British Football Club

British Club, 1902-03

Early football in Mexico was essentially a British affair. The teams that contested the first league competition in 1902-03 were almost exclusively English and Scottish in composition.
One of the clubs in particular left no doubts about the members' origins, British Football Club Ciudad de México.
The club itself (Club Británico) had been founded in 1899, but the football section came into being in 1902. 
The club represented an ideal of good manners and gentlemanly conduct, and wore eye catching chocolate brown jerseys. 
The Primera Fuerza was first contested in 1902-03, and British Club finished 3rd (out of 5).  They won their only league title in 1907-08.
 In 1910–11 they won the Copa Tower, a precursor of the Copa México (named after the donor of the cup, the British Ambassador Reginald Tower).
British Club went into decline, struggling to make a full team for matches in the 1911-12 season. The club folded and a  number of British Club players went on to form The Rovers via a merger with the short lived Popo Park FC.

Mexico-Liga de Football Association Amateur 1902-03

The Liga de Football Association Amateur was founded in June 1902, and a national Mexican championship was held during the 1902/03 season , each team playing each other once. The league was formed by Duncan Macomish, Thomas Hanghey and Percy Clifford . Five clubs took part,  three from the capital and two the provinces. All of these clubs were essentially English in origin, and it was a few years before Mexican players began to make an impact.


The first champions, Orizaba Athletic Club (Albinegros de Orizaba) came from  Veracruz state.The club was founded by textile workers and European technicians in 1898. During the1902/03 season Orizaba had an exclusively  British squad . 
 The club was founded by a Scot, Duncan Macomish, who owned a  steel company. 

Reforma

Reforma was founded in 1894 by a group of Englishmen in Mexico City as a sports and social club.

British Football Club, based in Mexico City, was founded in 1902 by Percy Clifford, a Cornish immigrant, who at the time was a member of the Club Reforma.

Pachuca Athletic Club was founded in 1900 by Cornish mining engineers and workers of the Compañía Real del Monte. Pachuca is in Hidalgo state.
Pachuca was also an English dominated club- David Islas was the first  Mexican to play for them, in 1908.
Wikipedia credits Alfred C. Crowle as being  'the man who first introduced the sport to the mine workers, bringing the first footballs and the rules'. In fact Crowle, who was born in Mexico (his parents were from Cornwall), joined Pachuca in 1904 as a 13 year old. He played for the club for 23 seasons, and in 1935 became manager of the Mexican national team.


 Mexican National Cricket Club was founded in the small town San Pedro de los Pinos, now absorbed into the suburbs of Mexico City. The club was later known as Mexico Country Club (1906–08) and San Pedro Golf (1905–06).



1. Orizaba AC                                              4 3 1 0  5- 2     7
2. Reforma AC México                                  4 2 2 0 11- 5    6
3. British FC México                                     4 2 0 2   7- 3    4
4. Pachuca AC                                             4 0 2 2   2- 6    2
5. Mexican National Cricket Club                   4 0 1 3   2-11    1