SOUTHALL, Reading, Uxbridge, Horsham and two-times FA Cup winners Old Etonians are among a number of clubs that are celebrating their 150th anniversaries this year.
The final part of this three-part focus looks at the history of Old Etonians, Henley Town, Horsham and Brading Town, clubs that were all founded in 1871 and are within 100 miles of Southall.
Old Etonians
Formed: 1871
Status: Active
Now playing in: Arthurian League Premier Division
Current ground: Eton College, Eton, Berkshire
Distance from Southall: 13 miles
Historical highlights include:
Two times FA Cup winners
OLD ETONIANS have won the FA Cup twice, in 1879 and 1882, and were runners-up on four occasions.
Some sources set the date of foundation as 1865, however the Arthurian League website gives 1871 as the year of formation and the official club website states that the club was officially founded in 1871, while suggesting that it had been playing football matches as early as 1863.
As the name suggests, Old Etonians are made up of players who have studied at Eton College. This essentially means that there are numerous famous names among the Eton College alumni that have been eligible to play for the Old Etonians football team. They include Princes William and Harry, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former Prime Ministers David Cameron, Harold Macmillan and Anthony Eden, Karl Marx, actors Christopher Lee, Damien Lewis, Tom Hiddleston, Eddie Redmayne, Patrick Macnee, Dominic West and Hugh Laurie, novelists George Orwell and Henry Fielding, adventurer Bear Grylls, musician Frank Turner, television presenter Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall, James Bond author Ian Fleming, the poet Percy Shelley, Olympic medal winning rower Matthew Pinsent, and Adrian Cadbury, chairman of Cadbury Schweppes.
Famous former players have included W. H. Gladstone, the son of Prime Minister William Gladstone, and several Old Etonians players were capped for England, either while with the club or subsequently.
Former Old Etonian Robert Cunliffe Gosling, who won
five England caps and captained the England team
The following eight scholars all played for England whilst with the club (with the number of caps received whilst registered with Old Etonians F.C.): Rupert Anderson (1 cap), Lindsay Bury (1 cap), Edward Christian (1 cap), Arthur Dunn (2 caps), Harry Goodhart (3 caps), Robert Cunliffe Gosling (5 caps), John Hawtrey (2 caps) and Herbert Whitfeld (1 cap). Anderson, Bury and Whitfeld made their only appearances together, on 18 January 1879 against Wales, with Whitfeld scoring in a 2–1 victory.
Robert Gosling captained the England side on at least one occasion, and Harry Goodhart played in four FA Cup finals for Old Etonians, while Arthur Dunn is credited with the pass that set up William Anderson for the only goal of the game as Old Etonians beat Blackburn Rovers 1-0 in 1882 for the second of their two FA Cup final wins.
Other Old Etonians who later played for England include Alexander Bonsor, Percy de Paravicini, Alfred Lyttelton, Reginald Macaulay, Cuthbert Ottaway and John Frederick Peel Rawlinson, while the club's founder Lord Kinnaird made one appearance for Scotland in 1873, the second ever international match.
They were the last amateur club to win the FA Cup on 25 March 1882 when they beat Blackburn Rovers 1–0 at The Oval with a goal from William Anderson. They lost 2–1 after extra time to another Blackburn club, Blackburn Olympic, the following year. Old Etonians' last participation in FA Cup was the 1887–88 edition.
The current Old Etonians side are members of the Arthurian League, for teams consisting of old boys of public schools, and are affiliated to the Amateur Football Alliance). They have won the Premier Division title twice, in 1993 and 2005.
