Southill Park 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, originally from

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

History

The club was founded in 1876. The club seemed to have links with players from the north and Midlands, as amongst its founding players were C.E.O. Garrard and M. E. Dovaston, who had learned the game at

Derby School Derby School was a school in Derby in the English Midlands from 1160 to 1989. It had an almost continuous history of education of over eight centuries. For most of that time it was a grammar school for boys. The school became co-educational a ...

(Dovaston had also played for the Highbury Union F.C.), the brothers J., D., and M. Wylie, who had played for

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by royal charter, to replace the town's Saxon collegiate foundations which were disestablished in the sixteenth century, Shrewsb ...

, and J. E. Denning, who had played for Shropshire Wanderers, and whose brothers were also players for Southill Park. Other players with experience included W. E. Fishbourne from the First Surrey Rifles club. It had 20 members in its first full season, but proved to be active, taking part in 23 matches, winning 16 and only losing 1, its sole defeat coming against the Pilgrims. Its earliest recorded match was a 2–0 win over the Ramblers F.C., although a club simply called "Park", which included the original Southill Park captain Mantle in its line-up, lost at the

Mosquitoes Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by '' mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, ...

club in February. Perhaps as a result of this promising season, 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 in 1877–78. The club was drawn away in the first round to a strong Cambridge University F.C. side, and, on the St John's College grounds, the club went down to a 4–1 defeat. The club entered the competition for the second and last time in 1878–79. The club was matched with the Old Harrovians in the first round; the match took place at the

Kennington Oval Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

and the Parkites were overmatched, the score being 8–0 to the Chequers. The club continued until the end of the 1878–79 season, the final match being a 7–1 defeat at Upton Park F.C. in March 1879, but no more is heard of the club afterwards; M. Dovaston moved to the original Hendon club and centre-forward M. Wylie was good enough to join Wanderers.

Colours

The club's colours were a white shirt, blue knickers, and red stockings.

Grounds

The club originally played at Hampstead, five minutes' walk from the station, although match reports through the year give the location as Clapton. By 1878 it had moved to

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

, its dressing room at the Rose and Crown public house in Leaf Lane.

Notable players

Clopton Lloyd-Jones Clopton Allen Lloyd-Jones (12 November 1858 – 7 March 1918) was an English businessman and amateur sportsman, best known for football and cricket. He played for the Clapham Rovers when they won the FA Cup in 1880 and was selected, but did not ...

, later joined

Clapham Rovers Clapham Rovers was from its foundation in 1869 a leading English sports organisation in the two dominant codes of football, association football and rugby union. It was a prominent club in the late 19th century but is now defunct. The club play ...

with whom he scored the only goal of the 1880 FA Cup Final. He had played with Southill Park in its two FA Cup ties, captaining the side in the latter. * John Wylie, future international and Cup winner; played for the club in 1876–77, scoring 6 goals in a match against Mosquitoes and 7 against St Mary's College of Peckham

References

{{Reflist Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in London Association football clubs established in 1876 Association football clubs disestablished in 1879