Oswaldtwistle Rovers Football Club was a team based in

Oswaldtwistle Oswaldtwistle ( "ozwel twizzel") is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England, southeast of Blackburn, contiguous with Accrington. The town has a rich industrial heritage, being home to James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning j ...

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 ...

. They first 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 1884 and reached the second round in 1885. Rovers were one of the founding members of the Lancashire League in 1889 but predominantly competed in the

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 i ...

between 1894 and 1909. In 1909, after leaving the second division of the Combination, they played their final game in the FA Cup.

History

Oswaldtwistle Rovers were based in

, near

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 ...

, in

. In addition to friendly matches, they played in several competitions, including the

, the Lancashire League and the

. The first of their 22 appearances in the FA Cup came in the 1884–85 season, where they lost 12–0 to local side

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 ...

in the first round. However, the Olympics were a strong team that had won the cup in 1882–83 – the first time won by a northern team. They fared better in 1885–86, beating

Lower Darwen Lower Darwen is a village in the unitary borough of Blackburn with Darwen, contiguous with the town of Darwen, in the county of Lancashire. It is located between the towns of Blackburn and Darwen. Nearby places include Ewood and Blackamoor. It ...

3–1 in the first round. In the next round, they were paired against another local side, cup-holders

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 ...

. They lost the game 1–0, with the goal scored by Hugh McIntyre; only a thousand spectators attended the game, which suggests that the two Rovers were not big rivals despite their proximity. Blackburn Rovers went on to retain the cup that year. Oswaldtwistle never again made it to the second round of the FA Cup. In the 1888–89 season, qualifying rounds were introduced. That year, Rovers entered the second qualifying round, winning 3–1 at Blackburn Olympic, before losing to South Shore, who became

Blackpool F.C. Blackpool Football Club is a professional association football club based in the seaside resort of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, the ...

In the same year, Rovers won the Lancashire Junior Cup. In February 1888, they also hosted Newton Heath – who would later change their name to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

– in a friendly match that they won 6–0. In 1889, Oswaldtwistle was one of the founding members of the Lancashire League. However, they struggled in that league and left at the end of the 1890–91 season, finishing bottom of the table with only one win from 20 matches. In 1894, they entered the Lancashire Combination, a league generally populated by small local sides and the reserve teams of the larger Lancashire clubs. They ended the campaign in fourth place in the division, their highest-ever league position. The team left the Combination in 1897 but returned three years later. They were then relegated to the Second Division of the Combination in 1904. Oswaldtwistle's final full league campaign, in 1908–09, saw the club concede 137 goals. The club was forced to play in the extra preliminary round in the

1909–10 FA Cup The 1909–10 FA Cup was the 39th season of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup (more usually known as the FA Cup). Newcastle United won the competition for the first time, beating Barnsley ...

; paired against Dobson & Barlow's in the extra preliminary round, they drew 1–1 at home before losing 2–0 away in the replay. Its final league season ended prematurely; it resigned from the Lancashire Combination in March 1910, and Walkden Central took over its fixtures. The club needed gates of £15 to break even but had only been receiving £11 and had debts of £108, meaning that the club could not afford the expenses for the remaining away matches. The Rovers had at least signed off with a win, a late Taylor penalty securing a 2–1 win over Eccles. The club's annual general meeting in April 1910 heard that the ground owner wanted to use it for housing, and had refused the club a lease for the 1910–11 season. The club was caught between wanting to join a league, for which it required a ground, and leasing a ground without the certainty of a league, and ultimately, the committee resolved to wind up the club. The club was duly liquidated, and its paraphernalia sold at auction on 30 July 1910.

Colours

The Alcock yearbooks for 1886 to 1889 give the club's colours as red jerseys and white knickers; by 1906 its jerseys were described as scarlet.

Ground

The club initially played at the White Ash ground. By 1886 it was playing at the Town Bent and by 1887, it was at the Rhoden Ground on Roe Greave Road, near the Rose & Crown.

Seasons

Key: LL – Lancashire League; LC – Lancashire Combination; LCB – Lancashire Combination, B division; nR – nth round; nQ – nth round qualifying; PR – preliminary round; EPR – extra preliminary round.

Former players

Former players who also played professionally in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

include Tommy Becton, Martin Dunne, Proctor Hall, Kelly Houlker, Dick Lindley and

George Parsonage George Parsonage (November 1880 – 22 May 1919) was an English professional footballer, most notable for his time as a half back and player-manager in the Southern League with Brentford. He was banned from football for life by the Football As ...

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url = https://www.fchd.info/OSWALDTR.HTM , title = Oswaldtwistle Rovers , publisher = Football Club History Database , access-date = 26 August 2012 {{cite web , url = http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/Archive , title = The FA Cup Archive , publisher = TheFA.com , accessdate =7 November 2011 {{cite web , url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/englancashirehist.html , title = England – Lancashire League , publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation , accessdate =7 November 2011 , date = 23 July 2006 , first = Dinant , last = Abbink {{cite web , url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/englancacombhist.html , title = England – Lancashire Combination , publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation , accessdate =7 November 2011 , date = 2 May 2007 , first = Dinant , last = Abbink {{cite web , url = http://brfcs.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Oswaldtwistle_Rovers , title = Oswaldtwistle Rovers , publisher = BRFC Supporters Internet Site , accessdate =7 November 2011 , date = 26 December 2009 {{cite web , url = http://www.thefa.com/TheFACup/FACompetitions/TheFACup/NewsAndFeatures/2007/ThirdRound_originalStart , title = The original Third Round , publisher = TheFA.com , accessdate =7 November 2011 , date = 12 October 2007 , first = David , last = Barber {{cite book , title = Lancashire Football Association Directory of Members Handbook 2007–08 , author = Lancashire County Football Association , authorlink = Lancashire County Football Association , year = 2007 {{cite web , url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engcup1883.html , title = England FA Challenge Cup 1882–83 , publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation , accessdate =7 November 2011 , date = 27 January 2001 , first = Macario Reyes , last = Padilla {{cite web , url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engcup1885.html , title = England FA Challenge Cup 1884–85 , publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation , accessdate =7 November 2011 , date = 27 January 2001 , first = Macario Reyes , last = Padilla {{cite web , url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engcup1886.html , title = England FA Challenge Cup 1885–86 , publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation , accessdate =7 November 2011 , date = 27 January 2001 , first = Macario Reyes , last = Padilla {{cite web , url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engcup1887.html , title = England FA Challenge Cup 1886–87 , publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation , accessdate =7 November 2011 , date = 27 January 2001 , first = Macario Reyes , last = Padilla {{cite web , url = https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engcup1888.html , title = England FA Challenge Cup 1887–88 , publisher = Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation , accessdate =7 November 2011 , date = 27 January 2001 , first = Macario Reyes , last = Padilla {{cite web , url = https://www.fchd.info/cups/facup1882-83.htm , title = F.A. Cup 1882–83 , publisher = Football Club History Database , access-date =7 November 2011 , archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100216071751/http://www.fchd.info/cups/facup1882-83.htm , archive-date = 16 February 2010 , url-status = live Defunct football clubs in England Lancashire League (football) Lancashire Combination Defunct football clubs in Lancashire Association football clubs established in 1879 Association football clubs disestablished in 1910 Oswaldtwistle