- Upton Park F.C.
Infobox Football club
clubname = Upton Park
fullname = Upton Park Football Club
nickname = The "Scarlet & Black"
founded = 1866 1891 (reformed)
dissolved = 1887 (first time) "c." 1911 (second time)
ground =West Ham Park
capacity = "n/a"Upton Park Football Club were an amateur football club from
Upton Park ,London in the late 19th and early 20th century, now defunct. As well as being one of the fifteen teams that played in the inauguralFA Cup , they also represented Great Britain at the1900 Summer Olympics football tournament, which they won.History
Founded in 1866, the club were one of the 15 teams to play in the very first edition of the
FA Cup in 1871-72; [cite weburl=http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/Postings/2006/01/FACup_Firstmatches.htm
title=The first ever matches
work=TheFA.com
accessdate=2007-04-07] they never won the competition but did reach the quarter-finals on four occasions. [cite web
url=http://www.fchd.info/UPTONPAR.HTM
title=Upton Park
work= Football Club History Database
accessdate=2006-11-28] They were also the inaugural winners of the
London Senior Cup in 1882-83. Though resolutely an amateur club, they inadvertently sparked the legalisation ofprofessionalism in the game after complaining about Preston North End's payments to players after the two met in the FA Cup in 1884; Preston were disqualified, but the incident made the FA confront the issue and, under threat of a breakaway, they allowed payments to players the following year.cite booktitle=Iron in the Blood
author=Powles, John
chapter=Chapter One: Origins
url=http://www.soccer.mistral.co.uk/books/iron2.pdf
accessdate=2007-04-08]
The club were wound up in 1887 but were resurrected four years later in 1891. In 1892 they were founder members of the
Southern Alliance , an early league competition amongst teams from southern England, but were bottom of the league with only one win to their name when the competition folded before the 1892-93 season ended.Upton Park went on to represent Great Britain "en masse" at the
1900 Summer Olympics football tournament, which they won, beatingClub Française , representing France, 4-0.cite weburl=http://www.rsssf.com/tableso/ol1900f.html
title=Games of the II. Olympiad : Football Tournament (Demonstration matches)
work=RSSSF | accessdate=2007-04-08] Although a
gold medal was not awarded to the side at the time (it being ademonstration sport ), theIOC have since retrospectively awarded one. [The [http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/results/search_r_uk.asp Official Olympics website] lists Great Britain as being 1900 gold medal-winners in the football tournament.] The team that day (playing a 2-3-5 formation) was::
J. H. Jones ;Claude Buckenham ,William Grosling ;Alfred Chalk ,T. E. Burridge ,William Quash ; Arthur Turner,F. G. Spackman ,J. Nicholas ,James Zealley ,A. Haslam (captain)cite weburl=http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/results/team_uk.asp?PAR_I_ID=98006
title=Team members GREAT BRITAIN
work=Olympics.orgNote that the spellings of names differs slightly from names listed by RSSSF.]
The scorers were Nicholas (with two), Turner and Zealley.
Despite the obvious similarity of name to Upton Park stadium (officially known as the Boleyn Ground), the club had no connection with the ground and never played there; indeed there were few formal links between Upton Park and West Ham United (then known as Thames Ironworks) though some players did play for both. In addition, Upton Park's home games in
West Ham Park attracted large crowds to their games, which may have influenced Thames Ironworks' decision to move to the area fromCanning Town , where football was not as popular.cite weburl=http://www.ouafc.com/varsity/players/33
title=Arnold Hills
work=Oxford University AFC
accessdate=2007-04-08]
Famous players
Famous players for the side included Charles Alcock, later president of
the Football Association ,FA Cup Final refereesAlfred Stair andSegar Bastard (who was also an England international), andCharlie Dove , one of the early leading players for Thames Ironworks.cite weburl=http://www.eolfhs.org.uk/membdata/upfca.htm
title= Upton Park Football Club players
work=East of London Family History Society
accessdate=2007-04-08] Upton Park also supplied two other England internationals,
Clement Mitchell andConrad Warner . [cite web
url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamClubs/Clubs/UptonPark.html
title=England Players' Club Affiliations: Upton Park
work=England Football Online
accessdate=2006-11-28]
Legacy
Upton Park continued to play until at least 1911, according to modern-day records. The
Upton Park Trophy , the annual playoff between the league champions ofGuernsey andJersey , is named for the Upton Park side, to commemorate their tenth annual tour of the islands, which they made in 1906. [cite weburl=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesc/chislchamp.html
title=Channel Islands - List of Champions
work=RSSSF ]References
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