Accrington Football Club 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 from

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

, Lancashire, who were one of the founder members of The Football League.

History

Accrington F.C. was formed following a meeting at a local public house in

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 of Professional Base Ball Clubs i ...

. The ''Owd Reds'' played at

Accrington Cricket Club Accrington Cricket Club is a cricket club in the Lancashire League, which play their home games at Thorneyholme Road in Accrington. For the 2011 season their captain was Jimmy Hayhurst and their professional was Ashar Zaidi. The club was forme ...

's ground in Thorneyholme Road, still in use for that sport today. The club was part of the revolt against the Football Association in 1884 over professionalism, after being expelled from the FA the previous year for paying a player. They were one of the original twelve teams forming the Football League on 17 April 1888. Accrington's best season was in 1889–90, when they finished sixth in the table. However, in the 1892–93 season the team finished fifteenth (of 16) and was relegated after losing a test match 1–0 against Sheffield United at Trent Bridge. Accrington then resigned from the league rather than play in the Second Division, becoming the first of the founding Football League clubs to leave the League permanently ( Stoke had failed re-election in 1890, but rejoined the league a year later). After its first season in the Lancashire League, Accrington unsuccessfully applied for re-election to the Football League. Shortly afterwards, Accrington F.C. suffered financial problems, which eventually led to its demise. The club continued outside the league until

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

, when it finally folded following a 12–0 defeat on 14 January against Darwen in the Lancashire Senior Cup. Accrington did not have a Football League team again until in 1921–22 the Lancashire Combination league's Accrington Stanley (formerly a local rival), became a member as part of a major expansion of the league.

League and Cup history

International players

During its short life, the club had three players selected for England:England Players' Club Affiliations – Accrington
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George Haworth George Haworth (17 October 1864 – 5 January 1943) was an English footballer, who helped Blackburn Rovers win the FA Cup in 1885. He also made five appearances for England. Playing career Haworth was born in Accrington and played for Christ ...

– 5 caps (1887–1890) * Joe Lofthouse – 1 cap (1890) * Jimmy Whitehead – 1 cap (1893)

References

External links

Every match result and League table while in the Football LeagueAccrington on Football Club History Database
{{Borough of Hyndburn culture Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in Lancashire Association football clubs established in 1876 Association football clubs disestablished in 1896 1876 establishments in England 1896 disestablishments in England Sport in Hyndburn History of Hyndburn Accrington The Football League founder members Defunct English Football League clubs Lancashire Combination Lancashire League (football)