Croydon Common Football Club was an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

and, later on, professional

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 Croydon.

History

The team formed in

1897 Events January–March * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a puniti ...

as an amateur church team competing in local leagues. They turned professional in 1907, joining the

Southern League Second Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

. 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

Southern League First Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the Englis ...

was achieved. In the FA Cup,

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 ...

members

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

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 Messina Wilson Allman (5 April 1883 – December 1943) was an English footballer who played as a forward. He turned professional with Burslem Port Vale in April 1903, before joining Reading in May 1905. Two years later he signed with Portsmout ...

: Reading, Portsmouth,

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

, Liverpool,

Burslem Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...

, Leicester Fosse and

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Arthur Box Arthur Box (18 September 1884 – 7 June 1960) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made more than 100 appearances in the Football League playing for Burslem Port Vale, Stoke and Birmingham. He also played for Croydon ...

: Birmingham City, Stoke and Burslem Port Vale goalkeeper * William Balmer: England and Everton * Harold Dawson: Everton and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

* Bob Evans: Wales and Blackburn Rovers * Dave Gardner: Scotland, West Ham United *

Harry Hadley Harry Hadley (26 October 1877 – 22 October 1947) was an English professional football player and manager. He played once for the England national team. Playing career Hadley was born in Barrow-in-Furness. Having had little junior football e ...

: England and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

Jack Harrow Jack Harry Harrow (8 October 1888 – 19 July 1958) was an English footballer who spent his entire professional career at Chelsea. He played mainly as a left-back. He was good at tackling and he also had an accurate shot. Harrow signed for C ...

: England and Chelsea *

Ted Price Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is ...

: Stockport County and Queens Park Rangers goalkeeper * Sandy Tait:

1901 FA Cup Final The 1901 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Sheffield United and Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, 20 April 1901 at the Crystal Palace stadium in south London. It was the final match of the 1900–01 FA Cup, the 30th edition of ...

winner with Tottenham Hotspur *

Ernie Williamson Ernest Warriner Williamson (September 9, 1922 – March 6, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He play professional as a tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins and New York Giants and in the All-Am ...

: England and Arsenal * Sam Wolstenhome: England, Everton and Blackburn Rovers

Records

*Most appearances: Percy Barnfather, 286 *Most goals: Percy Barnfather, 88

Sources

*The Official Centenary History of the Southern League

References

{{Reflist

External links