Letter to Stoke Sentinel on Crystal Palace and Stoke City start dates

Last year when Notts County lost their League place, Stoke City, whose badge has 1863 on it, stepped forward to claim they were now the oldest League club in the World. The problem for the Potters is that they were not formed in 1863, with even their club historian making clear that the club was formed in 1868. (in fact even this club later went bust at the end of the first decade of the 20th century, but that is an issue for another day!)

I was inadvertently drawn into the situation and made clear that I supported football historians (which I am not myself, just someone who has learnt a lot about football history) who said Nottingham Forest, formed 1865, were now the oldest League club anywhere. The Football League were pushed into deciding and rightly ruled that Forest are the oldest League club at the moment.

Recently, some people, although not the club historian it should be noted, involved with Crystal Palace have claimed that they are the oldest League club in the world. This is based on the fact that there was a club of that name that existed from 1861 to 1875, with their last game likely to have been the FA Cup tie against the Wanderers on 11 December 1875.

No other club then played on the ground and football ceased completely until 1894 when a new pitch was laid. The arena subsequently became The Crystal Palace and was England's first national stadium with the 1895 FA Cup Final played there. Crystal Palace Fc was subsequently formed in 1905.

Anyway, the Stoke Sentinel on the back of the Crystal Place claim's sight to reopen the whole issue and this is my response to the paper.

Reference - Crystal Palace claim and a further attempt by Sentinel to maintain the Stoke City 1863 discredited claim 

Mark Metcalf

07392 852561 

I am writing after reading your recent article on the ridiculous claims by Crystal Palace and in which the Stoke Sentinel appear intent on trying to maintain the discredited claim that Stoke City might be the oldest club in the Football League following Notts County relegation to the Conference at the end of the 2018/19 season.

As you are aware the Football League late last season examined the evidence and concluded that Nottingham Forest, formed 1865, replaced their local rivals as the oldest League club as there is no evidence to support the claim the Stoke City were originally formed in 1863. Even the historian at the Potters states this as fact.

Returning to the Crystal Palace claim it should be noted that a search from 1876 to 1904 of Football Annuals and Press show no occurrence of a football team playing under the name of Crystal Palace FC. There is also no proof of Crystal Palace 1905 owning the club that had been formed earlier in 1861.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to a recent released book and which is now considered the definitive piece of work on the subject of England’s Oldest Football Clubs 1851-1889: a new chronological classification of easy football by Martin Westby. This is 620 pages long and in this it states that Crystal Palace FC were formed in 1861 and were defunct by 1875 with no connection to the club later formed in 1905. (*)

Stoke City, being formed in 1868, are described as the third oldest club behind Forest and Sheffield Wednesday, who you will see from my attached joint article in the latest Sunday Mirror had the first paid player. 

Many thanks,

Mark Metcalf 

A member of the NUJ and the Sports Journalists’ Association 

• Incidentally I am the author of FLYING OVER AN OLIVE GROVE: The remarkable story of Fred Spiksley, who was employed as player coach at Southern United, a club set up in 1904 specifically because there were no professional clubs in South East London at this time.  Spiksley signed a series of League players but Southern United’s attempt to reach the Football League failed and they went bust in 1906. This book forms the background to a football history documentary currently being made by a film company Rough Jersey in which I have an interest.