Nunhead Football Club were an

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

club from

Nunhead Nunhead is a suburb in the London Borough of Southwark in London, England.Southwark Council Nunhead and Peckham Rye Community Council It is an inner-city suburb located southeast of Charing Cross. It is the location of the Nunhead Cemetery.BB ...

, Greater London. The club were prominent in southern English non-league football prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, but ceased all playing activities at the end of the 1940–41 season, and formally folded in 1949.

History

Founded as Wingfield House in 1888, the club won the Southern Suburban League Division One in 1903, becoming a senior team in the process. In 1904, the club changed its name to Nunhead, after merging with Honour Oak. The 1920s and 1930s were probably the most successful period in the club's history, with the team winning the London Senior Cup in 1923 and the Isthmian League championship twice in successive seasons in 1928–29 and 1929–30. During the 1926–27 season, Nunhead reached 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 ...

second round, losing 2–1 to Poole. The campaign was also notable for Nunhead setting a record for the highest margin of victory by a non-league side in an FA Cup round proper match when they beat Kingstonian 9–0 in the first round. In the 1931–32 season Nunhead were on the receiving end of that same nine goal margin of victory record when they lost 9–0 in the FA Cup first round to

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

. In the mid-1930s Denis Compton played for the club. He would go on to play for Arsenal and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the termination by the landlords of the club's lease on Brown's Ground, and other financial difficulties led to the end of the club. Day-to-day operations and all playing activities ceased at the end of the 1940–41 season, with the club surviving only on paper until 1949 when they officially resigned from

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 a ...

and folded. In 2019, 80 years after the club had folded, a group of Nunhead residents began fundraising for charity in the name of Nunhead Football Club. To celebrate the 90th anniversary of Nunhead's consecutive Isthmian League title wins, a visual archive of the club's history was published online.

Ground

Whilst still known as Wingfield House, the club played at Wavertree Road in

Streatham Hill Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surre ...

. In 1904, Nunhead moved to Forest Hill to play at the Ivy Ground, before settling at Brown's Ground, formerly used by Southern United, in

upon election to the Isthmian League in 1908. The site of the club's ground now forms part of the playing fields of the Haberdashers' Aske's Federation. As late as the early 1980s the old football club's dressing rooms were used by the Haberdashers' Aske's Boys School where they were affectionately referred to as the "Cowsheds".

Notable former players

* Albert Cadwell * Denis Compton * Emrys Ellis * Les Henley * Sidney Pugh * Norman Sidey

Honours

* Isthmian League **Champions: 1928–29, 1929–30 **Runners-up: 1913–14, 1919–20, 1922–23, 1936–37 * London Senior Cup **Winners: 1923 * Surrey Senior Cup **Winners: 1908 **Runners-up: 1930

References

External links

*{{fchd, id=NUNHEAD, name=Nunhead Association football clubs established in 1888 Association football clubs disestablished in 1949 Defunct football clubs in England Sport in the London Borough of Southwark Defunct football clubs in London Isthmian League clubs 1888 establishments in England 1949 disestablishments in England Nunhead