User:Milowent/Harrow

Harrow Chequers Football Club was a football club from London, England in the 1860s-70s. Derived from former pupils of Harrow School, the club was slated to play in three of the first six FA Cup competitions in the 1870s, including the first FA Cup. But they forfeited each time, and never played a FA Cup match. One of their players, however, Morton Betts, is remembered for scoring the first (and only goal) in the first FA Cup Final in 1872. He played for Wanderers F.C. under the pseudonym "A.H. Chequer".

In 1876, the team was merged into or renamed Old Harrovians, continued until 1891. Under that name, the team had its greatest success in the late 1870s, reaching the semifinals of the 1877–78 FA Cup.

History
Named for its association with Harrow School, the club played their home matches at Kennington Oval, London. They appear to have former in 1865, when the first newspaper reports of matches by the club under the name "Harrow Chequers" appear.

Charles W. Alcock, the creator of the FA Cup, was a graduate of Harrow. He derived the concept from Harrow's tradition of houses playing an annual knock-out tournament where the winning house was named the "Cock House." The Harrow Chequers was slated to be one of the twelve teams to compete in the first FA Cup in 1871-1872. They drew Wanderers F.C. in the first round, which was also a team primarily made up of Harrow graduates. The Chequers withdrew and thus the Wanderers advanced on a walkover. The Wanderers eventually advanced to the final, and prevailed 1-0. The sole and winning goal was scored by Morton Betts, who played the match under the pseudonym "A.H. Chequer", e.g., "A Harrow Chequer", for which he had previously played. It is sometimes suggested in modern times that he played under a fake name to avoid being cup-tied, but there were not such formal rules at this time, and it may have simply been a whimsical adoption.

The Chequers' next "appearance" in the FA Cup was in the 1874–75 competition. They were drawn against Civil Service, but that also was a walkover to the opposition in the first round. The same occurrence happened the next Cup against Leyton.

In 1876, the Athletic News reported that the club had changed its name to the "Old Harrovians" The name "Old Harrovians" had previously been used to describe matches contested by old Harrow pupils, such as against Old Etonians, but in any event, the Chequers name ceased to be used after that time. The the name change could also be considered a "merger" of the teams, as some sources describe it.

Chequer Reginald de Courtenay Welch also played for the Wanderers in the 1872 FA Cup Final along with Betts. He also played in the first ever international football match (Scotland v. England) in 1872. The 1901 Harrow School Register lists Welch as "Hon. Sec. Harrow Chequers and Old Harrovians F.C. 1872-84", which seems to confirm that the "Old Harrovians F.C." were indeed the successor to the Chequers.

Old Harrovians
Old Harrovians F.C. played in the FA Cup in the late 1870s and 1880s. Though they lost to the Royal Engineers A.F.C. 2-1 in first round in the 1876–77 FA Cup, the 1877–78 FA Cup saw the team's greatest success. They defeated 105th Regiment F.C. by the score of 0-2 in the first round, and then beat 1st Surrey Rifles F.C. in the second. Then, they played to a 2-2 draw against Cambridge University A.F.C., tied them again 2-2 in a replay, but beat that squad 2-0 in a third game, to move to the fourth round. In the fourth round, they defeated Upton Park F.C. 3-1, putting them in the semi-finals, needing only to beat the Royal Engineers to face the Wanderers (who had a bye) in the final. But it was not to be, as they fell to the Royal Engineers 2-1 on March 16, 1878.

The team faired relatively well the next year as well. They beat Southill Park F.C. 8-0 in the first round and Panthers F.C. 3-0 in the second round, before falling to Nottingham Forest F.C. 0-2 in their third match.

The teams fortunes diminished after 1879, however. In the 1879–80 FA Cup they fell to Finchley 1-2 in the first round. And in the 1880–81 FA Cup, they tied Maidenhead United F.C. in the first round, and then fell in a replay. In the 1881–82 FA Cup, they beat Olympic 2-4 in the first round before a lopsided 7-1 defeat to Swifts F.C. in the second.

The side did not appear again until the 1885–86 FA Cup, first talking a walkover over St James, then beating Old Foresters F.C. 2-1, but were disqualified in their third round match against Swifts F.C.. In the 1886–87 FA Cup, Old Westminsters F.C. defeated the club 4-0 in the first round. And in the 1887–88 FA Cup, the Old Harrovians defeated Hendon 4-2 in the first round but lost to the Old Brightonians in the second. That would be their last appearance in the FA Cup.

In the 1888-89 season, the FA Cup started to incorporate qualifying rounds. That year, the Old Harrovians defeated Rochester 4-2 in the first qualifying round, but fell 0-1 to the Crusaders in the next match. The following year, the team dropped their first qualifying match to Norwich Thorpe, 4-2, and repeated that outcome the next year in a 4-1 loss to Gravesend.

Legacy
In 1891, an article in Fores's Sporting Notes reviewed a copy of the 1874 Football Annual, which commented on the fact that clubs can come and go over time. The 1874 annual listed less than 200 football clubs in all of England, and the author asked "what has become of such old giants as the Gitanos, Harrow Chequers, Pilgrims, and Woodford Wells."

Examples of matches in press

 * December 14, 1865 vs. Civil Service
 * December 23, 1865 v. Crystal Palace
 * 1866: Won 3-1 vs. Radley
 * December 18, 1866 0-0 vs. Civil Service
 * 1869?
 * October 14, 1871: Draw vs. Wanderers at the Oval.
 * October 28, 1871: vs. Harrow School at Harrow School.
 * November 25, 1871: Won 2-0 vs. Westminster School.
 * November 12, 1873: lost 5-1 to Westminster School.
 * December 16, 1873: won 3-2 vs. Wanderers F.C.
 * January 9, 1875- lost 9-1 to Wanderers F.C.