Old Hill Wanderers Football Club was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

club based in

Old Hill Old Hill is a small village in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands, England, situated around north of Halesowen and south of Dudley. Initially a separate village it is now part of the much larger West Midlands conurba ...

in the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during it ...

. The club competed in the Birmingham & District League, one of the country's strongest semi-professional leagues, between 1892 and 1895, winning the league championship in the 1893–94 season. The club also competed 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 ...

on one occasion, but left the Birmingham League in 1895 and appears to have folded altogether. A crowd of around 4,000 saw the Wanderers draw 3–3 with Causeway Green Villa on 24 October 1891. The reporter said it was the highest attendance to date at the ground and that "never was a finer game played there". The Birmingham League Secretary, Arthur Cooknell, retrospectively attributed the club's downfall to it being the victim of its own success. The loss of quality players from the 1893–94 Birmingham League-winning side, such as

Alec Leake Alexander Leake (11 July 1871 – 29 March 1938), known as Alex or Alec Leake, was an English professional footballer who won five caps for his country and made 407 appearances in the Football League playing as a half back for Small Heath, A ...

and

Billy Williams Billy Leo Williams (born June 15, 1938) is a former left fielder and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB) who played from 1959 to 1976, almost entirely for the Chicago Cubs. A six-time All-Star, Williams was named the 1961 National League (NL) ...

Small Heath Small Heath is an area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman times, sits on top of a small hill. ...

and

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...

respectively, was a major factor in the decline of the club's fortunes. Unable to match the results of the title-winning season, attendances declined and a financial loss for the 1894–95 season was reported. The landlord ordered the ground to be dismantled in August 1895 and the club became homeless.

References

Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in the West Midlands (county) Association football clubs disestablished in the 19th century Association football clubs established in the 19th century West Midlands (Regional) League {{England-footyclub-defunct-stub