"The Foundation of The Fulham Football Club - Parts IX & X - BUMPER EDITION!

[LBNo11]

...mainly due to the fact that I cannot check the archives on the old webs***etoolbox site as to what chapter I had got up to, I have decided to post chapters 9 & 10 together (if anyone is still interested) to make sure I have not missed them:-

"Foundation History of The Fulham Football Club"
by
H.D. Shrimpton
(ex Fulham F.C. player and secretary)
PART  IX

I now pass on to clubs of the same calibre as Fulham who were either local or in the near neighbourhood.
Perhaps the strongest and keenest opponents were the Stanley F.C., with headquarters at the "Dukes Head" Parsons Green. This club played on the Putney Lower Common and for a time on the Captain James field, Halford Road. Until they were disbanded about 1896 they were a perpetual thorn in the side of the Fulham Club in all their competitions. The last secretary of the club was genial "Dolly" Webb, who today still trundles "a pretty wood" on the local bowling greens.
It was the Stanley Club who gave Fulham F.C. their heaviest defeat by beating them eight goals to nil at Craven Cottage. After Stanley were disbanded, several of their players joined Fulham, notably Wally Read, Albert Maile and Johnny Pask, who did yeoman service for their new club.

The Gas Light and Coke Co. ran a team under the name of Imperial F.C., their home being adjacent to the gas works in Imperial Road. This club ran for some years and were keen opponents of Fulham until they became defunct about 1900. Like Stanley F.C. the Imperial supplied a few good men to strengthen the Fulham Club, and those who were perhaps outstanding were Joe Chell, Sammy Aylott and Jimmy Taylor.
Old St. Mark's College, the dark side, were perhaps the strongest club in Fulham before Fulham F.C. became prominent, This club played on the ground of old Beaufort House, North End Road.
The Colton F.C. mentioned previously, had a very short existence. The Salisbury F.C. another club of brief duration, had as their strongest patron that well known local character, Mr Jimmy Squires, the proprietor of the "Salisbury" and the "Red Lion" hotels. Jimmy Squires will be remembered by many old Fulham supporters as the gentleman who decked out himself and all that was his in Cambridge blue on the occasions of the 'Varsity Boat Race.

In the nearby districts were the teams of St. Mark's, St. John's and St. Mary's Colleges; members being resident students. Each of these college teams gave excellent assistance to the Fulham Club, especially St. Mary's, whose members came chiefly from the Midlands or North of England. One who stood out as a great player was Dick Curry, a magnificent back; the same may be said of H. Gamble of St. Mark's who was a stalwart figure in the Fulham side when they played on Ranelagh Gardens (Putney Bridge) site.
The last of these senior clubs to be mentioned is the Hammersmith Athletic F.C.who, under the astute guidance of Fred Wastey, became a team to demand respect from the rest of the local senior sides.


There were clubs of well-known business houses who played some great games against Fulham. William Whiteley, Ltd., ran a strong team called Kildare F.C.; John Barker, Ltd., had a good side named Argyle F.C.; Harvey Nichols and Co., had a club called the Prairie Rangers, which was of Fulham calibre: Hitchcock Williams and Co., ran the Condor F.C. and there were also business house sides. Of the less well-known clubs, and of junior strength, the most prominent was the Old Sherbrookians F.C. formed of past scolars and masters of Sherbrooke Road School. They had a ground at Wimbledon Park, afterwards moving to Fielders meadow, adjoining Craven Cottage. This club was, in its day, one of the finest junior clubs in London, and when eventually it disbanded through lack of finance, nearly all its players joined Fulham, and forced their way into the first team.
H.E. Jackson, the first secretary of the present Fulham F.C., Ltd and E. Payne, the player who caused the trouble with the Spurs, were amongst the number.
Messrs. Stansfeld and Co., Swan Brewery, Fulham Road, also had a strong medium team under the name of Swan Brewery F.C., otherwise known as "The Bungs." Their ground was behind the brewery where Fulham Court now stands, and the team was under the captaincy of one of the brothers Shrimpton. It has been published that Fulham F.C. used the brewery ground, but this is not correct. At no period of their career did they do so.

