Minerva F.C. was an English

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, originally playing out of Loughborough Junction in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

History

The club was founded in 1876, including two players from

Saxons The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

and played its first game that October. The club was, in essence, the works side of the firm of Copestake Hughes Crampton & Co, a warehousing and mail order company, with the club's correspondence address given as the firm's offices at 5 Bow Church Yard. The club took its name from the company's logo, namely the head of the goddess

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the Roma ...

. In its first season, the club was unbeaten, winning 11 out of 15 matches and only conceding one goal. The club decided to take on sterner opposition in 1877-78 and 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 ...

. In the first round, Minerva lost 5-2 at the

Hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily ...

club at

Anerley Anerley () is an area of south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located south south-east of Charing Cross, to the south of Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, west of Penge, north of Elmers End and South Norwood ...

. Over the season, the club won 12 and lost 7 matches, with 2 drawn. The club's only FA Cup run was in 1878-79, benefitting from a withdrawal in the first round, and beating

Grey Friars , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

in the second, in front of 300 spectators, in what was considered an upset. In the third round, Minerva played the

Old Etonians Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

at the

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

, and was 2-0 up at half-time "amidst most enthusiastic cheers" before succumbing 5-2. The club's last FA Cup entry was in 1879-80, Herts Rangers beating the club in the first round. The club entered the first London Senior Cup in 1882-83, but lost 18-1, the biggest defeat in the competition's history, to Upton Park in the first round. The club continued on an amateur level until at least 1901, with significant success in the City of London Challenge Shield, a competition which seems to have been reserved for clubs whose members worked in the City of London, winning the competition from 1892 to 1897. The club beat Gresham 4-0 in the final at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

ground in 1896, beat

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

to win the title in 1897, and lost to the latter club in the final in 1898. Line-ups for the 1896 City of London Challenge Shield final

The club's major claim to fame is being the first opponents of

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against M ...

in the Middlesex Senior Cup, in 1896. The last recorded match for the club is a 13-1 defeat at Chesham Generals in February 1901.

Colours

The club wore navy blue shirts, with a white band around each arm.

Grounds

The club played its first season at Loughborough Junction. In 1877-78 the club moved to a ground one minute's walk from Ladywell Station and used the Ladywell Inn for its facilities.

References

Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in London Association football clubs established in the 19th century {{England-footyclub-defunct-stub