Extract from The Wallington and Carshalton Herald, 27th August 1898 - "... and the Carshalton Football Club has, I hear, gone the way of all flesh. Its decease..."

And so it appears that, on this evidence, our Club died about a month before it was actually born!!

Indeed there was a football club running under the name of Carshalton before 1898, playing with very little success in the Herald League - (1897-98 results: Played 14, Won 0, Drawn 2, Lost 12). This was probably the reason for the earliest Carshalton FC enthusiasts to christen their new enterprise Carshalton Park, and it was under this name that the Club was run until 1904. Another reason for the name was its description of where the Club was playing at that time. Carshalton Park, Park Lane, currently situated in Ruskin Road, Carshalton, extended in those days much nearer the Carshalton Ponds. The Club pitch was located approximately where the War Memorial Hospital now stands. The ground was described as "conveniently situated, besides being an excellent one", but there was no changing accommodation provided with it. However, the early Club officials showed the foresight and proper regard for priorities in that, according to the first fixture card, the dressing room was The Greyhound Hotel. Conveniently situated indeed!!

The band of enthusiasts at the inaugural meeting of the Club was: FN Burnett, ER Cooke, LA Davis, AS Groome, EA Dally & CD Dally. CD Dally, described in the local paper as "the brother of Dally of the Ewell Club," was elected as the first Secretary of the Club and it was obviously his influence that arranged the first game the Club played - a friendly against Ewell II on 1st October 1898, which resulted in a creditable 2-2 draw. The side which represented the Club on that historic day was:

Rev. LW Hallward, AE Daniels, H Adams, AS Croome, LA Davis, EA Dally, A Willcox, CD Dally, A Cheshire, WR Walker, FN Burnett

The first Captain of the Club was the goalkeeper, Rev. LW Hallward M.A., at that time Curate at All Saints Church, facing the Carshalton Ponds, under the Rev. Lord Victor Seymour, then Vicar of that Church and one of the Club’s first Vice-Presidents. Vice captain in the first season was AS Croome. The earliest available list of Vice Presidents is Rev. Lord VA Seymour, AH Smee, WW Thompson, CA Dingwall, Dr. AE Honnywill and EG Coles.

The Club was to lose Rev. LW Hallward’s services at the end of the first season when he left for South Africa, where he eventually became Dean of Umtata. He remained in South Africa until 1940, but his whereabouts since then are unfortunately unknown.

The Club’s first President Mr H Cosmo Bonsor MP represented the area in Parliament at that time. The first Hon. Treasurer was ER Cooke and the committee consisted of H Adams, FN Burnett, EA Dally, K Lane and AL Reeves.

Understandably perhaps, the first season was not very successful from the playing point of view with a record of:

The only win came against Ashtead in the penultimate game of the season on 18^th March 1899. All the games in that first season were of course friendlies. In fact, during the formative years it was a deliberate policy not to enter competitive football - and amongst the teams met were current adversaries Crouch End Vampires as well as Guards Depot Caterham, Guys Hospital, Beddington Corner and, of course, Ewell.

Progress was steady in these early years. In 1902, Carshalton Park played competitive football for the first time. They entered the Surrey Junior Cup, in which, to quote from the local paper, "they were much handicapped having to play all matches away from home, as their ground is barely wide enough." They were knocked out by rivals Ewell.

By 1903 there were 2 sides fielded each Saturday and it is during this year that the name of Gillie Reay first appears - probably the best known player Carshalton ever had and a name that re-occurs throughout its history.

However, it was during 1904 and 1905 that major changes were to take place. In 1904 the Club entered its seventh season with a new ground and a new name. The word "Park" was dropped from the title and the new ground was Beddington Park "adjoining the cricket and archery grounds". As membership grew, a third side was fielded and it says much for their enthusiasm that this side played all their matches away from home. 1905 saw the Club become a Senior Club, enter the Surrey Senior Cup and embark on their first Easter tour to the Isle of Wight - drawing 1-1 with Shanklin, winning 6-3 against Binstead and losing 2-3 to Ventnor. They did not progress very far in the Surrey Senior Cup, losing in the first round to Alleyn. By now, a second pitch had been acquired at Beddington Park and this was the signal for a fourth team to appear.

