West End 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 from

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 ...

, with a claimed foundation date of 1868.

History

West End was the works side of the

Marshall & Snelgrove Marshall & Snelgrove was a department store on the north side of Oxford Street, London, on the corner with Vere Street founded by James Marshall (b.1806 Yorkshire – d.22 November 1893). The company became part of the Debenhams group. Histor ...

department store. The club's first recorded match was in October 1873. Its first year of entry to 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 ...

was 1879–80, and the club reached the fourth round (last ten), albeit thanks to one bye and one walkover after

the Swifts ''Swifts'' (also known as ''The Swifts'') is a heritage-listed late-Victorian architecture, Victorian Battlement, castellated Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival mansion located in the suburb of Darling Point, New South Wales, Darling Po ...

withdrew from the competition. The club reached the second round of the Cup in the next two years. In 1881–82, the club drew 1–1 with

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, but was disqualified before the replay could take place for an unknown reason. The club's last FA Cup tie was a 3–3 draw with Upton Park in 1884–85 as it withdrew from the competition before the replay. It had success on a more local level, winning the West End Challenge Cup (set up in 1881 for works sides from "large retail houses") for the first time in 1882–83, by beating Prairie Rangers (the works side of

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) 3–0 in the final replay, at Wormholt Farm; the match attracted an attendance of 1,500, and Cooper gave West End the lead in the first half, Foster scoring twice in the second (the first from following up a parry by Houghton in the Rangers' goal, the second "breasting" home a corner) to secure the cup. It repeated the triumph in 1895. The club continued playing until at least the 1913–14 season, but references to West End afterwards refer to the West End FA rather than an individual club.

Colours

Grounds

In 1875, the club was playing at

Wormwood Scrubs Wormwood Scrubs, known locally as The Scrubs (or simply Scrubs), is an open space in Old Oak Common located in the north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London. It is the largest open space in the borough, ...

. By 1877, the club had moved to Wormholt Farm 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 1878–79, the club was playing at the Royal Oak in Harlesden, but by 1879–80 the club was once more playing at Wormholt Farm, using the Askew Arms for facilities. In 1905, the Marshall & Snelgrove amalgamated athletic association - the Magpie Athletic Club, formed in 1895 to bring together disparate sports under one umbrella - moved to a new ground in

Wembley Park Wembley Park is a district of the London Borough of Brent, England. It is roughly centred on Bridge Road, a mile northeast of Wembley town centre and northwest from Charing Cross. The name Wembley Park refers to the area that, at its broadest ...

, and the football club took up residence there, albeit keeping the name West End.

References

{{Reflist Association football clubs established in 1868 Defunct football clubs in England 1868 establishments in England 1914 disestablishments in England Works association football teams in England Association football clubs disestablished in 1914 Defunct football clubs in London