Jump to content

Crystal Palace F.C. (1861): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→‎Formation: More info added
Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit
The claim should be noted as the FA recognised the new badge, so it is more in favour of the club. But it only mentions it was 'claimed' not a statement of fact, so it should still ne mentioned
Line 13: Line 13:
'''Crystal Palace F.C.''' was an amateur football club formed in 1861 who contributed a major role in the development of [[association football]] during its formative years. They went on to become founder members<ref>Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle 12 December 1863</ref> of [[the Football Association]] in 1863, and competed in the first ever [[FA Cup]] competition in [[1871–72 FA Cup|1871–72]].
'''Crystal Palace F.C.''' was an amateur football club formed in 1861 who contributed a major role in the development of [[association football]] during its formative years. They went on to become founder members<ref>Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle 12 December 1863</ref> of [[the Football Association]] in 1863, and competed in the first ever [[FA Cup]] competition in [[1871–72 FA Cup|1871–72]].


The amateur club was thought to have disbanded around 1876, however historians have found evidence to support claims that the professional [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]] football club that exists today is directly linked and should be acknowledged as the same club,<ref>Palace at the Palace. Peter Manning 2018.</ref><ref>The Origin of Crystal Palace FC, Volume I. Steve Martyniuk 2016.</ref> the theory being that the original club was re-formed as opposed to a completely new club being created, as they were both owned by the same Crystal Palace Company. This has led to claims that Crystal Palace should be recognised as the [[Oldest football clubs|oldest professional football club in the world]] in existence today.<ref name=guardian1861>{{Cite news|last=Wilson|first=Paul|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/apr/21/crystal-palace-launch-plan-to-claim-title-as-oldest-football-league-club|title=Crystal Palace launch plan to claim title of oldest Football League club|date=22 April 2020|work=The Guardian|access-date=22 April 2020|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
The amateur club disbanded around 1876, their final recorded match was a 0–3 defeat to [[Barnes F.C.]] at the end of 1875;<ref>{{cite journal |title=report |journal=Sportsman |date=21 December 1875 |page=3}}</ref> the club was unable to field a side for a scheduled match in March 1876 at [[Westminster School]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=report |journal=Sporting Life |date=8 March 1876 |page=4}}</ref>


== History ==
== History ==

Revision as of 23:13, 23 December 2022

Crystal Palace
Full nameCrystal Palace Football Club
Founded1861
Dissolved1876; 148 years ago (1876)
GroundCrystal Palace Park

Crystal Palace F.C. was an amateur football club formed in 1861 who contributed a major role in the development of association football during its formative years. They went on to become founder members[1] of the Football Association in 1863, and competed in the first ever FA Cup competition in 1871–72.

The amateur club was thought to have disbanded around 1876, however historians have found evidence to support claims that the professional Crystal Palace football club that exists today is directly linked and should be acknowledged as the same club,[2][3] the theory being that the original club was re-formed as opposed to a completely new club being created, as they were both owned by the same Crystal Palace Company. This has led to claims that Crystal Palace should be recognised as the oldest professional football club in the world in existence today.[4]

History

Formation

The Crystal Palace Company who owned The Crystal Palace Exhibition building founded the football club in 1861.

The Crystal Palace football club was formed in 1861.[5] The club was claimed to have been formed out of the Crystal Palace cricket club which was owned by the Crystal Palace Company, although none of the cricketers listed in 1861[6][7] played in the football club's first recorded match in 1862.[8]

Rental of the Crystal Palace ground

Although both the cricket and football clubs were amateur, they paid rent to the Crystal Palace Company.[9] Membership of the club was by subscription only, at a price of one guinea per season, and spectators who wished to watch the games had to pay the one-shilling entrance fee into Crystal Palace Park.[10]

Original membership

The football club’s players were not company employees; typical membership was formed from wealthy upper-middle-class businessmen who could afford the subscription and had the leisure time to participate in sport.[11] Walter Cutbill (1844-1915) and A. Cutbill were prominent members, and both former pupils at Forest School, which was a leading school in the early development of the game.[12]

Committee member and goalkeeper, Croydon-born wine merchant James Turner (1839-1922) became the first proper treasurer of the Football Association after its formation,[13] and numerous Palace players were influential committee-members of the F.A. during its formative decade.[14]

When international football commenced in 1870 and 1872, players from Crystal Palace featured in both the official[15] and the ‘unofficial’[16] versions of the first-ever international games.

