Surbiton Football Club was a short-lived English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in the London suburb of

Surbiton Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of ...

, founded by members of Kingston Rowing Club. It was a founder member of

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

History

The club's first recorded football match against external opposition was a 0–0 draw at home to Dingley Dell F.C. on 15 February 1862. As this match pre-dated the foundation of

, it was played with ten men per side to the rules set out by the Dingley Dell club, which banned the carrying of the ball, and in which goals were scored by kicking the ball under a tape. At the end of the 1861–62 season, the club changed its name to Kingston F.C. and appears to have played only one external match under that name, a 1–0 win against Dingley Dell in November 1862, the goal being scored by A. H. Mowbray.

Foundation of the Football Association

The club (under the name Surbiton once more) was represented by Theodore Bell (1840–1923), formerly captain of football at

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils 13–18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. ...

, and secretary of the Rowing Club, at the 'Meeting of the Captains' at the

Freemasons' Tavern The Freemasons' Tavern was established in 1775 at 61–65 Great Queen Street in the West End of London, West End of London. It served as a meeting place for a variety of notable organisations from the 18th century until it was demolished in 1909 ...

on 26 October 1863. Bell may also have 'doubled up' and represented both Surbiton and Dingley Dell). By the time the club was a founder member of the FA, it had changed its name back to Surbiton, but does not seem to have played a match under the FA laws.

Colours

There is no record of the club's colours, if any. The Football Association rules required clubs to register their colours, suggesting that by 1863 there was a need to distinguish players on the field. The Kingston Rowing Club's colours were red and white hooped shirts so it is possible that the Surbiton players wore those for football matches, or possibly plain red caps to match the oars.

Notable players

Three Surbiton players, C.C. (Charles) Mowbray, A. Wilson, and G. Cardale, were part of the Kingston Rowing Club eights that won the

Grand Challenge Cup The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing (sport), rowing competition for men's eight (rowing), eights. It is the oldest and best-known event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male cr ...

at the Henley Regatta in 1864.

References

Defunct football clubs in London Surbiton Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in Surrey Association football clubs established in 1862 Association football clubs disestablished in 1863 {{England-footyclub-defunct-stub