- Croydon Common F.C.
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Croydon Common Full name Croydon Common Football Club Nickname(s) The Robins[1] Founded 1897 Dissolved 1917 Ground Croydon Common Athletic Ground, London Croydon Common Football Club were an amateur and then professional football club based in Croydon.
Contents
History
The team formed in 1897 as an amateur church team competing in local leagues. They turned professional in 1907, joining the Second Division of the Southern League. A final place of third was achieved despite the stand at the Crescent being burnt down.
A move was made to the Nest (future home of Crystal Palace) in 1908 where promotion to the First Division was achieved. In the FA Cup, Football League members Bradford were beaten and Woolwich Arsenal taken to a replay before final defeat.
An immediate return was made to the Second Division after finishing second from bottom. At the new ground another main stand was damaged; the roof being removed in a gale.
Seasons of mid to high table finishes then followed until the 1913-14 season when the championship was achieved again with only two defeats.
Again, Common's stay in the First Division resulted in a second from bottom placing. Relegation was not experienced due to the suspension of the League during World War I. In 1917 the club was finally wound up, the only First Division club not to return to action after the War.
Players
- Dick Allman: Reading, Portsmouth, Plymouth Argyle, Stoke: Liverpool, Burslem Port Vale, Leicester Fosse and Arsenal player
- Arthur Box: Birmingham City, Stoke and Burslem Port Vale goalkeeper
- William Balmer: England and Everton
- Bob Evans, Wales and Blackburn Rovers
- Harry Hadley: England and Aston Villa
- Jack Harrow: England and Chelsea
- Sandy Tait: 1901 FA Cup Final winner with Tottenham Hotspur
- Ernie Williamson: England and Arsenal
- Sam Wolstenhome: England and Everton and Blackburn Rovers
- See also Category:Croydon Common F.C. players
Sources
- The Official Centenary History of the Southern League ISBN 1-871872-08-1
External links
References
Categories:- Croydon Common F.C.
- Defunct English football clubs
- Association football clubs established in 1897
- Association football clubs disestablished in 1917
- Southern Football League clubs
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