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

Sunderland & Sunderland Albion

Albion

Sunderland AFC joined The Football League for the 1890–91 season, the first 'new' club (ie not one of the original 12- they replaced Stoke) to join since the  inauguration of the league in 1888. Their first 5 seasons in League football were a spectacular success:

1890–91- 7th
1891–92- champions
1892–93- champions
1893–94- 2nd
1894–95- champions
And yet, even as the seeds of this strength were being sown, there was a challenge to Sunderland's position as the principal team in the town. 
Sunderland had been founded in 1879 as Sunderland and District Teachers' Association Football Club, by James Allan, a Scotsman. Sunderland first played competitive football in 1884 (entering the FA Cup).
The 1888  a rift occurred between Sunderland and James Allan (who was by then club treasurer). Allan and a number of other members were disheartened by the way the club was developing. Something of a 'final straw' was the FA Cup tie with Middlesbrough in December 1887. Sunderland won the tie 4-2 in a thrilling replay but were subsequently disqualified for fielding players who did not meet the FA's stringent guidelines on the use of professionals. The players in question, Monaghan, Richardson and Hastings had recently been signed from Scotland, and did not meet the eligibility criteria. 
Charles Alcock issued a telegram on 29th December confirming Sunderland's expulsion. 

Sunderland Daily Echo 28.12.87

James Allan

James Allan was instrumental in the founding of a new club, Sunderland Albion, in March 1888. Several former Sunderland players were to feature for Albion.

Here is a summary of their rather short existence: 

Season	FA Cup	Football Alliance	Northern League
1888-89	R1
1889-90	R1 disq.	3rd
1890-91	R2	2nd	3rd
1891-92	R2		6th

Acknowledgements to F.C.H.D 

Sunderland v Sunderland Albion, 1888-89.

It could be argued that during this stage of Albion's existence the conduct of Sunderland was entirely designed to deprive their new neighbours of funds.  At this point Albion were still playing on an unenclosed ground ( at Blue House Field, one of Sunderland's former homes) and not charging admission. They needed funds to establish themselves commercially, and there was also a possibility that Albion could have taken over Newcastle Road. Sunderland delayed moving to their new ground for this very reason.

In December 1888 the teams were drawn to face each other in both the FA Cup (4th Qualifying Round) and the Durham County Cup. 
Sunderland withdrew from both competitions, claiming that they couldn't field a strong team, their Scottish professionals still being ineligible on residency grounds.
It is possible, however, that the refusal to play Albion was motivated by a reluctance to give them a good payday.
In fact, when public pressure led to the arrangement of 2 'friendlies' Sunderland would only play on the condition that the gate receipts went to charity.
The eagerly awaited matches took place in December 1888 and January 1889:

01.12.88
Sunderland	2	0	Sunderland Albion
Davison, A.Peacock
		Newcastle Road, attendance: c 15,000
W. Kirtley	GK		Angus
J. Oliver	RB		McFarlane
R. McDermid	LB		Munro
McKechnie	RH		Richardson
J. McLauchlan	CH		Moore
Gibson	LH		J. Stewart
J. Smith	OR		Kilpatrick
A. Davison	IR		S. Stewart
Breckonridge	CF		McClellan
W. Peacock	IL		Gloag
A. Peacock	OL		Hastings

This was Albion's first defeat in 14 games.
The second match was reportedly played for a trophy:

12.01.89
Sunderland	3	2		Sunderland Albion
uk, uk, Breckonridge		uk, uk,
		Newcastle Road, attendance: c 10,000
Team unchanged.			Line up unknown but featured 2 loanees from Accrington- Barbour and Brand.

It was a controversial match that did nothing to reduce the ill feeling between the 2 parties.
Albion were 2-0 up at half time, but Sunderland rallied and drew level. With 2 minutes remaining Albion goalkeeper Angus made a clearance that cannoned off Breckonridge and, according to many witnesses, flew over the crossbar. Referee Mr Stacey of Sheffield awarded a goal (this was in the pre-net era of course). Albion's players left the field in protest. Mr Stacey waited until the 90 minutes was up and blew for time.
Supporters expressed their disapproval of Albion's conduct by attacking them with a barrage of stones both at the pavillion and as they left the ground in their transport. James Allan ( now secretary of Albion) was one of 2 people to sustain serious injuries, a stone striking him in the eyeball.  

The Newcastle Courant 19.01.89

In the 1889-90 season Albion were disqualified from the FA Cup.  Having beaten Bootle 3-1 away, they faced a protest, which was upheld, that they had fielded ineligible players.  Unsurprisingly the 2 players involved were Scottish.

 Sawers was not registered with the club  and McKechnie was also deemed ineligible. I don't understand the rationale given by contemporary press reports that he was ineligible having 'played against Port Glasgow Athletic'.

Albion made unsuccessful attempts to join the Football League in 1889, 1890 and 1891. They withdrew their application in 1892. Their repeated failure to be elevated to a more lucrative level ultimately led to their demise in August 1892. 

Sunderland v Sunderland Albion, 1892.

In the weeks leading up to the 1892 meetings there was something of a thaw in relations between the clubs.  The chairman of Sunderland had attended an Albion match at Hendon, and Albion officials had travelled to watch Sunderland play Villa in the Cup semi final at Bramall Lane.

18.04.92
Sunderland	6	1	Sunderland Albion
Campbell, J. Hannah (3) , Miller, Smith		Gillespie
		Newcastle Road , attendance 10,000
E. Doig	GK		W. Kirtley
T. Porteous	RB		J. Dewar
D. Gow	LB		J. Rae
H. Wilson	RH		G. King
W.Gibson	CH		W. Crozier
J. Murray	LH		P. McCracken
J. Hannah	OR		J. Mackie
J. Smith	IR		J. Gillespie
J.M Campbell	CF		R. Buchanan
J. Miller	IL		J. Strachan
D. Hannah	OL		J. Burns

The press noted that former favorite 'Stonewall' Kirtley was given a particularly warm reception by the Sunderland supporters. He was, according to the Sunderland Echo, the only Sunderland man in either team. 

The second match was affected by bad weather, which kept the attendance down and also led to the game being played as 2 halves of 40 minutes each. 

27.04.92
Sunderland Albion	0	8	Sunderland
		Scott (2), Campbell (3), J.Hannah, D. Hannah,?
Blue House Field Hendon, attendance 3,000
W. Kirtley	GK		E. Doig
J. Dewar	RB		T. Porteous
J. Rae	LB		J. Murray
G. King	RH		H. Wilson
W. Crozier	CH		J.R Auld
P. McCracken	LH		W.Gibson
J. Mackie	OR		J. Hannah
J. Gillespie	IR		D. Hannah
R. Buchanan	CF		J.M Campbell
J. Strachan	IL		J. Miller
J. Burns	OL		J. Scott

Sunderland Albion were financially dependent on their main backers, The Wear Glass Company. The Company itself was under pressure as a result of a workers' strike. In August 1892, having withdrawn their application to join the Football League, Albion's AGM decided to wind up the club. Their demise came in the summer that separated 2 League Championship winning seasons for Sunderland.