Rage Online Blog

How it all began

For those of you who have an interest in the history of this great football club of ours, I've reproduced (below) the very first published mention of the club. It comes from the November 1893 issue of the St Andrew's Church, Headington, Parish Magazine. The prime mover behind the formation of the club was Dr Robert Hitchings, a resident of Windmill Road and captain of the Headington United Cricket Club. However, the football club was known initially as Headington Football Club and it played its first games on the recreation ground at Headington Quarry.



For those of you who have images disabled, the relevant text reads:

The cricket season being over, Mr. Hitchings, with his customary energy and zeal for the welfare of the young men of the Parish, has inaugurated a Football Club. A Meeting for the furtherance of this object was held at the Britannia Inn, on Friday evening, October 27, and report says that there is every prospect of getting together a good playing team. The game will be played this season under Association Rules.

And this little snippet below comes from the Jackson's Oxford Journal of Saturday 23 December 1893 and is the first reference to Headington FC that I can find in a local newspaper.



It reads:
The Secretary informs me that the following clubs have become affiliated through the City Junior Association:- Boulter-street Institute, Cherwell F.C., Headington, Oxford Institute, Oxford Temperance, St. Peter-le-Bailey, and Y.M.C.A.

Over the coming weeks I will try to reproduce some more of these early references to the club, although forgive me if I don't.

Labels: Headington, History, Hitchings, Horlicks