Bristol Aeroplane Company FC
c1937 - c1950
It is believed that the Bristol Aeroplane Company Football Club was formed in the 1930's. Effectively, they had one really successful season, finishing second in the top flight of the Western league in the 1939-40 season. The war broke out and although the club reesumed after the war, they were in a rapid decline, eventually dissolving at the end of the 1949-50 season. They played three seasons in the FA Cup, losing all three games and failing to score a goal. So, not too successful on the pitch but they really did make some iconic aircraft, amongst them the Bristol Fighter, the Blenheim and the Beaufighter. The company also laid the foundation for the work that led to the creation of Concorde.
Blackburn Olympic
1878 - 1889
A very short lived team but one that played a major part in the growth of the game amongst the working-class communities in the North of the country. Until Olympic won the FA Cup in 1883, just five years after their foundation, the competition had been dominated by clubs from London and predominantly from the upper classes. The list of winners before Olympic reads Wanderers (5 wins), Royal Engineers (2), Old Etonians (2), Oxford University (1), Old Carthusians (1) & Clapham Rovers (1). Blackburn Olympic paved the way for the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End, to end the Southern domination of the FA Cup. Unfortunately, he club could not compete with the new wave of clubs, such as Rovers, an folded in 1889, eleven years after their foundation. A short history but one that should not be under-estimated in terms of influence on the game.
New Brighton Tower
1886 - 1901
Formed in 1896 and dissolved in 1901, New Brighton Tower FC were a very short-lived football club but they did manage to win the Lancashire League at the first attempt and spend three seasons in the Football League. The club played in a stadium built alongside New Brighton Tower, a structure designed to rival nearby Blackpool Tower. The tower did last longer than the football club but was demolished after the First World War when it had fallen into disrepair.
Olney Town
1903 - 2018
It's a little sad to be including Olney Town in an article about former football teams, especially as I have had the pleasure of watching them play fairly recently. The club existed from 1903 until it was dissolved in 2018, joining the United Counties League in 1966 and remaining there for the rest of their playing days. It's fair to say that they never set the League alight, playing the majority of their football in Division One. They did, however, spend 5 years in the Premier League in the late 1970's. The nature of their East Street ground meant that they could not charge an entry fee to their matches. Instead a committee member would walk around the ground with a donation box.
The Zulus
1879 - 1882
The Zulus football team exited for 3 years, between 1879 and 1882. The were setup in Sheffield in order to raise money for families of soldiers killed in the Zulu War (think Rourke's Drift). It was an interesting concept whereby players were taken from many of the local clubs. Playing in an all black kit, the players didn't use their own names, instead adopting Zulu names for games. During the three years that they existed, they apparently never lost a match. The club was forced to disband in 1882 following controversy surrounding their players being paid to play even though they were strictly an amateur team.
c1937 - c1950
It is believed that the Bristol Aeroplane Company Football Club was formed in the 1930's. Effectively, they had one really successful season, finishing second in the top flight of the Western league in the 1939-40 season. The war broke out and although the club reesumed after the war, they were in a rapid decline, eventually dissolving at the end of the 1949-50 season. They played three seasons in the FA Cup, losing all three games and failing to score a goal. So, not too successful on the pitch but they really did make some iconic aircraft, amongst them the Bristol Fighter, the Blenheim and the Beaufighter. The company also laid the foundation for the work that led to the creation of Concorde.
Blackburn Olympic
1878 - 1889
A very short lived team but one that played a major part in the growth of the game amongst the working-class communities in the North of the country. Until Olympic won the FA Cup in 1883, just five years after their foundation, the competition had been dominated by clubs from London and predominantly from the upper classes. The list of winners before Olympic reads Wanderers (5 wins), Royal Engineers (2), Old Etonians (2), Oxford University (1), Old Carthusians (1) & Clapham Rovers (1). Blackburn Olympic paved the way for the likes of Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End, to end the Southern domination of the FA Cup. Unfortunately, he club could not compete with the new wave of clubs, such as Rovers, an folded in 1889, eleven years after their foundation. A short history but one that should not be under-estimated in terms of influence on the game.
New Brighton Tower
1886 - 1901
Formed in 1896 and dissolved in 1901, New Brighton Tower FC were a very short-lived football club but they did manage to win the Lancashire League at the first attempt and spend three seasons in the Football League. The club played in a stadium built alongside New Brighton Tower, a structure designed to rival nearby Blackpool Tower. The tower did last longer than the football club but was demolished after the First World War when it had fallen into disrepair.
Olney Town
1903 - 2018
It's a little sad to be including Olney Town in an article about former football teams, especially as I have had the pleasure of watching them play fairly recently. The club existed from 1903 until it was dissolved in 2018, joining the United Counties League in 1966 and remaining there for the rest of their playing days. It's fair to say that they never set the League alight, playing the majority of their football in Division One. They did, however, spend 5 years in the Premier League in the late 1970's. The nature of their East Street ground meant that they could not charge an entry fee to their matches. Instead a committee member would walk around the ground with a donation box.
The Zulus
1879 - 1882
The Zulus football team exited for 3 years, between 1879 and 1882. The were setup in Sheffield in order to raise money for families of soldiers killed in the Zulu War (think Rourke's Drift). It was an interesting concept whereby players were taken from many of the local clubs. Playing in an all black kit, the players didn't use their own names, instead adopting Zulu names for games. During the three years that they existed, they apparently never lost a match. The club was forced to disband in 1882 following controversy surrounding their players being paid to play even though they were strictly an amateur team.
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