Woodford Wells Football Club 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 from

Woodford Wells Woodford Wells is a small settlement on the edge of Epping Forest, in Woodford, East London. The area lies about north-east of Charing Cross. The name is shown in the Chapman and Andre 1777 map of Essex, and shortly after on an Ordnance Surve ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

History

The club was founded in 1869 and its first match, against

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at the start of 1870, was played to a modified

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code. The match was 15 per side (at the time association laws did not specify the size of teams) and included three Kaye brothers, three Spicer brothers, and two Powell brothers. The return fixture the next month was to association laws, although the club only had 10 players. The 1872 A.G.M was held at the Travellers Rest Inn (now The Travellers Friend) at which the following officiated: * President: J Spicer * Hon. Sec.: A.H.Tozer * Captain: H.E.Kaye * Vice-Capt.: A.E.Hooper The club's first entry into 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 ...

was in 1873–74. In the first round, the club beat Reigate Priory by 3–1 or 3–2; the Priory claimed a goal in the last minute and the sole umpire, Mr Bouch from

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, gave it as "undecided". In the second round, the club lost 2–1 to

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after playing into the wind for most of the game. The following year saw the club's best FA Cup run, beating

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

and

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to reach the quarter-finals, losing to Shropshire Wanderers in a replay. The initial tie (at the

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) ended 1–1 after the sides agreed to play the optional 15 minutes of extra-time. Shropshire won the replay (at the same venue) 2–0, the clinching goal being a Frazer own goal after a clearance bounced back off him. The club's final FA Cup appearance was in the 1875–76 tournament, losing to Panthers in the first round at the neutral ground of

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. Woodford Wells' final reported match was a 3–0 defeat to the Royal Engineers in March. However the club decided to dissolve in July 1876, apparently because of the lack of a club secretary; three of its regular players joined Upton Park instead, and a short-lived new club (Buckhurst Hill) formed in the town itself.

Colours

The club's kit was black jersey, stockings and cap, with white Maltese cross on jersey and cap.

Ground

The club's first ground was on Mr Buxton's field in Monkhams Lane (at the rear of the Travellers Rest), which is now The Woodford Wells Club. In October 1874 it moved to the Castle Green, with the club house at the Castle Hotel.

Records

*Best

performance: Quarter-final – 1874–75 *Biggest win: 6–0 v

Trojans Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 1890 ...

, 11 February 1871

Former players

George Thomson George Thomson may refer to: Government and politics * George Thomson (MP for Southwark) (c. 1607–1691), English merchant and Parliamentarian soldier, official and politician * George Thomson, Baron Thomson of Monifieth (1921–2008), Scottish p ...

, who played for the club in the 1875–76 season, and who was capped for Wales while registered with Woodford Wells.

References

{{Reflist Defunct football clubs in England Defunct football clubs in London Association football clubs established in 1869 Association football clubs disestablished in 1876 Defunct football clubs in Essex