Bootle Football Club was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Histo ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

. Founder members of the

Football Alliance The Football Alliance was an association football league in England which ran for three seasons, from 1889–90 to 1891–92. History In 1888, the same year the Football League was founded, The Combination was established by clubs who had been ...

, the club was one of the first two clubs to resign from the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. and also one of only two clubs (the other being Middlesbrough Ironopolis F.C.) to spend a single season in the League.

History

Bootle F.C. were formed in 1879 as Bootle St Johns AFC and played their first fixture in October 1880 against Everton. Later that year the club changed its name to Bootle F.C. and then entered the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

for the first time the following season. In 1887 Bootle signed former

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Andrew Watson, the first black international player. If, as is likely, he was paid then he was the first black professional footballer in history, pre-dating

Arthur Wharton Arthur Wharton (28 October 1865 – 12 December 1930) is widely considered to be the first black professional footballer in the world. Though not the first black player outright – the amateurs Robert Walker, of Queen's Park, and Scotland inte ...

. When the Football League was founded, William MacGregor invited Everton as the representatives of the city of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, rather than Bootle. Instead, in 1888-89 Bootle joined the

Football Combination The Football Combination was a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England, the Midlands and Wales; other clubs from the Midlands and those from the North playing in the Central League (it is n ...

, and then in 1889-90 were founder members of the

. That season was their most successful as they finished league runners-up (winning every home match), and reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost 7–0 to

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. However the club suffered when playing away from Hawthorne Road; in its second Alliance season, the club only secured 1 point away from home, and in the third and final season only 1 away win. At the end of the 1891-92 season, the club was in serious financial difficulties, owing £300 to lenders and £800 for the construction of new stands, against annual income of £2,000. In order to raise funds the club decided to form a limited liability company. When the Alliance merged with the Football League in 1892, Bootle became founder members of the new

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. The club's crowds however declined from the usual 2-3,000 in the Alliance to just 1,000 by the end of its one League season. Despite finishing in eighth position, the club resigned, its last League action being supporting a resolution to increase the First Division to 20 clubs (opposed by Everton) to avoid Liverpool becoming a one-club monopoly. Bootle was one of the first two clubs to resign from the League, the other being

Accrington F.C. Accrington Football Club was an English football club from Accrington, Lancashire, who were one of the founder members of The Football League. History Accrington F.C. was formed following a meeting at a local public house in 1876. The '' ...

, and is one of only two clubs to have spent just one season in the Football League, the other being

Middlesbrough Ironopolis Middlesbrough Ironopolis Football Club was a football club based in Middlesbrough, England. Although it was only in existence for five years, the club won three Northern League titles, two cup competitions and once reached the FA Cup quarter-f ...

. In its final season the club's expenditure was £2,198, half of which was due to wages, as against an income of £1,355 plus donations of £155. The club did enter the

for 1893-94, and was drawn to play at

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...

in the qualifying rounds, but, on 28 August 1893, before the tie could take place, the club passed a resolution putting itself into liquidation.

International players

Four Bootle players appeared for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

: * Smart Arridge (2 caps with Bootle) * Walter Evans (1 cap with Bootle) *

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...

(3 caps with Bootle) * Job Wilding (3 caps with Bootle)

References

External links

The Original Merseyside Derby Game. Bootle v Everton
{{Former Football League members Defunct football clubs in England Defunct English Football League clubs Association football clubs established in 1879 Sport in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton Defunct football clubs in Merseyside 1879 establishments in England 1893 disestablishments in England Association football clubs disestablished in 1893 Bootle Defunct football clubs in Lancashire

History

International players

See also

References

External links