Saxons 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 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 from

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th centu ...

. Its colours were a dark blue jersey with a red band on each arm, white knickerbockers, and dark blue stockings. The club was a small one, with a membership of 25 in 1876.

History

The club's first recorded game was a 2-1 home win against

Gresham F.C. Gresham F.C. was an association football club who played at Victoria Park in South Hackney in London, originally using the Penshurst Arms public house for the club facilities. History The club was founded in 1874 and shared a name with a ru ...

in January 1875, and its last recorded game a 4-0 home defeat to

the Ramblers The Ramblers is the trading name of the Ramblers Association, Great Britain's leading walking charity. The Ramblers is also a membership organisation with around 100,000 members and a network of volunteers who maintain and protect the path ...

in February 1877, despite only nine of the visiting players turning up. The club's ground, near the

Loughborough Road Loughborough Road is in Brixton, in the south London Borough of Lambeth. Running between Brixton Road and Loughborough Junction, it has always been mainly residential, but in the past two centuries has included many shops and taverns. History ...

in Brixton, was notorious for its muddy conditions. The club only played 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 ...

once, losing 4-1 at

South Norwood South Norwood is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, Greater London and formerly in the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Woodsid ...

in 1876-77. The match was an acrimonious one. The Saxons were said to be playing "on the win tie or wrangle principal ic, and were "apparently intent upon displaying their powers of polite repartee to make up for their deficiency in the knowledge of the Association rules." The approach did bring the Saxons the benefit of a goal which, according to the spectators, struck the tape and went over, but after the Saxons players "were prepared to take their affidavits that it went under", W.H. White, the South Norwood captain, conceded the goal. It availed the club nothing as South Norwood were already four goals to the good. Frank Haslam, the Saxons' captain, complained that South Norwood kept interrupting the game by claiming offside, and blaming White for "a temper and disposition which totally unfits him for the football field"; however the South Norwood secretary C.E. Leeds complained in turn about the Saxons players regularly disputing refereeing decisions, often in unison, and dismissed the club as "comparatively obscure". For the 1877-78 season, many of the Saxons players (including Haslam) joined the new

Grey Friars , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

club and the Saxons club was dissolved.

Separate Sheffield club

They are not to be confused with Saxons FC of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, formed in 1877 and who were dissolved in around 1880, who played at

Norfolk Park Park & Arbourthorne ward—which includes the districts of Arbourthorne, Gleadless, and Norfolk Park—is one of the 28 electoral wards in City of Sheffield, England. It is located in the southeastern part of the city and covers an ar ...

, and whose colours were navy blue with a

Union Jack The Union Jack, or Union Flag, is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. Although no law has been passed making the Union Flag the official national flag of the United Kingdom, it has effectively become such through precedent. ...

on the chest.The Football Annual 1879, ed. Charles Alcock

References

Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in London Association football clubs disestablished in 1877 Association football clubs established in 1874 1874 establishments in England 1877 disestablishments in England {{England-footyclub-defunct-stub