Woodford Wells Football Club 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

Woodford Wells Woodford Wells is a small settlement on the edge of Epping Forest, in Woodford, East London. The area lies about north-east of Charing Cross. The name is shown in the Chapman and Andre 1777 map of Essex, and shortly after on an Ordnance Surv ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. The home pitch was in Monkhams Lane (at the rear of the Travellers Rest) which is now The Woodford Wells Club.

History

The club was founded in 1869 and its first match, against

Forest School Forest School or Forrest School may refer to: Educational philosophy * Forest school (learning style), a learner centred outdoor learning approach. Religious philosophy * Thai Forest Tradition, a Theravada school of Buddhism in Thailand. * Sri La ...

was played to a modified

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

code. The match was 15 per side (at the time association laws did not specify the size of teams) and included three Kaye brothers, three Spicer brothers, and two Powell brothers. The return fixture the next month was to association laws, although the club only had 10 players. The 1872 A.G.M was held at the Travellers Rest Inn (now The Travellers Friend) at which the following officiated: * President: J Spicer * Hon. Sec.: A.H.Tozer * Captain: H.E.Kaye * Vice-Capt.: A.E.Hooper The club's first entry into 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 in 1873-74. In the first round, the club beat

Reigate Priory Reigate Priory is a Grade I listed building in Reigate, Surrey. The building now contains a museum and Reigate Priory Junior School. References

{{coord, 51.23547, -0.20629, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade I listed ...

by 3-1 or 3-2; the Priory claimed a goal in the last minute and the sole umpire, Mr Bouch from

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

, gave it as "undecided". In the second round, the club lost 2-1 to

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 ...

after playing into the wind for most of the game. The following year saw the club's best FA Cup run, beating

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

and

Southall Southall () is a large suburban county of West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

to reach the quarter-finals, losing to Shropshire Wanderers in a replay. The club's final FA Cup appearance was in the 1875-76 tournament, losing to Panthers F.C. in the first round at the neutral ground of

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

. Woodford Wells' final match that season was a 3-0 defeat to the Royal Engineers and the club seems to have wound up before the next season started as there are no further recorded fixtures for the club, with three of its regular players turning out for Upton Park instead.

Colours

The club's kit was black jersey, stockings and cap (with white Maltese cross on jersey and cap).

Records

*Best

performance: Quarter-final – 1874-75 *Biggest win: 6-0 v

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 ...

, 11 February 1871

Former players

* G.F. Thomson

References

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