Oldbury Town
Full nameOldbury Town Football Club
Nickname(s)Town
Founded1887
Dissolved1907
GroundLow Town
ChairmanBenjamin Hingley MP

Oldbury Town Football Club was an English football club from the Oldbury, then in Worcestershire.

Foundation

The success of the Crosswell's Brewery works side in the 1886–87 FA Cup, and the number of people from the town who went to West Bromwich Albion for the latter's home games, led businessmen in Oldbury to consider setting up a side for the town. There were two separate groups; one led by a Mr Morton of the Bell Hotel, which proposed Brooke Robinson, Member of Parliament for Dudley, as the club president,[1] and one led by a Mr Garbett, who proposed renting a ground in Low Town from the Chance Brothers firm. The latter organization won out and Benjamin Hingley, MP for Oldbury's constituency of North Worcestershire, accepted a role as President.

History

The club immediately entered the FA Cup in its own right, although there was some confusion in the media, listing the club's entry as under the name of Crosswells;[2] the support for the latter club seems to have transferred to the more inclusive Oldbury. In the first round the club was drawn against Aston Villa, and a 4–0 home defeat against the Cup holders was not disgraceful in the circumstances; indeed Town kept the score to two until the last ten minutes, and had a goal disallowed.[3]

The club also got to the quarter-finals of the Birmingham Senior Cup, only losing 2–0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers.[4] In 1888–89 the club beat Nottingham Forest 4-1 in the third round[5] but lost to Stoke in the last sixteen. At the close of the season however the club lost captain Bradbury to Birmingham St George's.[6]

Despite this promising start, the club had been founded too late to be a success; with established clubs all around them, Town, lacking the track record to join a national league, joined the Birmingham and District League instead. Although a top three side in the first two seasons, by 1897 the club was struggling to compete.[7]

The club's final league season was in the Birmingham Junior League in 1906–07, in which the club won precisely one match; its final game, against Bournville Athletic.[8] The club was not re-elected and seems to have wound up, although a new club, Oldbury F.C., was formed in 1915. This club, which played at the old Town ground, and also wore blue,[9] was often called Oldbury Town.[10]

Colours

The club played in light and dark blue.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Formation of a Football Club at Oldbury". Birmingham Mail: 4. 1 April 1887.
  2. ↑ "report". Sporting Life: 4. 17 October 1887.
  3. ↑ "report". Birmingham Post: 7. 17 October 1887.
  4. ↑ Carr, Steve (2000). History of the Birmingham Senior Cup. West Bromwich: Grorty Dick.
  5. ↑ "Birmingham Cup Tie - 3rd Round". Birmingham Mail: 3. 24 November 1888.
  6. ↑ "Football". Birmingham Daily Post: 7. 1 May 1889.
  7. ↑ "Oldbury Town". Football Club History Database. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  8. ↑ "Junior League Notes". Sports Argus: 2. 4 May 1907.
  9. ↑ "Oldbury Town's Practice Match". Sports Argus: 2. 4 September 1915.
  10. ↑ "Class Players!". Birmingham Gazette: 7. 1 September 1915.
  11. ↑ Alcock, Charles (1890). Football Annual. p. 168.
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