A HISTORY OF SURREY 



in each case, but the teams were selected and 

 the games played under the management of 

 leading players of the several shires connected 

 with, and working under, the auspices of the 

 Football Association. Mr. Morley was suc- 

 ceeded as hon. secretary of the Football 

 Association by Messrs. Willis and Graham. 

 The latter in his turn gave way to Mr. C. 

 W. Alcock, who after holding the office for 

 some twenty-five years, was succeeded by Mr. 

 F. J. Wall. The fact that the five secretaries 

 of the Football Association, since it came 

 into existence, have all been Surrey men is 

 one of which the county may well be proud. 

 The era of county associations was not to 

 commence until much later. In some re- 

 spects Surrey, as a county for the regulation of 

 sport, suffers from the fact that it is in part 

 within the area of London. It is difficult for 

 the residents of Brixton or Southwark to feel 

 themselves county men in the same sense as 

 those who live, say, in Guildford or Redhill. 

 But in spite of the obvious difficulties in the 

 way Surrey was one of the very first to form 

 an association with the object of consolidating 

 the different clubs and players within its 

 boundaries. According to its official hand- 

 book, the Surrey Football Association dates 

 back as far as 1877. The first record that can 

 be found of it is two years later. At a meet- 

 ing held in the Pavilion at Kennington Oval 

 a working committee was formed to manage 

 its affairs. A trial game between metro- 

 politan Surrey and the rest of the county 

 was arranged to be played at the Oval, and 

 it was also decided to have some matches 

 in the outlying parts of the county for the 

 benefit of the charitable institutions of 

 Surrey. It should be stated that for 

 some time before this there had been in 

 existence an association which did good work 

 in west Surrey. It was known as the West 

 Surrey Association, and the original clubs 

 forming it in 1875 were the Surrey Zingari, 

 West Surrey Wanderers, Guildford, Famham, 

 Godalming and one other.' Reigate Priory 

 even was not admitted to membership, as the 

 association limited itself strictly to west 

 Surrey, though a little later mid- Surrey out- 

 side of the metropolitan area was taken in. 

 The association was very modest in its aims. 

 Some of the constituent clubs had very primi- 

 tive notions, one to the extent of playing its 

 matches on moonlight nights. Still football 

 throve steadily, with the result that new 

 clubs were formed at Dorking, Haslemere, and 

 other centres. A match between east and west 

 Surrey was started in 1877. It was practi- 



Probably Aldershot. 



cally a trial of strength between suburban 

 and rural Surrey, and was continued with one 

 exception (in 1886) for many years. The 

 West Surrey Association even then played 

 some of the smaller associations, e.g. Oxford- 

 shire, Hants, Dorsetshire and West Sussex. 



The revival, or the re-establishment, to use 

 the official expression as it was used at the 

 fore-gathering which led to it, took a formal 

 shape at a meeting held at the Angel Hotel, 

 Guildford, on 16 March 1882. The minute 

 book records it rather quaintly as ' a meeting 

 of the West Surrey Football Association and 

 the other clubs in the county.' In any case 

 there was unanimity among those present to 

 judge by the adoption of the following reso- 

 lution : — ' That it is desirable to re-establish 

 the Surrey County Football Association on a 

 substantial basis in order to encourage the 

 development of the Association game within 

 the County of Surrey, and that the Surrey 

 County Football Association be affiliated with 

 the Football Association of England.' That 

 the western division however was still to be 

 the predominant partner was shown by a sub- 

 sequent resolution to the effect that the head- 

 quarters of the association be considered 

 to be in the western division of the 

 county, and that meetings be held (when 

 practicable) at Reigate, Guildford and other 

 important centres. The ten clubs whose 

 names appear on the minutes of this meet- 

 ing as supporters of the association were 

 Reigate Priory, Farnham, Dorking, Clap- 

 ham Rovers, East Sheen, Mosquitoes, Esher, 

 Guildford, St. Thomas' Hospital and Sur- 

 biton. 



According to the rules adopted each of 

 these clubs was represented by one delegate 

 on the general committee, which was com- 

 pleted by the members of a special committee 

 consisting of the president, vice-president 

 and seven others elected at the general meet- 

 ing. The first vice-president was Mr. C. W. 

 Alcock, the hon. sec. of the Football Associa- 

 tion, as well as secretary of the Surrey County 

 Cricket Club. A challenge from Middlesex 

 to play in the following week was duly ac- 

 cepted. ^ It was also decided to institute a 

 challenge cup. The official records state 



' The following were selected to represent the 

 county in its initial inter-county match under the 

 new regime : — Goal : W. Shearbum (Dorking) ; 

 backs : W. W. Read (Reigate) and W. H. Norris 

 (Reigate) ; half-backs : E. C. Bambridge (Clapham 

 Rovers) and N. C. Bailey (Clapham Rovere) ; 

 forwards : W. J. Anderson (Famham), W. A. Bur- 

 ridge (Limpsfield), F. J. Morrison (Reigate), R R. 

 H. Lockhart Ross (East Sheen), W. J. Down 

 (Dorking), and J. H. Thompson (Mosquitoes). 



550 



