After decades as one of London’s less fashionable areas, Clapham today is one of London’s trendiest places to live. Little do these young professional residents know that their neighborhood once served as the home to an FA Cup winning football team. Like today, Clapham in the 19th century was home to the upper-middle class and well-to-do such as merchants, solicitors, architects and the like. Taking to the field in fancy cerise and silver jerseys, Clapham Rovers were a team comprised of men of such professions. The side played on Clapham, Wandsworth and Tooting Commons, and what made Clapham Rovers unique to other clubs is the fact that they were a “hybrid” club, of sorts. Not only did they play association football, but they played rugby as well. The way this worked, is that one week they would play association football, and the next week they would play rugby, taking each in turns. This peculiar feature was actually written into the clubs constitution.

 

Their first ever match took place against The Wanderers, and despite the fact that their opponents were one of the best teams in London (in the world, really), it was Rovers who came out on top at 1-0. It can be said that this match was a local derby, with Wanderers ground Battersea Park just down the road from Clapham Common. On that Wanderers team was a 27 year old Charles Alcock, future secretary of the FA. In 1871, Clapham participated in the first ever FA Cup, and it was their own Jarvis Kenrick who scored the competitions first ever goal. This was in a 3-0 win over Upton Park. They were just as successful at rugby and by 1870, the club had acquired enough players to play each code every Saturday, instead of taking it in turns to play one, then the other. By the end of that season, Clapham had only lost two games – one under each code. Clapham reached the FA Cup final in 1878/79 but were defeated by Old Etonians. However, Rovers player James Prinsep had the distinction of becoming the youngest ever play in an FA Cup final at 17 years 245 days – a record that lasted until broken by Curtis Weston of Millwall in 2004.

 

Their greatest achievement, of course, was their FA Cup victory in the 1879/80 season, in which they defeated Oxford University 1-0 in the final. In this match, the magnificently named Clopton Lloyd-Jones made life difficult for Clapham’s opponents with two attempts on goal including one that glanced of the post. Edward Ram hit the crossbar just before the half but the deadlock was broken by Lloyd-Jones. According to a report of the match appearing The Field magazine, this caused “vociferous cheering, throwing up of hats, and other demonstrations of delight from their supporters”. Their road to the final featured some huge wins, including 7-0 over both Romford and Pilgrims.

 

Clapham had some notable players in their ranks at this time, such as goalkeeper Reginald Birkett who played internationally for England in both rugby and football. A week after the 1879 FA Cup final at Kennington Oval, Birkett played for England in a friendly against Scotland at the same place. Despite conceding 4 goals, he was on the winning side, 5-4. Incidentally, Birkett also scored the first ever try for England in their first ever rugby match. Other players who starred in the final for Clapham included Robert Ogilvie who worked at Lloyds of London and Norman Bailey, a lawyer and Claphams most successful player. Their half-back Arthur Stanley was a top-class tennis player who cometed at Wimbledon from 1881 to 1885, while Ram, a talented water colourist, was an artist both on the pitch and off it. He was also a famous architect. 

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Claphams defence of the FA Cup started promisingly with a 15-0 thumping of Finchley and defeats of Swifts and Upton Park, but they were finally eliminated in the fifth round by Old Carthusians, the eventual winners.

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Nobody knows for certain when Clapham Rovers folded. It’s known that they were disqualified from the 1885/85 FA Cup and Bailey was listed as belonging to Rovers when he made his 19th appearance for England in 1887. An announcement in The Times states that Old Carthusians would play Clapham Rovers at Crystal Palace. It’s generally thought that the club survived until 1911. The story of Clapham Rovers and their only FA Cup win is a largely forgotten part of English football history, but a team with the same name and colours competes today in the Sportsman Senior Sunday League. Even though they aren’t the same club, their badge proudly proclaims: “FA Cup winners, 1880.”

Achievements:
FA Cup – Winners x 1, runners up x1

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Star player: Norman Bailey, dob 23 July 1857, pob London, England

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Educated at and having played played football for Westminster School, Bailey was a well-known footballer of the time, making 19 appearances for England at half back, becoming the first player to make over 10 appearances for his country. Over his career, he represented Old Westminsters, Clapham Rovers, Wanderers, Swifts and Corinthians. He played for Clapham in both of their FA Cup final appearances. A solicitor by profession, Bailey was described as “a very safe half back with plenty of dash and judgement. He has plenty of stengh and pace and never misses his kick”. After playing, Bailey served on the FA committee and became vice-president in 1887.