Four players from the club appeared for the England national team:

Support of Association Rules

The club became founder members of the Football Association in 1863, and along with Wanderers F.C., Barnes F.C. and the N.N. Club, were described by Charles W. Alcock as being the four clubs who formed ‘the backbone of the Association game’ in its early years.[17] Delegates of the club attended every AGM of the F.A. for its first crucial decade, during which time the Laws of the Game were evolved. In 1867, when just five delegates turned up at the AGM, it was only the vote of Crystal Palace’s representative Walter Cutbill which prevented the adoption of two major Sheffield Rules laws. Proposals to adopt rouges (secondary goals either side of the main goal) and the virtual abolition of the offside rule were defeated by a single vote.[18]

Creation of the FA Cup

At the Football Association Committee meeting held on 16 October 1871 to discuss the creation of the FA Cup competition, the Crystal Palace captain and share-registrar Denison Allport (1844-1931) proposed the formation of a committee to draw up the rules required for the competition.[19] He was also part of the delegation which selected and purchased the trophy.

Palace competed in the first ever FA Cup competition in 1871–72, reaching the semi-final stage, where they lost to the Royal Engineers after a replay;[20] this was technically the first FA Cup replay, as rule 8 of the competition allowed both teams to go through in the event of a draw, and Palace had taken advantage of that rule after draws with Hitchin F.C. and Wanderers F.C. - the latter tie after playing an innovative 2-1-7 formation, with two full-backs to cope with the extra threat from the Wanderers, rather than the traditional 1-1-8 or new 1-2-7 formations.[21] The club also played in the FA Cup over the next four seasons, but never reached as far again.

Demise of the club

The 1901 FA Cup Final at Crystal Palace Park between Tottenham Hotspur and Sheffield United

The club's last recorded match was against Barnes F.C. on 18 December 1875.[22] The Crystal Palace Company had experienced a financial crisis during that year, partly as a result of being sued by its refreshment contractor.[23] Consequently it was forced into a number of cost-cutting measures among the attractions in its park, one of those was the football pitch, which is thought to have caused the team to disband the following year. Until the end of the season players were still giving Crystal Palace as their club of origin for representative matches,[24] but the following season club captain Charles Eastlake Smith was dedicating himself to Wanderers F.C..[25]

Aftermath

The Crystal Palace Company began hosting the FA Cup Final on a regular basis in 1895,[26] which was held at the sports stadium in the Crystal Palace Park. A fixture was arranged between the "Crystal Palace Football Club" and Aston Villa in December 1895, but the "Palace" club was actually made up of players from the Corinthian Football Club.[27] The company then decided in 1905 they wanted a new professional football club to play at the stadium, an application for the new club was filed with the Football Association in March 1905.[28] The current Crystal Palace F.C. played at the Cup Final venue until 1915, when they were forced to leave due to the outbreak of the First World War.

Colours

The club gave its colours as blue and white jerseys, with dark blue knickerbockers and stockings.[29] Although there is no record of the jersey pattern, the usual pattern in the era was in hoops, unless otherwise stated.[30]

Records

References

  1. ^ Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle 12 December 1863
  2. ^ Palace at the Palace. Peter Manning 2018.
  3. ^ The Origin of Crystal Palace FC, Volume I. Steve Martyniuk 2016.
  4. ^ Wilson, Paul (22 April 2020). "Crystal Palace launch plan to claim title of oldest Football League club". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  5. ^ Sherman, Montagu (1889). Athletics and Football. Longman's Green. p. 301.
  6. ^ "T. N. Farquhar's XI v Crystal Palace club". Morning Post: 7. 26 July 1861.
  7. ^ "Wandsworth United v the Crystal Palace Club". Morning Chronicle: 3. 6 September 1861.
  8. ^ "Forest Club v Crystal Palace Club". Bell's Life: 8. 23 March 1862.
  9. ^ Morning Chronicle, Monday 25 May 1857
  10. ^ The Origin of Crystal Palace FC, Volume I. Steve Martyniuk 2016.
  11. ^ The Origin of Crystal Palace FC, Volume I. Steve Martyniuk 2016.
  12. ^ Forest School Magazine archive, 1867
  13. ^ Sporting Life 05 November 1864
  14. ^ Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle 24 February 1866
  15. ^ Sheffield Independent 02 December 1872
  16. ^ Pall Mall Gazette, 05 March 1870
  17. ^ Football, The Association Game, by Charles Alcock (1905), p14
  18. ^ Sporting Life 27 February 1867
  19. ^ The Sportsman 18 October 1871
  20. ^ Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle 24 February 1872
  21. ^ "Wanderers v Crystal Palace". The Field: 85. 27 January 1872.
  22. ^ Palace at the Palace. Peter Manning 2018.
  23. ^ York Herald 17 February 1875
  24. ^ Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser 06 March 1876
  25. ^ "see e.g. Wanderers v Civil Service". The Field: 552. 4 November 1876.
  26. ^ The Times, 30 November 1895
  27. ^ "Forward" (7 December 1895). "Football Gossip". Norwood News: 8.
  28. ^ "Crystal Palace Football Club". Daily Telegraph: 7. 29 March 1905.
  29. ^ Alcock, Charles (1874). Football Annual. p. 89.
  30. ^ e.g. "quartered" (for halves) or "harlequin" (for quarters); vertical stripes were not yet available.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crystal_Palace_F.C._(1861)&oldid=1129170394"