Blackburn Olympic
| Blackburn Olympic | |||
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| Full name | Blackburn Olympic Football Club |
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| place | Blackburn , England | ||
| Founded | 1878 | ||
| Dissolved | 1889 | ||
| Club colors | blue | ||
| Stadion | Hole-i'th'-Wall, Blackburn | ||
| Top league | k. A. | ||
| successes | k. A. | ||
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The Blackburn Olympic Football Club was an English football club from the city of Blackburn . Although the club only existed from 1878 to 1889, it is of great importance for the history of football in England . It was the first club from the north and the first from the working class to win the country's most important trophy, the FA Cup . In addition, the Blackburn Olympic players were the first ever professional footballers in 1883 . As former workers, they now made their living playing football.
history
In February 1878 Blackburn Olympic was created from the merger of the Black Star and James Street clubs . The club name was inspired by ancient Olympia in Greece , where extensive excavations were taking place at that time. In the first 18 months, the club played its home games in different places until it finally bought a vacant lot next to the pub Hole-i'th'-Wall ("Hole in the Wall") and built a grandstand there. The attendance was usually between 1000 and 2000. Most spectators, around 10,000, were counted in November 1884 at a game against Preston North End .
Initially, Blackburn Olympic took part in local tournaments. In 1880 he registered for the first time for the FA Cup , the most important competition in the country at the time. The first cup game ended with a narrow 4-5 defeat against Sheffield FC . In the 1881/82 season, the end also came in the first round. Surprisingly, Blackburn Olympic advanced to the FA Cup final in 1883. At the Kennington Oval in London , the club met the Old Etonians in front of 8,000 spectators and won 2-1 after extra time.
This success was of great importance, because for the first time a club from the working class in northern England had won the trophy and prevailed against the wealthy upper class amateur clubs in the south. He persuaded the Football Association to open football entirely to professional players two years later, thereby preventing the association from splitting.
In 1884 Blackburn Olympic could advance to the semi-finals, but lost to Queen's Park 0: 4. There were no further successes in the following years. Olympic struggled to keep up with the competition, particularly the Blackburn Rovers , due to financial problems . In 1886, numerous key players left the club as their wages were drastically cut. When William McGregor founded the Football League in 1888 , he only allowed one club per city and, in the case of Blackburn, opted for the Rovers. After Blackburn Olympic had to dismiss all professional players in early 1889, the club finally dissolved in September 1889 due to high debts.
successes
The club won the following trophies:
- FA Cup : 1882/83
- East Lancashire Charity Cup: 1881/82
- Blackburn Association Challenge Cup: 1878/79, 1879/80
- Livesey United Cup: 1877/78
The only competition the club entered but never won was the Lancashire Senior Cup.
Known players
Individual evidence
- ↑ Schulze-Marmeling, Dietrich: Football - To the history of a global sport, Göttingen: Verlag Die Werkstatt, 2000, p. 102
- ^ Tony Mason: Association football and English society, 1863-1915 (p. 3). Harvester Press, 1980. ISBN 0-391-01718-7 .
- ↑ Phythian, pp. 15-18
- ↑ Results FA Cup 1880/81
- ↑ Results FA Cup 1882/83
- ^ David Goldblatt: The Ball is Round: A Global History of Football (pp. 37-47). Penguin, London 2007. ISBN 0-14-101582-9 .
- ^ Phythian, p. 71
- ↑ Phythian, p. 79
- ↑ a b Phythian, pp. 82-96
literature
- Graham Phythian: Shooting Stars: The Brief and Glorious History of Blackburn Olympic 1878–1889. Soccerdata, 2007. ISBN 1-899468-83-8 .