1898 - The Warmley Football Club was founded in 1882 and is recorded as taking part in the very first organised match in the Bristol region against St. George. The following year three more clubs joined the League, Wotton-under-Edge, Clifton and the Black Arabs.
In 1886 the Gloucestershire Football Association was founded. The first four clubs being Clifton, St. George, Warmley and Eastville Rovers. The last club was originally known as the Black Arabs who then changed their name again to Bristol Rovers. (Bristol City Football Club had yet to be formed.)
Warmley, who played in white shirts and blue shorts, are still, even one hundred years later, remembered with some pride in the East Bristol region and quite rightly so. In the season of 1897/8 they actually won the Southern League title against some remarkable opposition. Until this time their home ground was behind the Tennis Court Inn at the bottom of Warmley Hill but with their new found fame they moved to the Chequer’s ground behind the public house in Ingleside Road.
This move saw a drastic change of fortune for Warmley and that season they incurred debts of £900 and were losing £22 each playing week. Any hope of saving Warmley F.C. vanished following an F.A. meeting at the Royal Hotel, Bristol, banning the club from using its own ground for four weeks due to an incident against Millwall on 7th January 1899. The last match of this great side was on 21st January that year when the club was disbanded.
A fascinating score list exists of their final season 1898/99, which includes:
Tottenham Hotspurs Home Lost 5-1; Oxford Cyguets Away Won 2-9;
F.A.C., 1st qualifying round Swindon Town Home Won 1-0; F.A.C.,
3rd qualifying round Bristol City Away Lost 4-2 (5,000 crowd);
Southampton Home Won 1-0; Millwall Home Athletic Away Lost 1-0;
Reading Away Draw 1-1 (9,000 crowd).
This should have been Warmley’s Home match but they accepted payment to change venue. Brighton United Away Lost 3-2 (3,000 crowd).
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