Honours
Winners (2): 1879, 1882
Runners-up (4): 1875, 1876, 1881, 1883
Premier Division Champions (2): 1992–93, 2004–05
Division One Champions (1): 1985–86
Division Two Champions (2nd XI) (4): 1992–93, 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2003–04
Division Three Champions (3rd XI) (2): 1995–96, 2004–05
Division Four Champions (4th XI) (2): 1989–90, 1993–94
Winners: 2004–05, 2009–10
Henley Town
Formed: November 1871
Status: Active
Now playing in: Thames Valley Premier League Division Two
Current ground: Triangle Mill, Mill Lane, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire
Distance from Southall: 33 miles
Historical highlights include:
Spartan League Division One champions (1936–37)
Hellenic League Division One champions (1963–64 & 1967–68)
Chiltonian League Premier Division champions (1999–2000)
Five times Oxfordshire Senior Cup winners
HENLEY TOWN have numerous league titles to their name, including winning Division One of the Spartan League and the Hellenic League Division One title twice in the 1960s.
The club was established in November 1871, making it the oldest club recognised by the Oxfordshire County Football Association.
Without any league titles or cup triumphs in the 1800s, Henley Town started to win some trophies in the early 1900s. They were Oxfordshire Senior Cup winners in 1903–04 and won the Oxfordshire Charity Cup in the1904–05 season.
More success followed in the 1910s. Henley won the Reading Temperance League Division One title in 1912–13 and were Oxfordshire Senior Cup winners in 1910–11, 1912–13 and 1913–14, and won the Oxfordshire Charity Cup for a second time in 1913–14.
In 1931 the club joined Division Two West of the Spartan League, winning the division in 1933–34, and in 1936–37 they were Division One champions, but finished bottom of the Premier Division the following season, winning only one match, and were relegated back to Division One.
When the Spartan League was suspended in 1939 due to World War II, Henley spent the 1939–40 season in the Great Western Combination. When football resumed after the war, Henley returned to the Spartan League and were placed in the Western Division.
In 1952 they rejoined the Great Western Combination, becoming members of Division One. After finishing bottom of the division again in 1954–55 the club left the league.
In 1957 Henley joined Division One of the Hellenic League. They were Division One champions in 1963–64. They won Division One again in 1967–68 without losing a match. After losing their Reading ground in 1971, the club dropped out of the Hellenic League, later regrouping in the Wycombe & District League. The club were promoted to the Senior Division at the first attempt and won both the league and the Wycombe Senior Cup in 1978–79.
Henley were founder members of the Chiltonian League in 1984 and won Division One in the 1987–88 season and won the Premier Division title in 1999–2000.[5] At the end of the season the Chiltonian League merged into the Hellenic League, with Henley becoming members of Division One East. They won the division at the first attempt, earning promotion to the Premier Division.
In 2015–16 the club finished third in Division One East and were promoted to the Premier Division; the season also saw them win the Reading Senior Cup with a 5–3 defeat of Binfield at Reading FC's Madejski Stadium. However, they finished bottom of the Premier Division the following season and were relegated back to Division One East.
In December 2017 the club resigned from the Hellenic League. The 2018–19 season saw the club restart in Division Three of the Thames Valley Premier League, which they went on to win as champions, earning promotion to Division Two.
Henley Town played at Reading Road from 1901 until 1971. They then played at temporary grounds during the 1973–74 season before moving to the Triangle Ground in Mill Lane, Henley.
Henley's former players include Andy Gray, who played for Reading and Leyton Orient, Mark Harris, who made more than 200 appearances for Swansea City, Michael Meaker (Reading and QPR), Marcus Richardson (Cambridge United, Torquay, Hartlepool, Lincoln) and Dave Tarpey (Barnet).
