Cleethorpes Town F.C. (1884)

Cleethorpes Town F.C. was an English association football club from the town of Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire.

Cleethorpes Town
Full nameCleethorpes Town Football Club
Nickname(s)the Donkey Drivers[1]
Founded1884
Dissolved1939
GroundHighgate

History

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.

Colours

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

References

  1. "Cleethorpes v Grimsby Town". Athletic News. 18 October 1887.
  2. "Protests against Professionalism". Athletic News: 2. 22 September 1885.
  3. "report". Nottingham Journal: 6. 1 November 1886.
  4. "Cleethorpes v Grimsby Town". Athletic News. 18 October 1887.
  5. "Cleethorpes v Grimsby Town". Sheffield Independent: 6. 17 October 1887.
  6. "Fatal football accident in Lincolnshire". Leeds Mercury: 8. 15 January 1889.
  7. "Lincolnshire Football Association". Hull Daily Mail: 5. 23 February 1905.
  8. "Lincolnshire Football Association". Hull Daily Mail: 5. 5 January 1905.
  9. "Teams for Saturday". Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph: 7. 11 August 1939.
  10. Alcock, Charles (1887). Football Yearbook. p. 185.
  11. "Mystery on the football pitch". Grimsby Evening Telegraph: 17. 20 July 1998.
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