Cleethorpes Town F.C. (1884)

The club was founded in 1884 and played at the Highgate ground on Cleethorpes High Street. It first entered the Lincolnshire Senior Cup in 1885-86, losing 4-1 in the first round at Gainsborough Trinity.[2]

Its first entry to the FA Cup was in 1886-87, the club recovering from conceding an early goal to beat Mellors 2-1.[3] In the second round the club was well beaten by Lockwood Brothers at home.

The following season the club drew the professional side Grimsby Town at home. The Mariners offered £7 to switch the tie to Grimsby, but Cleethorpes refused. Grimsby therefore arranged a home match for the reserves on the same day, against Kiveton Park, and sent the first team to Cleethorpes.[4] The crowd was only a couple of hundred and Grimsby won both matches 4-0, so the Cleethorpes gamble of a big home gate did not come off.[5]

One of the club's players, Charles Colbeck, was present at the Grimsby Town against Staveley F.C. match in which William Cropper of Staveley died of injuries after a collision with Daniel Doyle, and gave evidence at the inquest.[6]

The club did not reach the national rounds of the Cup again; the furthest it reached was the fifth and penultimate qualifying round in 1919-20, losing to Castleford Town. It never rose above the status of local leagues, withdrawing from the Grimsby League in 1905[7] after a match with Grimsby All Saints that ended in extreme acrimony, including one Cleethorpes player removing the goalposts so the game could not finish.[8]

Although the club was playing matches up to the outbreak of World War 2,[9] the club did not operate during the war itself, and did not re-start on the declaration of peace. There was a brief resurrection in the 1960s of the club before another club chose the name in 2005.

The club's colours were cardinal shirts and white shorts.[10][11]