 | ||
| Full name | Old Etonians Association Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Oldens | |
| Founded | c. 1865; 161 years ago (1865) | |
| Ground | Mesopotamia Pococks Lane Eton[1] | |
| Capacity | 475 | |
| Chairman | Jamie Scobie | |
| Manager | Iain Botterill | |
| League | Arthurian League Premier Division | |
| 2019 | Arthurian League Premier Division, 3rd of 10 | |
TheOld Etonians Association Football Club is an Englishassociation football club whose players are alumni ofEton College, inEton, Berkshire.
Having been a member ofThe Football Association and played several editions of theFA Cup, Old Etonians currently play in the Premier Division, the highest level of theArthurian League.[2]
The first reference to football clubs consisting of Old Etonians relates to matches between the former pupils atOxford University and those atCambridge University, starting in 1859. These matches were played to theEton Field Game rules.[3]
Sides made up of former pupils played annual matches against the school in the Field Game over the next few years.[4] The first match for an Old Etonian side against non-Etonian opposition was atWestminster School in 1863, probably to that school's rules.[5] At the start of 1866, an Old Etonian side, chosen byArthur Kinnaird, drew withthe Wanderers in an association match.[6] Possibly in relation to preparations for this match, the Old Etonians in period gave the club's foundation date as 1865.[7][note 1]
The Etonians entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1873–74. However, having been drawn to playHigh Wycombe, the club scratched;[11] at this time, the best Old Etonians were playing for Wanderers in the competition.The following season, the club reached the final, beatingShropshire Wanderers at the Kennington Oval in the semi-final. The Countrymen were without their star half-back John Denning, and the Etonians won 1–0.[12] The final against theRoyal Engineers went to a replay. At the time, ends were only changed after each goal; the original match had a stiff breeze, and the Old Etonians had it at their backs for all but the five minutes when the Sappers were 1–0 behind.[13] The law was changed as a result of the unfairness. However, the Etonians were missing several key players for the replay, including Ottaway andWilliam Kenyon-Slaney, and the Sappers won 2–0.[14]
In1875–76, the club reached the final again, and again suffered from injuries before a final replay, with Kinnaird andA.C. Thompson, amongst others, missing from the original match. This time the opponents were the Wanderers, whose 3–0 win persuaded the Etonians that the Wanderers was still the better option to play for in the Cup, and the Old Etonians did not enter for the next two years.[15] The club was brought back to prominence in 1878 under the auspices ofFrancis Marindin, an Old Etonian who had played for the Engineers.
When the club did enter next, however, in1878–79, there was a sea-change. The growth of other clubs and "old boy" teams starting up encouraged the Etonians to play for the old school club rather than the Wanderers, so, when the clubs were drawn together in the first round, prominent Wanderers Kinnaird andEdgar Lubbock switched their loyalties from the Cup holders to the Etonians, and Marindin took over in goal. The Etonians were also bolstered by Cambridge undergraduates opting for the Etonians rather than the university, whose first round tie kicked off at one end of the Kennington Oval shortly before the Etonians v Wanderers match kicked off at the other. The Etonians beat the Wanderers 7–2,[16] and went on to win the Cup for the first time; Marindin had to miss the final through illness, and the game was of poor quality, but the Etonians scored the only goal of the game, after aGoodhart run down the left wing saw him cross forClerke to shoot under the bar.[17]In 1879–80, the Etonians beat the Wanderers in the third round, which proved to be the effective death knell for the Wanderers as their players abandoned the more cosmopolitan club for their specific old school sides.
The Old Etonians were the last amateur or "true blue" club to win theFA Cup on 25 March 1882 when they beatBlackburn Rovers 1–0 atThe Oval with a goal fromWilliam Anderson. They lost 2–1 after extra time to another Blackburn club,Blackburn Olympic, the following year.
In all, they reached the final six times in nine years between 1875 and 1883, winning twice. They also supplied a number of players for theEngland team, including three in one match againstWales in 1879.
Old Etonians' last participation in the FA Cup main rounds was the1887–88 edition, ending in the second round with a 6–0 defeat atNottingham Forest.[18] The club continued to enter the qualifying rounds until1892–93, its last Cup tie being a 4–2 defeat atLuton Town in the second qualifying round.[19] TheFA Amateur Cup started in 1893–94 and the Etonians transferred their affections to that competition, losing to theSherwood Foresters in the quarter-final at the ground ofPolytechnic F.C.;[20] it was their best run in the competition, the last entry coming in 1901–02.[21]
In modern times, Old Etonians are members of theArthurian League (affiliated to theAmateur Football Alliance) and field two teams there.[2] The 1st XI have won the league's Premier Division title on two occasions.
The club has always wornEton blue-based[22] jerseys or shirts, and white shorts.[23]
In its earliest days, the club did not have a specific and dedicated home venue. In the 1860s, it played "home" matches onBattersea Park.[24] For its home FA Cup matches, it was able to use theKennington Oval,[25][26] and stayed as a London-based side in the 1900s, using the Forest Hill ground atCatford.[27][28] By 1929 the club was playing at Eton,[29]
Several Old Etonians players were capped forEngland, either while with the club or subsequently.
The following eight scholars played for England whilst with the club (with the number of caps received whilst registered with Old Etonians F.C.):[30]
Anderson, Bury and Whitfeld made their only appearances together, on 18 January 1879 againstWales. Whitfeld scored in a2–1 victory.
Other Old Etonians who later played for England include:
Club founderLord Kinnaird made one appearance forScotland in 1873, the second ever international match.
The Eton Ramblers cricket club, also made up of Old Etonians, occasionally played the existing students in theEton Field Game in the cricket off-season.[31] In1882–83 the Ramblers also entered the FA Cup, being drawn at home toRomford in the first round. The tie was played at the ground ofWindsor Home Park F.C. and the Ramblers won 6–2.[32]
In the second round, the club lost 7–0 to theOld Carthusians, this time playing on the Brocas at Eton College itself. Because of a lack of regulation footballs, the tie was played using an Eton Field Game ball, which was much smaller than the Association standard.[33]
The club remained active until at least 1902,[34] by which time the club was based at the Prince Albert, onPlumstead Common.[35]
The Ramblers' colours have been purple, gold, green, and red since 1863.[36]
51°29′42″N0°35′49″W / 51.49500°N 0.59694°W /51.49500; -0.59694