Honours:
Hellenic League
Division One champions 1963–64, 1967–68
Division One East champions 2000–01
Division One Benevolent Fund Cup winners 1962–63
Chiltonian League
Premier Division champions 1999–2000
Division One champions 1987–88
Bon Accord Trophy winners 1997–98
Spartan League
Division One champions 1936–37
Division Two West champions 1933–34
'Thames Valley Premier League
Division Three champions 2018–19
Wycombe & District League
Champions 1978–79
Reading Temperance League
Division One champions 1912–13
Winners 1903–04, 1910–11, 1912–13, 1913–14, 1946–47
Reading Senior Cup
Winners 2015–16
Oxfordshire Charity Cup
Winners 1904–05, 1913–14, 1936–37, 1962–63
Achievements:
Best FA Cup performance: First qualifying round 2007–08
Best FA Vase performance: First round 2005–06, 2007–08, 2011–12
Record attendance: 2,000+ vs Reading, 1922
Horsham
Formed: 1871
Status: Active
Now playing in: Isthmian League Premier Division
Current ground: Hop Oast, Horsham, West Sussex
Distance from Southall: 49 miles
Historical highlights include:
West Sussex Senior League winners four times
Sussex County League winners seven times
Metropolitan League winners 1951–52
Reached FA Cup 2nd round proper in 2007–08
Southern Combination League Premier Division winners 2015-16
HORSHAM FC was founded in 1871, although it largely depended upon enough players being available to form a side in its early days.
In 1881 the club was firmly re-established and, in September 1882, they helped to found the Sussex County Football Association. Horsham became founder members of the West Sussex Football League in 1896 and won the title in 1899-00, 1900–01 and 1901–02. They also claimed the Royal Irish Rifles Cup in 1900 by defeating East Sussex Senior League champions Hastings.
Having played at both Hurst Park and Springfield Park, the club secured Queen Street as its permanent home in 1904. The club eventually became members of Sussex County League after winning the West Sussex Senior League for the fourth time in 1925–26.
The County League was won in 1932, 1933, 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1938, with the team regularly scoring more than 100 goals in a season.
The Sussex RUR Cup was taken in 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1937 and 1938, and the Sussex Senior Cup in 1934 and 1939.
Horsham won the first post-war title in 1947, the RUR Cup in 1946, 1949 and 1951, and the Sussex Senior Cup in 1950.
In 1947–48 Horsham reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first time, taking a first-minute lead against Tommy Lawton's Notts County, before losing 9–1.
In 1951 the club became members of the Metropolitan League and were champions at the first attempt. In 1957, they stepped down to the Corinthian League. In 1963 Horsham joined the Athenian League.
In 1966 they reached the First Round proper of the FA Cup for a second time, defeating Hastings United 2–1 in the 4th Qualifying Round. Horsham played Swindon Town in front of a crowd of 7,134 at Queen Street, losing 3-0.
In 1973, Horsham joined the Isthmian League. They won Division Three in 1995–96 and in 2001–02 they finished second in Division Two and were promoted to Division One South. In 2005–06 they finished second on goal difference and also reached the final of the Sussex Senior Cup for the first time since 1979, losing 3-1 to Lewes after extra-time.
Horsham beat Maidenhead United in the FA Cup first round in November 2006
to reach the second round for the first time in their history
In 2006–07, the Hornets beat Maidenhead United 4–1 to reach the Second Round Proper of the FA Cup for the first time and played two games against eventual League One champions Swansea City.
Having sold their ground for redevelopment at the end of the season, Horsham played at Worthing during 2008–09 and reached the 4th Qualifying Round of the FA Cup where they took Conference side Stevenage Borough to a replay.
Season 2009–10 found the club back in Horsham, having entered into a groundshare agreement with their old neighbours Horsham YMCA as their quest for a new ground continued. Financial cutbacks at the end of the 2010–11 campaign saw Horsham part company with long serving manager John Maggs after 11 years in charge.
In 2016, Horsham won the renamed Sussex County League, now the Southern Combination League Premier Division, by 11 points, securing a record-equalling eighth Sussex County League title, setting a club record 97 points and conceding the fewest goals in a season in their history (22).
On 21 March 2017, an application for a new ground was approved, then work began on constructing a new community stadium off the Worthing Road.
With their groundshare arrangement at Horsham YMCA ending, Horsham moved o the Sussex FA Headquarters at Lancing's Culver Road in the summer of 2017, but a crippling injury list followed and they suffered an 8-0 defeat at Cray Wanderers, the club's heaviest ever FA Trophy defeat.
