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London Welsh F.C.

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For the rugby union team, see London Welsh R.F.C.

London Welsh Football Club is an amateur men's football team that plays in the Amateur Football Combination in London. The club is one of the oldest football clubs in London having played its first match on 17 October 1890.

History

The club was founded on Saturday 16th August 1890 at a meeting at the Old Rodney Head, Old Street[1].

There had been several attempts in the preceding years to establish a Welsh football club in the capital [2], and matches had been played on an informal basis with a degree of success. A number of Welsh players had been playing for other prominent London clubs, and several of them committed to play for the new London Welsh club[3].

A general meeting of the newly formed club was held at the Salutation Tavern on Newgate Street on Thursday 28th August 1890 at which Sir John Puleston MP was appointed as president. Evan Owen (Caernarfon) was elected chairman, T. J Williams (Bangor) became the first club secretary, John Charles Rae was the match secretary, and G Symonds was treasurer [4]. Lord Penrhyn and Dr Isambard Owen were amongst the club's first patrons[5].

The first full season (1891-92) was a difficult one, including an emphatic 0–12 loss to Millwall Athletic. They played in the London League in the 1896–97 season, in which they finished bottom. They were suspended towards the end of the season, and the points from their two remaining games went to their opponents, Thames Ironworks (who later changed their name to West Ham), who as a result finished second. At this time the club had 90 members who were all, exclusively, Welsh.

Connections with the London Welsh RFC

In 1895 London Welsh FC played a significant part in the history of the London Welsh Rugby Club. The original rugby club, which had been established in 1885, had disbanded by the end of the 1894-95 season [6]. In March 1895, the London Welsh FC committee decided to start a rugby section for the following season[7] and, during the 1895-96 season, the football and rugby sections of the club shared the same ground at Tufnell Park[8].

At the AGM at the Orange Tree in July 1898, the club's financial losses were due entirely to the rugby section and, as a result it was resolved to run the football and rugby sections separately in future. Shortly afterwards the pendulum began to swing for the rugby club when the Welsh Rugby Union made a grant of £50, accepted the nominations of two London Welsh representatives on the WRU committee, and urged all Welsh players in London and up at the universities to join the club (with the inducement that in future preference would be given to the London Welsh players for international trials) [9].

Notable Players

A number of London Welsh FC's players have played for the Wales national football team: Price White (1896), Sam Gillam (1890–93), Robert Lee Roberts (1891-1902) and the charismatic Leigh Richmond Roose (1900–01), who was capped three times while playing for the club.

Whilst a number of its rivals developed into professional clubs London Welsh retained its amateur status and when the Amateur Football Alliance reconstituted the Southern Olympian League in 1921, following the First World War, 'Welsh' were one of 15 clubs admitted to membership.

Honours

London Welsh won the following league honours during their long period in the South Olympian leagues:

  • Senior Division 1 - London Welsh 1st XI in 1922-23
  • Minor Division 3 - London Welsh 3rd XI in 1951-52
  • Senior Division 3 - London Welsh 1st XI in 1953-54
  • Senior Division 3 was won by London Welsh 1st XI in 1968-69
  • Senior Division 3 was won by London Welsh 1st XI in 1973-74
  • Minor Division E was won by London Welsh 3rd XI in 1979-80
  • Senior Division 4 was won by London Welsh 1st XI in 1993-94
  • Minor Division C was won by London Welsh 3rd XI in 1993-94

London Welsh also won the Middlesex Cup in 1921–22.

In 2002 the SOL and the Old Boys' Football League merged to form the Amateur Football Combination, one of Europe's biggest leagues. Of the original SOL clubs only London Welsh and Witan remain as members of the AFC. Up until the early 1990s Gunnersbury Park was Welsh's home until it they decided to seek better facilities and move to the Ibis ground nearby. London Welsh suffered from the selling off of sports pitches and for the next few years the club went through a nomadic period that included two seasons in south east London at Charlton. London have now come back to our West London roots and use the facilities of The Polytechnic Football Club from the Southern Amateur League.

Present day club

London Welsh currently operate two football teams, who play home games at the Quentin Hogg Memorial Ground in Chiswick and compete in the Amateur Football Combination. In the 2016–17 season London Welsh's two teams competed in the South 1 and South 5 divisions. After a lean period the 'Welsh' picked up silverware in 2015–16, with the first XI winning the South Division 3 (and being promoted two divisions in a league re-organisation) and the second XI won the A.F.A. Cup.

References

  • Blows, Kirk & Hogg, Tony (2000). The Essential History of West Ham United. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-7036-8.
  • Newspaper reports on the formation of London Welsh http://newspapers.library.wales/view/3766371/3766377/67/ http://newspapers.library.wales/view/4321836/4321839/7/
  1. ^ "The North Wales Chronicle and Advertiser for the Principality Newspaper, 23 August 1890". National Library of Wales.
  2. ^ "The Cardiff Times Newspaper, 15 November 1890". National Library of Wales.
  3. ^ "The North Wales Chronicle and Advertiser for the Principality Newspaper, 23 August 1890". National Library of Wales.
  4. ^ "Western Mail newspaper, 30 August 1890". National Library of Wales.
  5. ^ "The North Wales Express Newspaper, 3rd October 1890". National Library of Wales.
  6. ^ Jones, Stephen (1985). Dragon in Exile, The Centenary History of London Welsh R.F.C. London: Springwood Books. p. 23. ISBN 0862541255.
  7. ^ "The Sportsman Newspaper, 27 March 1895".
  8. ^ "The London Kelt newspaper, 12 October 1895". National Library of Wales.
  9. ^ Jones, Stephen (1985). Dragon in Exile, The Centenary History of London Welsh R.F.C. London: Springwood Books. p. 27. ISBN 0862541255.
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