Although unknown to the public, the Fulham Club, after being at Craven Cottage for a short while, were offered the Stamford Bridge ground before the formation of the the dark side Club.

Just prior to reaching a decision to take the ground a controversy arose with the party concerned and the matter was cried off by the Fulham representatives.

"Foundation History of The Fulham Football Club"
by
H.D. Shrimpton
(ex Fulham F.C. player and secretary)
PART  X

WHEN THE GUARDS WORE FULHAM COLOURS

Among the clubs who had regular fixtures with Fulham were those belonging to the Grenadier, Coldstream and Scots Guards Regiments, and games with these teams were always full of hard knocks, and an ample supply of liniment was required after the encounters. Also it must be recorded that several players of the said Regiments came to the aid of Fulham Club from time to time. Names that come to mind of the soldiers who were regular wearers of Fulham's colours are George Sharran, an ideal inside-forward; Drummer Cox, a perfect center-forward; and David Lloyd, a calculating and cool member of the Back Division.

Davy was a typical "Tommy" and knew all the answers. It may be surprising to know that the above-mentioned were regular players for Fulham; this will be more readily understood when it is stated that the writer spent many a jovial Sunday morning with one or the other of the battalions usually at the dark side or Wellington Barracks. These visits, spent in the Sergeants' Mess, assured Fulham having a full team each Saturday.

Writing of those games with Guards Regiments brings to mind a diminutive player of Fulham named Patsy Harris. Patsy stood about five feet in height and performed surprisingly acrobatic stunts in leaping to head the ball from the tall Guardsmen. Patsy was full of guts and enthusiasm which well made up for his lack of inches.

In the season of 1894-5 Fulham suffered its one and only act of hooliganism from the supporters of an opposing club. This occurred at Brentford after the home team had been beaten one goal to nil in the second round of the London Cup. The winning goal was scored by Alec Frame, perhaps one of the trickiest centre-forwards ever to put on Fulham colours. The press report stated: "Unusual and extraordinary scenes followed the finish of the game. The spectators crowded the referee and pelted the players with offensive refuse." The author, who played in the match remembers being escorted by the police down Brentford High Street to the dressing rooms which were at one of the "locals."

Before passing on to those who were the mainstays of the Club throughout the amateur days, it would perhaps be interesting to many of the present-day supporters to mention that the most successful seson of those days was the 1897-8 when the team went through and won the London League undefeated after a neck-and-neck struggle with Barnet F.C. The team was composed of the following: A.J. Maile, H.D. Shrimpton, A.E. Jennings, S.J. Aylott, J. Taylor, A. Knight, J.J. Davies, E.A. Freeman, W.G. Ives, J. Pask and W.A. Robertson. During this season E.A. Freeman scored 69 goals; most were gifts from Billy Ives, center-forward, who came from Dunstable and who was an adept at making openings.

Two members of this team were Nonconformist Ministers, two ex-members of the Imperial F.C., two ex-Stanley F.C., and one ex-Queens Park Ranger. E.A. Freeman was also associated with Freeman's Falstaff Cigars, and W.A. Robertson was of the dark side Table Jellies fame.

After this successful 1897-8 season the Club became members of the more powerful Southern League, again with pronounced success. Eventually they turned professional in 1900, starting with a part-time list of players.

[LBNo11]

...the penultimate part will be posted same time next month.

The series is being published by the excellent Fulham Fanzine TOOFIF, (£3.00) in issue 114 pages 24 to 27.

When complete - the whole series including some pictures will be in the forthcoming HISTORY section of Friends Of Fulham...

[Burt]

Hooliganism at Brentford in 1894.... lol

An interesting read Mr LB sir, as ever.