In May 2019, a 2-1 win after extra-time against Ashford United in the play-off final, the club's last game at Culver Road, ensured that Horsham would start life in their new ground in the Isthmian League Premier Division.
Honours:
West Sussex Senior League winners 1899–00, 1900–01, 1901–02, 1925–26
Sussex County League winners 1931–32, 1932–3, 1934–35, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1946–47
Southern Combination Football League Premier Division winners 2015-16
Metropolitan League winners 1951–52
Division One winners 1972–73
Division Two winners 1969–70
Isthmian League Division Three winners 1995–96
Division One runners-up 2005–06
Division One South East winners 2018-19; play-off final winners 2018-19
Winners (7): 1933–34, 1938–39, 1949–50, 1953–54, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1975–76
Runners-up (8): 1947–48, 1954–55, 1960–61, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1978–79, 2005–06
Sussex Floodlight Cup
Winners (2): 1977–78, 2001–02
Winners (13): 1899–00, 1930–31, 1931–32, 1933–34 (shared with Worthing), 1934–35, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38 (shared with Southwick), 1945–46, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1956–57
Runners Up (3): 1900–01, 1901–02, 1947–48
Brighton Charity Cup
Winners (6): 1967–68, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13
Achievements:
Best league performance: 8th in Isthmian League Premier Division, 2006–07
Best FA Cup performance: 2nd round proper, 2007–08
Best FA Trophy performance: 2nd round, 2002–03
Best FA Vase performance: 4th round, 1986–87
Record attendance: 7,134 v Swindon Town 26 November 1966
Brading Town
Formed: 1871
Status: Active
Now playing in: Isle of Wight League Division One
Current ground: Vicarage Lane, Brading, Sandown, Isle of Wight
Distance from Southall: 88 miles
Historical highlights include:
Isle of Wight Senior Cup winners five times
BRADING TOWN were founder members of the Isle of Wight League in 1898.
They won Division Two several times in the 1920s and 1930s and were promoted to Division One in 1948. During the 1950s they won Division One eight seasons in a row.
In 1958 they purchased the Vicarage Lane ground, later renamed after club stalwart Peter Henry.
In 1973 the club joined Division Four of the Hampshire League. Three successive promotions culminated in the club reaching Division One in 1976 after winning the Division Two title and the Hampshire Intermediate Cup. In 1991–92 they finished second bottom of Division One and were relegated. They returned to the top division as Division Two runners-up in 1996–97.
Despite finishing bottom of the Premier Division in 2003–04, the club joined the newly established Division Two of the Wessex League in the close season. In 2005–06 they won the Isle of Wight Gold Cup and finished third in the league, earning promotion to the Premier Division. They won the Gold Cup again in 2009–10.
In June 2012 the club announced it was withdrawing from the Wessex League due to the ever increasing cost of mainland travel and League administration fees. The club announced it planned to instead concentrate on the Isle of Wight League.
Their former players include Keith Lawrence and Simon Moore, who both played for Brentford. Moore also played for Sheffield United and Cardiff.
Honours:
Hampshire League Division Two
Runners-up: 1996–97
Isle of Wight Saturday League Division One
Runners-up: 2013–14
Winners: 1966–67, 1969–70, 1976–77, 2005–06, 2009–10
Hampshire Intermediate Cup
Winners: 1975–76
Isle Of Wight Challenge Cup
Winners: 1948–49, 1954–55, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1969–70, 1971–72
Runners-up: 2012–13
Isle Of Wight Memorial Cup
Winners: 1950–51, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1959–60, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1971–72, 1986–87, 2013–14
Isle of Wight Jubilee Cup
Winners: 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1953–54, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1965–66, 1967–68, 2011–12, 2013–14
Runners-up: 2014–15
Achievements:
FA Cup best performance: First Qualifying Round (2009–10, 2010–11)
FA Vase best performance:Second round (2010–11)
Former Brading Town goalkeeper Simon Moore
playing for Cardiff City in 2014