St Mark's F.C. (Windsor)

St Mark's was an English association club based in Windsor. Its players were pupils and masters[1] attending St Mark's School, under the headmastership of the Reverend E. Hawtrey, whose sons played for the club.[2] The school later became the Imperial Service College.

St Mark's
Full nameSt Mark's F.C. (Windsor)
Founded1876?
Dissolved?
GroundSt Mark's School, Windsor

History

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The club entered the FA Cup once, in 1877–78. It was drawn to play Barnes, with choice of ground,[3] but scratched before playing.[4] This appears to be because a number of its players had pledged their allegiance to other clubs in the Windsor and Slough area, including Swifts F.C. and Remnants F.C.; the latter club was made up solely of masters from the school.[5]

The club provided three players to the Berkshire Football Association representative side in 1876–77.[6]

The first recorded match for the club was on 18 November 1876, a 2–1 home defeat to Runnymede F.C,[7] and matches are recorded for the club until 1888.[8] The club's pitch was also used for fixtures for other clubs in the area, when their own grounds were unavailable; the ground hosted an FA Cup tie in 1883.[9]

Notable players

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  • Rev. William Blackmore, chosen to play for England against Wales but forced to withdraw through injury[11]

Colours

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The club is likely to have played in magenta, being the college colour; possibly taken from the original rowing colour of Cambridge University.

Other St Mark clubs

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There were two London clubs active at the time under the name St Mark's; St Mark's Guild, a team from a teacher training college who changed their name to Rangers in 1877, and St Mark's College from Chelsea, a team of undergraduates from a college linked to the teacher training college, who played into the late 1880s, and whose old boys formed a football club (Old St Mark's F.C.) in 1885.

References

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  1. ^ "Remnants fixture list". Sporting Gazette: 90. 26 January 1878.
  2. ^ "Windsor Home Park v Uxbridge Crescents". Windsor & Eton Journal: 4. 23 December 1876.
  3. ^ "The English Football Association Cup". Nottinghamshire Guardian: 12. 31 August 1877.
  4. ^ "report". Bell's Life: 9. 17 November 1877.
  5. ^ "report". Sporting Gazette: 90. 26 January 1878.
  6. ^ "Bucks 2-1 Berks". The Field: 79. 20 January 1877.
  7. ^ "report". Windsor & Eton Express: 4. 25 November 1876.
  8. ^ "Royal School of Mines v St Mark's (Windsor)". Buckinghamshire Advertiser: 7. 24 November 1888.
  9. ^ "report". Football: A Weekly Record of the Game: 233. 10 January 1883.
  10. ^ "Essex v Berkshire". Reading Observer: 3. 13 January 1877.
  11. ^ "England players online".
  12. ^ "report". Windsor & Eton Express: 4. 25 November 1876.