Shepherd's Bush Football Club were an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club based in

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a district of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, i ...

, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, although they originally played in central and south London.

History

The club were founded as Old St Stephen's FC in

1880 Events January–March * January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia. * January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy. * February � ...

in Westminster, although they soon moved out to play in

Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of the A215 road, A21 ...

and Nunhead. In

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies for ...

they were founder members of the

Southern Alliance The Southern Alliance was a short-lived football league competition for teams in the South of England. At the time, there were no Southern teams in the Football League and no equivalent competition existed for clubs in the south. John Oliver, a ...

, one of the first attempts at a league in southern England, and topped the table before the competition was abandoned before the 1892–93 season was out. In 1894 they went on to become a founder member of the Southern League Second Division and finished third in their inaugural season; however they lost a test match against Royal Ordnance Factories and did not achieve promotion to the First Division. They continued to play in the Southern League under the Old St Stephen's name for another three seasons, never performing better than their inaugural season. During this time, in 1895, they moved across London to

, playing on Shepherd's Bush Green itself, which was to host football at the 1908 Summer Olympics (linked article says this event took place at White City stadium). In

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

Old St Stephen's merged with another local team to become Shepherd's Bush FC. They took Old St Stephen's place in the Southern League and continued to play up until the 1901–02 season. Gaining the nickname of "the Bushmen", the club moved to Wormholt Farm, but when that site was threatened with development in 1904, Shepherd's Bush built and moved into the Loftus Road ground nearby; they played their first game there against Old Malvernians on 22 October 1904. In 1907, the club joined the Spartan League, after winning the

1906–07 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

Great Western Suburban League, and a year later the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

, where they played until the outbreak of World War I.

During wartime, Shepherd's Bush F.C. were unable to play any further fixtures and disbanded in 1915. In 1917, their ground, Loftus Road, was taken over by Queens Park Rangers, who continue to occupy it.

History

References

Further reading