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Saltley College F.C.

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Saltley College F.C. was an association football club founded by the students and staff at St Peter's College, Saltley, in the 19th century. The club played a major role in the founding and rapid growth of association football, and, along with Calthorpe F.C., was one of the first football clubs in Birmingham.[2]

Saltley College F.C.
Full nameSaltley College Football Club
Nicknamethe Collegians[1]
Founded1873
Dissolved1967?
Groundcollege grounds

History

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The College v Incogniti report.

The earliest reported match for the club - a 1–0 victory over a club named Incogniti on 15 February 1873[3] - may have been the first game in Birmingham played under association football laws. A return match played at Adderley Park saw the College win by 5–0.[4] At the time, the Sheffield rules were popular in the north of England, and the Calthorpe club, formed at around this time, was promoting the association laws.

The club was a founder member of the Birmingham Football Association and played in the first Birmingham Senior Cup in 1876–77, contributing £1 12s to the cost of the trophy.[5] The club captain for 1876, William Thompson, introduced a passing game to the side in place of the dribbling game hitherto played,[6] helping the club to the semi-finals of the competition in its first three seasons, beating Aston Villa in 1877–78 en route to losing to Wednesbury Strollers in front of a crowd of 2,000 at Villa's Wellington Road ground.[7] The Collegians went further in 1879–80, reaching the final, beating Stoke in the third round, in a tie delayed to allow the students to return to college after a mid-term break.[8] In the semi-finals the club lost 3–0 to Derby at the Aston Lower Grounds,[9] but a protest was made that one of the Derby players was "cup-tied", having already played for Wednesbury Strollers in the Sheffield Challenge Cup, against the rules of the competition which barred any player from representing more than one side in competitive matches.[10] The protest was upheld and the College team put into the final, where it faced Aston Villa at the Aston Lower Grounds in what was seen as a "certainty" for the Villans;[11] the Aston side duly won 3–1.[12][13] The match was the College's high point in football.

The team never entered the FA Cup and the next time they reached the quarter-finals of the Senior Cup, in 1881–82, they were beaten 6–0 at Wednesbury Old Athletic; the club's final match in the competition came the next season, a 9–0 defeat at Walsall Swifts in the third round. The Saltley College side continued playing in amateur football until 1967.[14]

Colours

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The club listed its colours as blue[15] or blue and white.[16] It later added yellow trim and red stockings.[17]

Ground

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The club's pitch in the college grounds was, like the Muntz Street ground of Small Heath Alliance, notorious for being "indented with furrows, which caused an approaching line of forwards to bear resemblance to a thinly-tenanted switchback-car".[18] Partly as a result the club was unbeaten at home until losing to Wednesbury Old Athletic F.C. in October 1878, by the score of 10–3, "much to the surprise of [the club] and the other collegians who witnessed the match".[19]

Birmingham Senior Cup

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1876-77

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Date Home Score Away
21 October 1876 Aston Unity 0–0 [20] Saltley College
11 November 1876 Saltley College 2–1 [20] Aston Unity

Second round

Date Home Score Away
2 December 1876 Saltley College beat[21] Tipton

Semi-finals

Date Home Score Away Attendance
24 February 1877 Wednesbury Old Athletic 2–0 [20] Saltley College 1,500

Notable players

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The college was considered a nursery of footballing talent, relying strictly on "science" and avoiding charging,[22] with the following players all attending the College:

The most famous college player was Teddy Johnson, who earned a cap for England in 1880, while captain of the College.[23]

The College also provided players to the Birmingham FA representative side, such as Rutherford and Goodyear, who played in the matches against the London Football Association in 1878,[24] and Johnson represented the Birmingham FA in the "junior international" against Scotland in 1880.[25]

References

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  1. ↑ "Wednesbury Old Athletic v Saltley College". Birmingham Mail: 3. 28 October 1878.
  2. 1 2 Mangan, J.A.; Hickey, C. (December 2008). "Early action: founding and furthering clubs". Soccer & Society. 9 (5). Taylor & Francis: 632–653. doi:10.1080/14660970802181327. Retrieved 6 February 2026.
  3. ↑ "Football - Saltley College v "Incogniti"". Birmingham Post: 6. 19 February 1873.
  4. ↑ "Football". Birmingham Daily Post: 6. 19 March 1873.
  5. ↑ "Chronicles of the Midland governing body". Sports Argus: 6. 8 December 1906.
  6. ↑ "The schoolmaster in sport". Birmingham Mail: 5. 16 December 1903.
  7. ↑ "Football". Birmingham Daily Post: 6. 18 March 1878.
  8. ↑ "Football jottings". Nottingham Evening Post: 3. 3 January 1880.
  9. ↑ "Birmingham Challenge Cup". Derby Daily Telegraph: 3. 8 March 1880.
  10. ↑ "Football". Birmingham Daily Gazette: 6. 9 March 1880.
  11. ↑ "Birmingham Association Cup". Nottingham Evening Post: 4. 23 March 1880.
  12. ↑ "Birmingham Association Challenge Cup Final Tie". Birmingham Gazette: 6. 5 April 1880.
  13. ↑ "Aston Villa v Saltley College 3–1". Play Up Liverpool. Retrieved 27 April 2026.
  14. ↑ "Wednesday AFA Results". Birmingham Mail: 5. 17 March 1967.
  15. ↑ Alcock, Charles (1878). Football Annual. p. 105.
  16. ↑ List of clubs in the Birmingham Football Association 1888–89, sourced from Steve Carr
  17. ↑ Moor, Dave. "Eminent Victorians (The Midlands)". Historical Football Kits. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  18. ↑ Unite Jones, W.W. (14 December 1901). "Football Sketches". Chatham News: 3.
  19. ↑ "Wednesbury Old Athletic v Saltley College". Birmingham Mail: 3. 28 October 1878.
  20. 1 2 3 History of the Birmingham Senior Cup by Steve Carr
  21. ↑ no score available - given as a home win in the 1877 Alcock annual
  22. ↑ "Football". Birmingham Mail: 2. 5 March 1880.
  23. ↑ "England v Wales". The Times: 12. 17 March 1880.
  24. ↑ "London v Birmingham". Yorkshire Herald: 8. 2 December 1878.
  25. ↑ "Birmingham v Scotland". Birmingham Gazette: 5. 19 January 1880.
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