Wath Athletic F.C. was 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

Wath-upon-Dearne Wath upon Dearne (shortened to Wath or often hyphenated) is a town south of the River Dearne in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, north of Rotherham and almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It had a pop ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

History

The earliest mentions of the club - under the name Wath F.C. - date from 1878, although the club's appearances were intermittent until the club moved into a higher standard of football in the late 1880s, entering the Hallamshire League in 1891. They played in local Sheffield leagues 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 ...

for the first time in 1893 (as Wath-upon-Dearne), and had one abortive (and unsuccessful) season as a professional club in 1896–97, before changing their name to Wath Athletic in 1899. This name change reflected their move to the new Athletic Ground in the village. In 1904 the club ceased entering competitions, due to a deficit over the season of £9, but returned again three years later and rejoined the

Sheffield Association League The Sheffield Association League was an English association football league based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. History The league was founded in 1897 to fill the void left by the disbandment of the Sheffield & District Football League, which ...

, winning the league title at the first time of asking in 1908. They won the Association League on a further three occasions before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and when hostilities ended Wath joined the Yorkshire League, though only for the 1920–21 season. In the summer of 1921 Athletic were admitted into the

Midland League The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid. History Th ...

, and they would spend a total of nine seasons in the competition. Although their highest league finish (fourth) came in 1926–27, they had arguably their most successful season a year earlier when they reached the 1st round of the

for the only time, losing 0–5 to

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

, before winning the

Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup The Sheffield & Hallamshire Senior Cup is a county cup competition involving teams within the Sheffield and Hallamshire County Football Association. Originally named the Sheffield Challenge Cup, it is the 5th oldest surviving cup competition i ...

for the first time after losing the final in 1897. They left the Midland League in 1930 after finishing bottom of the 26 team table, returning to the Association League. They won the Association League again in 1932 but the club fell on hard times - the club lost £90 over 1932–33, with an average gate take of £4 - and the last recorded fixture for the club was in December 1934.

Colours

As Wath F.C., the club wore red and white. By at least 1908 the club had changed to white shirts, black shorts, and black socks. In January 1923, the club adopted a distinctive white shirt with blue "necklet" and white shorts, and by 1927 the club had blue and white shirts, with white as a change kit.

Notable former players

Players that have played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

either before or after playing for Wath Athletic – * John Addenbrooke * Jack Angus *

Eric Brook Eric Fred Brook (27 November 1907 – 29 March 1965) was an English Association football, footballer who played in the outside left position. Brook was also an England national football team, England international. He was a muscular player with ' ...

* Walter Moore *

Albert Pape Albert Arthur Pape (13 June 1897 – 18 November 1955) was an English footballer. His regular position was as a forward. Born in Elsecar, West Riding of Yorkshire, he played for several clubs in The Football League, including Notts County, Clap ...

* Bernard Radford * Pip Rippon * Harold Watson * Jack Wilkinson * John (Jack) Ball

League and cup history

Honours

League

**Champions (5): 1907–08, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1912–13, 1931–32

Cup

**Winners: 1925–26 **Runners-up: 1896–97

Records

*Best league performance, 4th,

, 1926–27 *Best

performance: 1st round, 1925–26

References

{{Reflist, 2 Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in South Yorkshire Sheffield & District Football League Sheffield Association League Yorkshire Football League Midland Football League (1889)