Pilgrims 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 based in

Clapton, London Clapton is a district of East London, England, in the London Borough of Hackney. Clapton is divided into Upper Clapton, in the north, and Lower Clapton to the south. Clapton railway station lies north-east of Charing Cross. Geography and origin ...

. During their history they played at various grounds in Tottenham and Walthamstow, but for the most part played home games at

Hackney Downs Hackney Downs is a park and an area of historically common land in the Lower Clapton area of the London Borough of Hackney. The name is sometimes also used to apply to the neighbourhood around the park. Hackney Downs Park The Downs open space ...

History

The club was founded in 1871 under the name Clapton Pilgrims, changing its name to Pilgrims in 1873. The club restricted playing membership to 60 players. The club's first match was a 0-0 draw with Leyton on Hackney Downs. The club is known to have played five matches in its first season (against Forest F.C.,

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

, the return against Leyton, and Herts Rangers), and every one ended in a draw. After the Forest match, the Pilgrims raised the issue of clubs borrowing players from other clubs, as Pilgrims restricted its choices solely to its members. In 1874, Pilgrims player John van Sommer was chosen as a reserve for England for the international match against Scotland. On 7 November 1874 van Sommer played in goal for the London select team in the match against the

Sheffield Football Association The Sheffield and Hallamshire Football Association is a County Football Association in England. It was formed in Sheffield in 1867 as the Sheffield Football Association, and is the second-oldest football governing body after the Football Associ ...

. It was van Sommer's final match as soon after he caught

rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful jo ...

and died on 19 November 1874. ''The Sportsmans obituary stated that "the writer saw him at Sheffield displaying on behalf of London certainly the best goal‐keeping that has ever been witnessed at the Association game. Indeed,his skill on that occasion led those present to predict for him a place in the International match of the year." 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 ...

every year from 1873-74 to 1884-85, its best outing being reaching the third round (last ten) in 1876-77, for which season the club had moved to

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

. In the third round the club was drawn away to eventual winners

Wanderers F.C. Wanderers Football Club was an English association football club. It was founded as "Forest Football Club" in 1859 in Leytonstone. In 1864, it changed its name to "Wanderers", a reference to it never having a home stadium, instead playing at v ...

and lost 3-0. The club seems to have stopped playing matches after the 1886-87 season. The club's final secretary John Henderson undertook refereeing and umpiring activities as a member of the Pilgrims club in 1886-87, but for 1887-88 was described as being from "Morpeth Harriers, formerly Pilgrims".

Records

*Best

performance: 3rd Round – 1876–77 and 1879–80

Colours

The club's original colours were black and white “in broad bars”, black skullcap with white tassel, white knickerbockers, and black stockings. It dropped the cap in 1878 and in 1879 changed the shirts to black and white halves.

Grounds

The club originally played at Hackney Downs. In 1876, the club moved to Lordship Lane,

., and in 1881 the club moved to

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

Ramblers F.C.

In 1874, a separate club,

Ramblers F.C. The Ramblers is a Namibian football club from Pionierspark, Windhoek. History The Ramblers have played in the country's highest division, the Namibia Premier League and the club was previously known as Windhoek Optics Ramblers. They sold their ...

, was set up, often using Pilgrims players, and the two clubs were described as "sister clubs". The two clubs were drawn against each other in the FA Cup twice (Pilgrims winning on both occasions) and Ramblers' players often played for both sides in the same season.

Notable players

Clopton Lloyd-Jones Clopton Allen Lloyd-Jones (12 November 1858 – 7 March 1918) was an English businessman and amateur sportsman, best known for football and cricket. He played for the Clapham Rovers when they won the FA Cup in 1880 and was selected, but did not ...

* Harry Swepstone * Andrew Watson

References

Defunct football clubs in England {{England-footyclub-defunct-stub