By 1907 the Club had made such progress that it joined the newly formed Amateur Football Association - later to become the Amateur Football Alliance we know today. It is probably fair to say that the current Club membership is at best hazy as to the circumstances of the AFA’s origins. This section explains briefly the reasons for its existence and its relationship to the Football Association.

In 1905 the first rumblings of discontent could be heard from a group of amateurs from Surrey and Middlesex over the direction that the Football Association was seen to be heading. The immediate cause of the trouble was a proposal by the Chairman of the FA Council, J.C. Clegg of Sheffield, that an amendment be made to the rules of the Association requiring County Associations to admit both amateur and professional clubs to membership. A number of these County Associations had by rule expressly confined membership to amateur clubs. These associations included the London FA and the counties of Surrey and Middlesex.

The London FA held a special General Meeting in February 1906 and a motion to alter its rules in line with the proposed FA amendment was carried by a narrow majority. Therefore, only a small, but highly influential body of sportsmen connected with football interests in Surrey and Middlesex were left to stand alone on this matter of principle. While they respected the professional player, they felt strongly that the introduction of professional clubs into formerly wholly amateur associations would be to the detriment of the amateur game. Feelings ran high and a sense of isolation on this matter made the amateurs even more determined to fight against heavy odds for the principles they held.

For this group to succeed, they required a strong spokesman. This they had in Mr H. Hughes-Onslow, a scholarly bachelor who was a practising solicitor, later to become Master of the Supreme Court of Adjudicature. Although not a distinguished footballer, he had represented Old Etonians and his native county of Dorset and had become keenly interested in the legislative side of the game. Therefore both sides had strong leaders with the full support of their respective followers. In the ensuing period the dispute was aggravated by harsh words from both sides. On one hand the FA suggested that class distinction and the old school tie were behind the amateur revolt, while the other side retorted that commercialism was the prime consideration of the FA whose only concern was with the professional game.

In 1907, the amateurs made a couple of positive moves. Firstly they issued a resumé of the scheme they had in mind.

Secondly, they circulated a letter from Mr Hughes-Onslow to a large number of clubs:

Three days prior to this meeting, the FA Council issued the following resolution at its annual summer meeting at Malvern:

The meeting at Holburn Restaurant must rank as one of the most enthusiastic of its kind ever held. Over 500 representatives attended and it was a case of standing room only for late arrivals. The Hon. Alfred Lyttleton, K.C., M.P., a former England international, occupied the chair and Mr Hughes-Onslow proposed the resolution:

This motion was carried amid wild enthusiasm and the first President of the AFA, the Right Hon. Lord Alverstone, Lord Chief Justice of England, was elected. Mr Hughes-Onslow was the first Secretary and within three months of its formation, the AFA consisted of over 900 clubs all over the country.

With hindsight there is little doubt that "The Split" would never have occurred if both sides had used a modicum of diplomacy. During the ensuing years differences have been patched up. Although the original "terms of reconciliation" agreed between the AFA and the FA were unduly restrictive to the AFA, it was Shelton Cox who led the movement to the complete freedom of action as we know it today. It is true to say that in 1998 we are the successors of Hughes-Onslow, the New Crusaders, the Corinthians, and we are pleased to think that in the AFA Leagues and Cup competitions today the best type of amateur football is played. We are proud of the fact that in 1907 Carshalton was one of the founder members of the AFA and our traditions and our attitude to the game are inevitably linked to those of the AFA and its member clubs.

In the years following "The Split" the Club entered the AFA Senior, Surrey Senior and AFA Junior cups. In 1909-10 Carshalton entered league football for the first time by joining the newly formed AFA League - the Surrey Amateur League. Indeed this season was to prove the most successful so far in Carshalton’s short history as they finished as Champions of the Surrey Amateur League. Easter tours were still popular and the Club toured Kent, meeting Tunbridge Wells, Margate Wanderers and Ramsgate St George’s.

