Swifts Football Club were a

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

based in

Slough Slough () is a town and unparished area in the unitary authority of the same name in Berkshire, England, bordering west London. It lies in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

History

The club was founded in 1869 by Mr W. Mansfield Gardner, Mr R.T. Smith, and Mr F. Mitchell, of Slough, who also formed the

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

club two years later. The club played home matches on a ground near The Dolphin public house, Slough. The Swifts club was originally a rugby union club but by 1873 had changed to the association code. During the late-19th century the club produced several

players, most notable of whom was Charles Bambridge who made 18 appearances for the national team. In 1873 the club inflicted a record home defeat on the Wanderers, beating a depleted side 5-0 at the

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

FA Cup

The club had some success in 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 competit ...

, reaching the

semi-finals A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &n ...

1876 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Reichsbank opens in Berlin. ** The Bass Brewery Red Triangle becomes the world's first registered trademark symbol. * February 2 – The National League, National League of Professional Ba ...

and

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

. In the 1873-74 FA Cup the club lost 2–0 at home to the Royal Engineers in the Semi-Final, 2 years later they would make the Semi-Final again this time losing 2–1 to eventual Champions Wanderers. It would be another ten years before Swifts would reach the FA Cup Semi-Finals again, this time against defending Champions Blackburn Rovers. Rovers would go on to win 2–1 on the 13 March 1886, a month later Blackburn would retain the FA Cup beating West Bromwich Albion. In 1887-88 the club looked to have reached the fifth round, having beaten Crewe Alexandra 3-2 at the Queen's Ground in West Kensington, but the Railwaymen appealed the result on the basis that one of the crossbars was too low, one of the directors having measured the posts before the match and keeping the information private as an insurance policy. The FA reluctantly upheld the protest and ordered a replay, which Crewe won 2-1. The next month the Football Association passed a motion of censure against Crewe for conduct that was "most unsportsmanlike and calculated to degrade the game of association football in the estimation of those of the public who wish to see it played in a proper spirit."

Final years

The final matches for the club took place in late 1890, which included a defeat to Chiswick, a draw with the Old Foresters, and, finally, a 6-2 win over the Bradfield Waifs. The side that faced the Foresters included only E.C. Bambridge from the semi-final team of four years before, although G. Brann, who played in the very last match, may have played under a pseudonym. In 1891, Swifts merged with Slough Albion & Young Men's Friendly Society, to form a new club, Slough, who later became Slough Town.

Colours

The club colours were originally white with a black swift on the shirt and black stockings, and by 1877 it changed to black shirts with a white swift, white knickerbockers, and black stockings.

England international players

The following eight players played for England whilst on the books of Swifts F.C. (with the number of caps received whilst registered with Swifts F.C.): * Arthur Bambridge (3 caps) * Charles Bambridge (18 caps) *

Ernest Bambridge Ernest Henry Bambridge (16 May 1848 – 16 October 1917) was an English footballer who made one appearance as a forward for England in 1876. He was the eldest of three brothers who played for England. Career His football career was spent with W ...

(1 cap) * George Brann (3 caps) *

Edward Haygarth Edward Brownlow Haygarth (26 April 1854 – 14 April 1915) was an English sportsman who represented the England national football team and played first-class cricket with Gloucestershire and Hampshire. Haygarth was capped just once for England, ...

(1 cap) * Francis Pawson (1 cap) * William Rose (3 caps) * Frank Saunders (1 cap)

Scotland international players

* Andrew Watson (3 caps)

Honours

London Charity Cup: * Winners: 1885-86, 1886-87 * Runners-up: 1887-88 Berkshire & Buckinghamshire Senior Cup: *Winners: 1879-80,Co-holders with Old Philberdians 1881-82 *Runners-up: 1882-83

References

External links

* Slough Town F.C. Defunct football clubs in England Association football clubs established in 1868 Association football clubs disestablished in 1890 Sport in Slough 1868 establishments in England 1890 disestablishments in England Defunct football clubs in Berkshire {{England-footyclub-defunct-stub