Calthorpe F.C.
| Full name | Calthorpe F.C. | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1873 | |
| Dissolved | 1900? | |
| Ground | Calthorpe Park | |
|
| ||
Calthorpe was an English association club based in Birmingham.
History
The club gave its foundation date as 1873.[1] The club's name came from its home ground at Calthorpe Park.
The club was founded by legal clerks in Birmingham,[2] led by two Scotsmen who had recently arrived in Birmingham; John Carson[3] and John Campbell Orr, both from Glasgow, and both of whom had experience in football, Carson with Queen's Park and Campbell Orr at St Andrews University in 1868-70.[4] The club was occasionally referred to as the Birmingham Clerks Association in its first matches.[5]
Campbell Orr claimed that not only was Calthorpe the first club in Birmingham, but for one season the only association club.[6] From at least 1874 it was playing matches against other sides in the town.[7]
Role in rise of Aston Villa
In 1878, Archie Hunter, already well known as a footballer in Scotland, came to Birmingham for work, and, knowing about the Calthorpe club from its friendly games with Queen's Park, resolved to join. According to Hunter:
The explanation does not deal with the Calthorpe club also being run by 'brither Scots'. Calthorpe however was a resolutely amateur club, while one of Hunter's team-mates at Third Lanark was J.J. Lang, considered the first-ever professional footballer.[9]
Competitive football
The club was a founder member of the Birmingham Football Association and Campbell Orr was named its first secretary. The club donated seven guineas to the association to contribute to a trophy for the Birmingham Senior Cup competition. Calthorpe regularly entered the competition and gained its record victory (7-0 against Perry Athletic) in it in 1880. By this time the club had moved to a ground at Bournbrook on the Bristol Road, as Lord Calthorpe refused permission to charge admission to Calthorpe Park, and the 3d per match charge at the new ground helped to defray the club's expenses.
In 1879, the club entered the FA Cup, and was the first club from Birmingham to play an FA Cup tie, losing 3-1 away to Maidenhead, in a match refereed by Charles Alcock.[10] As the game moved towards professionalism, the club remained amateur, and as a result was eclipsed by the other Birmingham and Black Country clubs; its last FA Cup appearance was a 9-0 home defeat to Walsall Town in 1883.[11] In 1900 its ground was sold off for housing and at or before this time the club ceased to exist.
Colours
The club's colours[12] changed over time and were influenced by its Scottish links.
| Year | Colours |
|---|---|
| 1876 | Dark blue & scarlet with St Andrews cross on breast |
| 1877 | Dark blue |
| 1878 | Dark blue |
| 1879 | Black & white |
| 1880 | Dark blue |
| 1881 | Black & white |
| 1882 | Black & white |
Notable players
- Ludford Docker, captain of Derbyshire County Cricket Club[13]
References
- ^ Alcock, Charles (1876). Football Annual. Virtue & Co. p. 144.
- ^ Tongue, Steve (2021). West Midlands Turf Wars. Pitch Publishing.
- ^ "Football's Loss". Sunday Dispatch: 18. 29 November 1931.
- ^ Morris, Terry (2016). Vain Games Of No Value?.
- ^ "Football". Birmingham Mail: 7. 23 November 1874.
- ^ Alcock, Charles (1876). Football Annual.
- ^ e.g. losing 2-0 to the Birmingham club in November 1874; "Football". Birmingham Mail: 7. 23 November 1874.
- ^ "The Rise of Aston Villa". Nottingham Evening Post: 4. 1 November 1890.
- ^ Campbell Whittle, Iain. "First Professionals". Scots Football Worldwide. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
- ^ "match report". Maidenhead Advertiser: 3. 29 October 1879.
- ^ "Football". Walsall Observer: 5. 17 November 1883.
- ^ As set out in the Charles Alcock football annuals
- ^ "Mr Ludford C Docker". Birmingham Mail: 5. 2 August 1940.