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Revision as of 10:21, 14 February 2017 by 82.196.32.2 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) For the rugby union team, see London Welsh R.F.C.London Welsh Football Club played its first competitive match on 18 October 1891, although it had been founded around a year earlier by officers of the Welsh regiments, with the aim to "honourably uphold the reputation of Wales in the Metropolis".
Their first season was a mixed affair, including an emphatical 0–12 loss to Millwall Athletic in the 1891–92 season. They played in the London League for at least the 1896–97 season, in which they finished 7th of seven. They were suspended towards the end of the season, and the points from their two remaining games went to their opponents, Thames Ironworks, who as a result finished second. Another noteworthy fixtures in the early days were a 1:0 defeat and 1:1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur in 1894. At this time the Club had 90 members who were all, exclusively, Welsh.
The team was soon to be nicknamed "Preston North End" because "they were never beaten". This was due in part to having 6 Welsh internationals playing for the team. 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.
Notable players from this period include Welsh Internationals, Price White, Jeffrey Jones and Leigh Roose.
London Welsh won the following League honours during their long period in the South Olympian leagues:
> Senior Division 1 in 1922-23
> Minor Division 3 was won by London Welsh 3rd XI in 1951-52
> Senior Division 3 was won by 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
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 our home until it was 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. The Amateur Football Combination (AFC) is based in and around London and the Home Counties, and is believed to be the biggest adult football league in Europe. It has around 100 clubs and 350 sides playing Saturday afternoons, and comprises more than 1% of adult male 11-a-side football teams in England. In the 2016-17 season London Welsh two teams competed in the South 1 and South 5 divisions. After a lean period the 'Welsh' picked silverware again in 2015-16, with the first XI winning the South Division 3 (And being promoted two divisions in a league re-organisation) and in the same season the second XI won the A.F.A. Cup.
As well as competing for league honours teams are awarded marks for their sportsmanship, hospitality and facilities, and Welsh have been named the top club for hospitality twice in the last ten years. The club are a mixture of Londoners, Welshmen and International players, with regular social events and tours in recent years to Cyprus, Cornwall, Bournemouth, Barcelona and Nice.
References
- Blows, Kirk; Hogg, Tony (2000). The Essential History of West Ham United. Headline. ISBN 0-7472-7036-8.
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