Luton Wanderers Football Club was one of the first

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

clubs from the town of

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

and the first from the town to enter 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 ...

History

The club was formed in September 1880, at a meeting at the Cricketer's Arms in High Town Road. The joining fee was 1 shilling, and the subscription two old pennies per week. The first reported game for the club was against Luton Excelsior in December 1881, played to Association laws but with 15 men per side. The first Cup tie the club played, in 1884–85, was against the

Old Etonians This is a list of notable former pupils of Eton College, a 13–18 public fee-charging and boarding secondary school for boys in Eton, Berkshire, England. Former pupils of the school are known as Old Etonians. Former pupils Politics *Robert ...

, and proved such an attraction that a crowd of nearly 2,000 attended. In January 1885, club secretary and captain Herbert Spratley arranged for the club to change its name to Luton Town, in order to represent the whole of Luton rather than just the members. This proved so unpopular a move that in April a public meeting was held to form a genuine professional "town" club, which was also called

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

. Spratley attended the meeting, to no avail, and was offered a place on the new club's committee as recompense. Notwithstanding the formation of the new club, the Wanderers continued for two more years. The club's only win in the FA Cup came in the 1885–86 season, beating

Chesham Chesham ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, about north-west of Charing Cross, central London, and part of the London metropolitan area, London ...

3–2, with the Wanderers sportingly conceding an appeal of a goal from Chesham as neither umpire was in a position to see whether a shot had crossed the line. However the influence of the new club was demonstrated when the club - without Spratley - lost 10–0 at the Old Wykehamists; worse was to come in 1886–87, with most of the club's players playing for Luton Town instead, the remnants of the Wanderers - featuring only three of the players from Chesham victory - went down 13–0 at

Swifts Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIFT, a ...

of Slough, eight goals coming in the first half. The club's final game was an ill-tempered match against Dunstable F.C. in February 1887, with the result that no club wanted to arrange fixtures with the Wanderers; as Luton Town had already taken over the mantle of being the town's top club, and so many players had joined Town that the Wanderers had to withdraw from matches against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and Hemel Hempstead, the Wanderers were allowed to fade away.

Colours

The club wore red and black.

Ground

Originally the club played on the People's Park, but, when entering the FA Cup, the club moved to an enclosed ground on Dallow Lane, with the Cricketer's Arms providing changing facilities.

References

{{Reflist Association football clubs established in 1880 Defunct football clubs in Bedfordshire Football clubs in Bedfordshire Association football clubs disestablished in 1887