It was at this time that Mr ER Cooke handed over as Secretary of the Club to John Davis. Mr Cooke had guided the Club through its formative years from the second season onwards - a period of 10 exciting seasons of continuous development. He had also been a member of the Surrey FA Committee until "The Split" and was then elected to the newly formed Surrey AFA Committee.

In 1910-11 the Club enjoyed further success. The Reserves made a good impression in the AFA Junior Cup beating Minerva 4-2, Oxted 7-1, Parthian Reserves 4-1 and Old Citizens Reserves 5-1 before bowing out in the semi final to City Albion. In goal was AC Kent with other regulars being Lee Gann, John Davis, Marshall, Fairbanks, Edwards, Cyril Hallam, and Wilfred Gann. The team’s record was the most successful of any side in the Club’s fledgling history:

A further competition was entered during 1910-11 - the International Challenge du Nord. This competition was divided into two knockout sections - English and French, with the winners of each section playing each other over two legs. Carshalton managed to reach the final of the English section, losing to Cambridge Town. However, they were not to be denied their trip to the continent, as the Easter tour took them to Roubaix - one of the cradles of French football.

It was at the end of this season that the Club’s name first appears on the list of winners of the AFA Surrey Senior Cup, when they beat Westminster Bank 3-2 in the final. In the same year Beddington Park hosted the final of the AFA Junior Cup in which Civil Service Reserves beat Oxted 2-1.

The following season, 1913-14 was the most successful the Club had enjoyed to date. In only its second season in the SAL, Carshalton finished top of Section ‘B’, thus gaining promotion to Section ‘A’. The League record read:

Needless to say there was no Section ‘A’ for Carshalton to compete in the following season, due to another "unnatural break" in the Club’s history. The Club has seen the country at war three times in its lifetime, but this was the first occasion play had actually been suspended - an interruption that was to last five years.

This break came at a peak in the Club’s history. It had developed from a side playing friendly games against local Junior clubs to a firmly established Senior Club, fielding four sides every week, and taking its place in the premier division of the top and most exclusive AFA League of its time. The administrative side had been in the hands of three outstanding individuals - CD Dally, the enthusiastic first Hon. Secretary, who although in office for only one season, was nevertheless connected with the Club for a considerable period, ER Cooke and John Davis. It is difficult to pick out stalwarts on the field of play but amongst the names that appear consistently in the various records is Dick Reynolds, captain of the Club from 1911 until 1914 and considered one of the finest centre halves and captains the Club has ever had. Also prominent in the records are Wilfred Gann (centre forward with the hottest shot in the Club), the brothers Gillie and Wilfred Reay (full backs) and Charlie Rutherford (half back). F.N. Burnett perhaps held the long service record at this time, being captain of the Club in 1899-1900 and still playing in the first team in 1913-14. He was a great worker for the Club and undoubtedly contributed a great deal towards the success of those early days, both on and off the field.

The success of the Club up to the time of the First World War was due to the splendid Club spirit of all its members. It should be remembered that prior to the 1914-18 War, everyone worked on Saturdays until 1pm or 2pm and sometimes later. It was not unusual to find a first team player playing for the second or third team if he was unable to get away from work in time to travel with the first team.

Another interesting feature of this early part of the Club’s history is the number of brothers who were playing - Lewis, Bernard and John Davis; Percy, Fred and Jack Dupre; Guy, Kenneth and Cyril Hallam; Gillie and Wilfred Reay; Lee and Wilfred Gann; Leonard, Harold and Reg Palmer; Bernard and Sam Jones; Harold and Norman Hancock.

In summary, this was a period of the Club’s development of which today’s successors to those early enthusiasts can be justly proud. The Club was built on firm foundations and the way ahead wide open for future development in the spirit of true Amateur Football.