Fishwick Ramblers 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 Preston in

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 as a

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

club. The club's ground was opposite the Cemetery Hotel in Preston. Although the club played at least one match in 1875 to association rules, and at least one in 1877 to

Sheffield rules The Sheffield Rules was a code of football devised and played in the English city of Sheffield between 1858 and 1877. The rules were initially created and revised by Sheffield F.C., Sheffield Football Club, with responsibility for the laws pa ...

, it was mostly a rugby club until 1881. In January 1878, the club hosted

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 ...

in the Preston Challenge Trophy, in front of 2,000 spectators, to

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

rules, losing by 2 tries, 2 dead balls, and 4 touchdowns, to 2 tries.

Association football

In 1881, the club switched to playing solely association rules, with the first reported match against another club taking place at the end of February 1882. By the start of the next season, the club's ground was given as Walton Brow. The club entered the Lancashire Cup for the first time in 1883–84, losing to Burnley Olympic in the first round, Despite this check on ambitions, 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 ...

for the first time the following season. In a sign of changing times, the club faced an unsuccessful protest from Rishton after beating them in the Lancashire Cup because of professionalism, and neither Preston North End and Preston Zingari took part in the FA Cup because of arguments with the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

regarding professionalism. This left the Ramblers as the only Preston side in the competition; they beat Darwen Ramblers in the first round but lost to

Darwen Darwen is a market town and civil parish in the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The residents of the town are known as "Darreners". The A666 road, A666 road passes through Darwen towards Blackburn to the north, Bolton to ...

in the second. In the Lancashire Cup, the club went one round further, losing at

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in the third. In 1885-86, the club was drawn against Halliwell of

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 ...

in the first round, and was initially given a walkover as the FA suspended Halliwell for using an

Astley Bridge Astley Bridge is predominantly a residential district of Bolton in Greater Manchester, England. It is north of Bolton town centre, south of Blackburn, and northwest of Manchester. History Astley Bridge is quite a modern place name and onl ...

player in a friendly match without permission. However, on appeal, the FA lifted the suspension, and Halliwell won the tie 2–1, despite the FA's rules on professional eligibility requiring Halliwell to field mostly a reserve team. The club did not enter the FA Cup again; an 11–0 defeat to Preston North End in a friendly shortly after the club's FA Cup exit may have been a factor. Given the presence of the biggest club in the country on its doorstep, the club found that continuing even as a junior club to be too hard. From September 1890 it became the de facto reserve side of Preston North End, playing at Deepdale, and, in 1891, Preston asked for formal permission to absorb the club. On 12 February 1891, the

Lancashire Football Association The Lancashire County Football Association, also known simply as the Lancashire FA, is the governing body of football within the historical county boundaries of Lancashire, England. They are responsible for the governance and development of foot ...

gave that permission and contracts were duly transferred, although the Ramblers played under the original name until the end of 1892.

Colours

The club's colours were amber and black shirts, with blue knickers.Charles Alcock yearbooks 1884-6

Notable players

Frank Norris Benjamin Franklin Norris Jr. (March 5, 1870 – October 25, 1902) was an American journalist and novelist during the Progressive Era, whose fiction was predominantly in the naturalism (literature), naturalist genre. His notable works include ''M ...

Richard Whittle Richard Whittle was born in Preston, Lancashire, in the fourth quarter of 1864 and he was a footballer who played in The Football League for Preston North End. Richard Whittle signed for Fishwick Ramblers, a Preston–based club who did appea ...

Frank Becton Francis (Frank) Becton (11 May 1873 – 6 November 1909) was an English professional footballer at the turn of the 20th century. An inside forward, he turned out for Preston North End (in two separate spells), Liverpool, Sheffield United, Bed ...

References

{{Reflist Defunct football clubs in England Football clubs in Lancashire