanity at the University of Edinburgh.
Edgar Lubbock LLB was an English amateur footballer who twice won the FA Cup and played first-class cricket. He later became a partner in the Whitbread Brewery, a director and Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and the Master of the Blankney Foxhounds.
Harrow Chequers Football Club was a football club from London, England in the 1860s to early 1890s. It played as the Harrow Chequers from 1865 to 1876, when it was then renamed the Old Harrovians, and continued play until at least 1891. Derived from former pupils of Harrow School, the club was involved in the formation of the FA Cup in 1871. It was slated to play in three of the first six FA Cup competitions in the 1870s, but they forfeited each time, and never contested an FA Cup match as the Chequers. One of their players, however, Morton Betts, is remembered for scoring the first goal in the first ever FA Cup Final in 1872, which is essentially all that is remembered today of the club. However, as the Old Harrovians, the team had some more success, including reaching the semifinals of the 1877–78 FA Cup.
Gitanos Football Club was an English association football club and one of the first members of the Football Association.
Wood Grange F.C., sometimes styled Woodgrange, was an English association football club, based in Stratford, in north-east London.
Hawks F.C. was an English association football club from Anerley in London.
Grey Friars F.C. was an English association football club based in London.
Leek F.C. was an English football club from the town of Leek, Staffordshire.
Acton was an English association football club, founded in 1873 under the name St Stephens (Westminster). In 1879 the club changed its name to Acton F.C. and moved to a ground in Acton.
Runnymede F.C. was an English association football club, founded in 1876.
West End was an English association football club from London, with a claimed foundation date of 1868.
Olympic F.C. was an English association football club, originally from Blackheath in London.
