Dreadnought was an
English association football club based in
London.
History
The club gave its foundation date as 1875, and its first recorded match was a 3–0 defeat away to
Upton Park in November that year, although Dreadnought turned up with only eight men and had to rely on three unnamed substitutes.
The club came out of a cricket club and its secretaries were from the middle classes - Francis Bacon, also the club's goalkeeper, being a commercial traveller and William Pettigrew, who also played as a right-winger, an engineer.
The club entered the
FA Cup on four occasions. In the first round in
1880–81, the club beat
Rochester 2–1, but in the second round lost 5–1 at
Old Carthusians. In
1881–82 the club's first round opponents from
Caius College withdrew and the club had a bye in the second round, but lost 2–1 at
Marlow in the third.
In
1882-83, the club hosted
South Reading in the first round, but the match kicked off at 4.15pm because of the late arrival of the visiting South Reading side. Although South Reading won 2–1, Dreadnought appealed the result on two grounds; firstly, having had a goal wrongly disallowed; secondly, the game had ended in darkness, which allowed South Reading to score the winner. The
Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world an ...
ordered a replay, which South Reading won again, by the same score, in a "warmly contested" match.
The last match for the club in the competition was its first round defeat by
Old Foresters in
1883–84, a match played at the
Forest School Forest School or Forrest School may refer to:
Educational philosophy
* Forest school (learning style), a learner centred outdoor learning approach.
Religious philosophy
* Thai Forest Tradition, a Theravada school of Buddhism in Thailand.
* Sri La ...
in Walthamstow rather than the old boys' regular pitch in
Snaresbrook; as a sign that the day of the amateur club at the highest levels was over, the crowd did not exceed 200, when ties in the north were attracting over twenty times that amount.
The club took part in the first three editions of the
London Senior Cup
The London Senior Cup is the County Senior Cup of the London FA. The London Senior Cup was first won by Upton Park in 1882. Although the leading professional sides in London no longer compete, the Cup has been won in the past by the likes of Ar ...
, but only won one tie. After a 3–0 defeat at
Hanover United in the first round of 1884–85, the club reverted to more local football, entering the
Essex Senior Cup (which included other clubs from north-east London) until 1886–87.
Colours
The club's colours were described black and white until 1880, and navy and white thereafter.
Ground
The club played at the West Ham Park, using the Upton Tavern for facilities.
References
{{reflist
Association football clubs established in 1875
Defunct football clubs in England
Defunct football clubs in London
1875 establishments in England
Association football clubs disestablished in 1887