English Wanderers #1

Charles Craven 

There have been 2 teams that have gone by the name of English Wanderers. Here we will look at the first, an amateur touring side that made annual visits to the  Netherlands at Easter time from 1896-99.
The team was established by Charles Craven, and received the approval of the Football Association. In keeping with Craven's background,  The English Wanderers featured players from Kent and the North of England. On the first tour, for example the players  were drawn from Sheffield FC, Mid-Kent, Tonbridge, Clapham Rovers, Old Carthusians, Herne Bay and Cambridge University. Among the tourists was Pinky Burnup, who had played for England against Scotland earlier that month.

C.J 'Pinky' Burnup

Charles Craven was responsible for the foundation of Darlington FC in 1883. By 1888 he was the Durham representative on the FA Council and in 1889 he oversaw the formation of the Northern League.
In 1890 he became founder secretary of Leeds football and cricket clubs, based at Headingley.
Mr Craven later moved to Kent and then again to the Gold Coast (Ghana).
A former goalkeeper, in 1886 Mr Craven had written the following observations on that role:
A good goalkeeper should not be less than 5ft 6in in height (the same in girth if he likes), active, cool, and have a good and quick eye. He should be a safe kick. In clearing the ball he should strike up in the air, so that the ball does not meet an opponent and rebound, He sometimes has eight yards to cover in next to no time, and as it is quicker to fall than to run, he should practice throwing himself down. When this art is acquired (and it cannot be done without practice) he will find it fairly useful.

There's an incomplete record of the tours to the Netherlands on RSSSF, so I've scoured some on-line Dutch newspaper archives and come up with the following details:

1896
11.04.96	Geldersch -Overijselch	1	5	English Wanderers	Arnhem
12.04.96	Netherlands XI	2	3	English Wanderers	Amsterdam
13.04.96	RAP	2	7	English Wanderers	Amsterdam
14.04.96	HVV	0	3	English Wanderers	Den Haag
15.04.96	Universities of Netherlands	3	2	English Wanderers	Den Haag
16.04.96	Haarlem	0	3	English Wanderers	Hemstede
17.04.96	Rotterdam XI	2	6	English Wanderers	Rotterdam

P	W	D	L	F	A
7	6	0	1	29	10

1897
27.03.97	East Netherlands	1	2	English Wanderers	Arnhem
28.03.97	Netherlands XI	2	6	English Wanderers	Hemstede
29.03.97	RAP	3	2	English Wanderers	Amsterdam
30.03.97	Universities of Netherlands	1	5	English Wanderers	Leiden
31.03.97	HVV	2	4	English Wanderers	Den Haag
01.04.97	Sparta Rotterdam	1	3	English Wanderers	Rotterdam

P	W	D	L	F	A
6	5	0	1	22	10

1898
09.04.98	Vitesse Arnhem	7	0	English Wanderers	Arnhem
10.04.98	Netherlands XI	7	0	English Wanderers	Rotterdam
11.04.98	RAP	3	1	English Wanderers	Amsterdam
12.04.98	Netherlands 2nd Div. XI	3	1	English Wanderers	Helmstede
13.04.98	HBS	4	0	English Wanderers	Den Haag
14.04.98	Universities of Netherlands	2	0	English Wanderers	Leiden
15.04.98	Sparta Rotterdam	5	0	English Wanderers	Rotterdam

P	W	D	L	F	A
7	0	0	7	2	31

1899
31.03.99	BVV	1	13	English Wanderers	Breda
01.04.99	Rotterdam XI	1	1	English Wanderers	Rotterdam
02.04.99	Netherlands XI	1	6	English Wanderers	Den Haag
03.04.99	Universities of Netherlands	2	2	English Wanderers	Leiden
04.04.99	Den Haag XI	3	2	English Wanderers	Den Haag
05.04.99	Haarlem XI	1	1	English Wanderers	Haarlem
06.04.99	Noordelijk	2	7	English Wanderers	Zwolle
07.04.99	PW Enschede	3	2	English Wanderers	Enschede

P	W	D	L	F	A
8	3	3	2	34	14

The Netherlands clubs whose names are abbreviated are as follows: 
RAP = R.U.N., Amstels and Progress 
HVV = Haagse Voetbal Vereniging 
HBS = Houdt Braef Stant 
BVV = Breda Voetbal Vereniging 
PW Enschede = Enschedese Football Club Prinses Wilhelmina

Northern Football League 1889–90

Darlington FC  goalkeeper Charles Samuel Craven organised a meeting at the Three Tuns Hotel in Durham for  March 25th 1889.19 football clubs from the counties of Northumberland and Durham were invited. The  Northern Football League (the second oldest in the world)  was formed as a result of the meeting. However, only 7 of the invited clubs decided to join the league.The teams that participated in the inaugural season were as follows:

St Augustine's  (Darlington)- The champions in the first season, St Augustine's were not among the clubs invited to the Three Tuns- Mr Craven thought them 'small fry', but this may well have been motivated by local rivalry. St Augustine's was founded in 1883 and was based in the Catholic community (St Augustine's was the church). By 1889 however they were fielding a strong team containing a number of Scottish professionals. They won the title on goal average, but despite attracting decent crowds to their Chesnut Grove ground they ran into financial difficulties and withdrew from the league at the end of the second season having finished bottom.The Saints made two returns to the Northern league Northern league but were never able to match their early success. They made 2 appearances in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup- 1889-90 and 1901-02 and made the quarter finals of the F.A. Amateur Cup in 1903-04 and 1904-05.

Newcastle West End     

 Formed in 1882 by members of West End Cricket club, the original tenants of St James' Park (from 1886). In 1892 they merged with Newcastle East End  to form Newcastle United.

Stockton

Stockton       

Doyens of the North East's amateur football scene from their formation in 1889 until their demise in 1975. 3 times F.A. Amatuer Cup winers and 5 times Northern Football League champions.

Newcastle East End 

Newcastle East End 
Based in Byker and formed by members of Stanley Cricket Club in 1881.  The merger with West End came about due to West End's financial problems, but St James' Park was the city's best venue, so the new team used that stadium.

Darlington F.C
Founded in 1883 and dissolved in 2012 (now reformed as Darlington 1883). Twice Northern League Champions (1895–96, 1899–1900), The Quakers joined the expanded Football League in 1921 (3rd Division North).    

Middlesbrough

Another cricket club offshoot founded in 1876. 1889–90 was Boro's first season as a professional club. They joined the Football League in 1899–1900 and currently play in the second tier of the English Pyramid. They were Northern League champions in 1893–94,1894–95 and 1896–97. Middlesbrough clubs dominated the Northern League in the 1890s, with Ironopolis winning the championship in the three seasons from 1891.

South Bank (Middlesbrough)
Founded in 1868 South Bank are one of the oldest association clubs in the North East. They were F.A. Amateur Cup winners in 1912–13.

 Auckland Town
The club's name was changed in 1893 to Bishop Auckland and they went on to become a major force in amateur football in the North East. 
FA Amateur Cup winners: 1896, 1900, 1914, 1921, 1922, 1935.
Northern League champions: 1898–99, 1900–01, 1901–02, 1908–09, 1909–10, 1911–12, 1920–21, 1930–31.

 Birtley (Chester-le-Street)
This was Birtley's only season in the Northern League.

 Elswick Rangers (Newcastle)
This was Elswick's only season in the Northern League.

With acknowledgements  to Football Club History Database.