Blackburn Olympic F.C.
Blackburn Olympic Football Club was an English football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire in the late 19th century. The club was formed in 1878 and initially took part only in minor local competitions. In 1880, the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, and three years later defeated Old Etonians at Kennington Oval to win the trophy. Olympic, however, proved unable to compete with wealthier and better-supported clubs in the new professional era, and folded in 1889.
About Blackburn Olympic F.C. in brief
Blackburn Olympic Football Club was an English football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire in the late 19th century. The club was formed in 1878 and initially took part only in minor local competitions. In 1880, the club entered the FA Cup for the first time, and three years later defeated Old Etonians at Kennington Oval to win the trophy. Olympic, however, proved unable to compete with wealthier and better-supported clubs in the new professional era, and folded in 1889. One Olympic player, James Ward, was selected for the England team and six other former or future England internationals played for the club, including Jack Hunter, who was the club’s coach at the time of Olympic’s FA Cup win. Olympic won the cup in both 1879 and 1880, after which the competition was discontinued. At the end of the 1881–82 season, Olympic defeated Blackburn Rovers to win the Lancashire Charity Cup. In the 1882–83 FA Cup, Olympic beat Accrington Church East East East Ramblers, Lower Darwen Ramblers and Ruabon Druids to play Welsh team Druids in the semi-final. The Carthusians, the team for former Charterhouse School pupils, won 4–0 in a neutral venue in Whalley Range, where they faced England of the south of England for first time. Olympic’s first-choice colours consisted of light blue shirts and white shorts. The name was chosen by James Edmondson, the first treasurer, and is believed to have been inspired by the recent excavation of Olympia, site of the ancient Olympic Games.
It is believed that the club was founded in February 1878 when two of these clubs, Black Star and James Street, opted to merge. The new club’s first match was a 2–0 win over local team St. John’s. Over the next two seasons the club continued to play friendly matches and also entered the Blackburn Association Challenge Cup, a knock-out tournament open to all local clubs set up by the organisation which governed football within the town. As with the Livesey United Cup, the trophy remained in Olympic’s possession for the remainder of its existence. By 1877, the town of Blackburn had more than a dozen active football clubs, with Blackburn Rovers, founded in 1875, generally viewed as the leading team. By the following decade, the game had spread to the industrial towns of the north by 1877. In 1879, Olympic’s reputation within its home area was growing, and matches were now being arranged with teams from further afield, such as Sheffield Wednesday, Nottingham Forest, and even Scottish clubs such as Cowlairs and Hibernian. The team lost in the first round, away to Darwen, and the following season the team again lost away toDarwen. At this stage, Olympic were considered strong favourites to reach the final of the cup, even though the local newspapers considered them strong favourites in earlier years.
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