Reading Hornets F.C.

Reading Hornets F.C. was an English association football club.

Reading Hornets
Full nameReading Hornets Football Club
Nickname(s)Hornets
Founded1873
Dissolved1878
GroundRecreation Ground[1]

History

The club claimed a foundation date of 1873 and was certainly playing matches in the 1874-75 season.[2]

The Hornets competed in the FA Cup in 1876 and 1877. In 1876-77 the club lost 2-0 to the Swifts in the first round; as local rivals Reading F.C. had not entered the competition, two of the Reading players (Rogers and Marks) guested for the Hornets.[3] The club had generally had a good season, with a win over Cup regulars Maidenhead[4] and no heavy defeats.

However a defeat against Reading in 1876 under acrimonious circumstances[5] saw key players leaving the Hornets for the more established club at the start of the 1877-78 season (including captain Gilbert Sillence),[6] and, after losing 10-0 to Maidenhead in the first round of the Cup (a tie so one-sided that the tenth goal was scored by the Maidenhead goalkeeper W. E. Lovegrove, who had come out of goal for the last ten minutes[7]) the club did not have enough players remaining to fulfil the next two fixtures which it had arranged.[8] Its last members joined Reading.

Colours

The club wore black and amber jerseys, with a black cap and gold tassel.[9]

References
  1. Alcock, Charles (1877). Football Annual. p. 171.
  2. "Sporting Diary for this week". Yorkshire Post: 8. 17 November 1874.
  3. "report". Sporting Life: 1. 8 November 1876.
  4. "Maidenhead 0-2 Reading Hornets". Maidenhead Advertiser. 6 December 1876.
  5. "report". Reading Observer: 3. 23 December 1876.
  6. Titford, Roger. "The Real Early History of Reading FC". Reading Supporters' Trust. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  7. "Maidenhead 10-0 Reading Hornets". Maidenhead Advertiser: 3. 31 October 1877.
  8. "news". Henley Advertiser: 4. 10 November 1877.
  9. Alcock, Charles (1877). Football Annual. p. 171.
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