Hotspur F.C. was an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club who originally played at Battersea Park in London. The club has no link with

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, which came from the Hotspur Cricket Club founded in 1880, but which had to add "Tottenham" in April 1884 because post to the Hotspur club was being diverted to north London.

History

The club was founded in 1878 and took its name from Harry Hotspur. Its membership was restricted to "gentlemen in the service of the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 was the first to provide for ...

". The club 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 in 1879–80. It beat the Argonauts in the first round, following a replay, and lost to West End in the second. The club's best run in the Cup came in 1881–82, when it won three ties to reach the fourth round (which that year was made up of 14 clubs), losing 5–0 to Upton Park. Hotspur also reached the final 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 ...

in 1885–86. The club was given no chance against the Ashburton Rovers, which was essentially the Old Westminsters under another name, in the final at the Oval, but the club only lost 2–1, despite being pressed all match; the credit being given to goalkeeper Charles Crisp, full-back Gaymer, and the "careless kicking at goal" by Bain - Wagstaffe scoring the Hotspur goal on a breakaway. The club consistently entered the Cup until 1887–88, its last tie being a second round defeat to

Dulwich Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half of ...

. By that season the club had reduced the number of sides it could field from three to two; in February 1887 its reserve side had a fixture against Tottenham Hotspur. The club remained in existence until at least 1889.

Colours

The club's colours were dark blue shirts with a white Maltese cross, white knickerbockers, and dark blue socks.

Ground

The club originally played at The Cricketers, Battersea Park In 1884 it moved to Merton Hall Farm in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

Notable players

* C. D. Crisp, goalkeeper in the 1885–86 London Senior Cup final

References

{{Reflist Association football clubs established in 1878 1878 establishments in England Battersea Wimbledon, London Defunct football clubs in England Sport in the London Borough of Wandsworth Defunct football clubs in London Works association football teams in England