Bolton Association F.C. was an 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 from

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

History

The club was founded in 1883 by a Mr J. Walker of the Bolton Cricket Club, who became the club's captain, as a contrast to the illegal professionalism of

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. The Association was part of the club name, rather than a descriptor for the code the team played, to avoid confusion with the Bolton Rugby Football Club. The club started as a side "solely for the recreation to be obtained from its pursuit, and not with the exclusive determination to win at all hazards which actuates the management of the other organisation"; when trying to recruit players, the club relied on persuasion rather than "inducement", an attitude contrasting with a local unnamed club offering 5 shillings per win and half-a-crown per defeat. The quixotic nature of such an approach, and the change in the nature of the game, were shown up almost instantly; although the Association beat

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

2–1 at home at Christmas 1883 and Chorley by 10 goals to 1 a month before, as well as only going down 3–1 at home to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

, it lost 3–2 at home to minnows Enfield in the first round of the Lancashire Cup, 7–1 at

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

, 6–1 in the return at Preston North End, 11–0 at

Great Lever Great Lever is a suburb of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is south of Bolton town centre and the same distance north of Farnworth. The district is served by frequent buses runnin ...

(despite playing with 13 men), and 12–2 at

Blackburn Olympic Blackburn Olympic Football Club was an English football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire in the late 19th century. Although the club was only in existence for just over a decade, it is significant in the history of football in England as the ...

. At the end of the club's first season, one of their better players, George Dobson, left the club to become a professional at Bolton Wanderers. Walker had the consolation of representing the Lancashire FA, called up as a reserve in late 1883 for a match against the Sheffield FA. Despite the club's adherence to amateurism, the club was part of a proposed breakaway group, the British Football Association, which agitated for professionalism. It proved counter to the club's hopes for a successful side and the last references to the club are in 1891 playing junior football.

FA Cup

The club entered the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 1883–84 and 1884–85. In the first entry, the club easily beat Bradshaw 5–1 in the first round, and was considered to have done well to restrict Bolton Wanderers to three goals in the second round, especially as the forward Sowerbutts was "rendered almost useless by a violent charge early in the game". The following season the club got a walkover in the first round, scheduled opponents Astley Bridge withdrawing after the Lancashire FA fell out with the Football Association over professionalism, but in the second round an "indifferent" team lost 7–2 at Darwen Old Wanderers.

Colours

The club adopted colours which were "quite out of the common"; dark blue and canary yellow vertical striped shirts, rather than jerseys.

Ground

The club played at Green Lane, which was the cricket club's ground, and reputed to be the best in the county.

Notable player

* Richard Turner, who played for the club in its first season, and won the

with

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

in 1885

References

{{Reflist Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in Lancashire Association football clubs established in 1883 Association football clubs disestablished in the 19th century