Stafford County F.C. was an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

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 from

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

which was a member of one of the early football leagues,

The Combination The Combination was a league during the early days of English football. It had two incarnations; the first ran only for the 1888–89 season for teams across Northern England and the Midlands, and was disbanded before completion. The second ...

, in 1890.

History

The club was founded in 1890, along the lines of the Corinthian F.C., with the aim of providing an outlet for amateur footballers in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, given the rise of the

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 ...

and the professionalism of Stoke's two leading clubs. Indeed, the new club ambitiously recruited some of the Corinthian members; in imitation of the Corinthian, the club originally resolved not to play competitive football, relying solely on friendlies. However, the club in the end decided to apply for membership of a new competition - The Combination - and was elected as one of the twelve founding members. County's first match was away to Derby St Luke's. It was an inglorious debut, the side arriving so late that kick-off was delayed until 5pm, and going down 6–1. The Combination proved to be far too high a standard, County losing its first eight games; the nadir was a 14–1 dismantling at

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. With competition from

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

and Burslem Port Vale, there was also very little interest in the side - the attendance for the home game with Gorton Villa was under 20. On the eve of the club's ninth Combination match (the return against Derby St Luke's), the club committee resolved to resign from the competition after the game the next day. As luck would have it, County won 3–2, thanks to an 86th-minute winner from McHarg; County was also helped by the Saints having to split their efforts, another XI playing Derby Junction in the

Derbyshire Senior Cup The Derbyshire County FA Senior Cup is a local county football cup for teams based in the county of Derbyshire. Founded in 1883–1884, the first competition was won by Staveley, who beat Derby Midland 2–1 in the final. 1885–1886 saw Heeley ...

on the same day. Despite initial hopes that it would re-consider, the club stuck to its resignation; its final record was 11 goals for and 57 against in its 9 matches. Its results were duly expunged. Without any league competition, the club tried to continue, seeking friendly fixtures with other clubs, but such were difficult to arrange, and the last recorded fixture for County was a 1–0 defeat at

Leek A leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek (synonym (taxonomy), syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of Leaf sheath, leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a "s ...

in March 1891. The fixture was a last-minute arrangement after Derby St Luke's followed County's example in resigning from The Combination, with Leek deprived of its scheduled league match.

Ground

The club played at the County Cricket Ground in Stoke-on-Trent.

References

{{reflist Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in Staffordshire 1890 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 1890 Association football clubs disestablished in 1891 1891 disestablishments in England Sport in Stoke-on-Trent