SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



that the cup was * established for competition 

 amongst Surrey Clubs.' At the same time 

 there was the important reservation that 

 ' No Clubs with headquarters within six 

 miles of London were to be allowed to com- 

 pete at present.' Still, though the actual 

 management of the association was practi- 

 cally in the hands of the western division, the 

 Metropolitan area had an influential repre- 

 sentation in the vice-president, Mr. C. W. 

 Alcock, the captain, Mr. N. C. Bailey, and 

 the brothers W. S. and E. H. Bambridge. 

 Fittingly enough in the first final for the cup 

 East and West were represented, though the 

 latter, with Reigate Priory, managed to get 

 the best of East Sheen, the champion of the 

 east, after a hard fight, by the narrow margin 

 of a goal. In these early days R. R. H. Lock- 

 hart Ross was the moving spirit of the associa- 

 tion. Joint hon. sec. with W. J. Down at the 

 outset, he held the office alone from 1883 to 

 1885 inclusive, following this up by holding 

 the captaincy of the county eleven in 1885-6 

 and the two subsequent seasons. 



It was mainly due to his energy a football 

 tournament, or as he preferred to call it, a 

 bonspiel, was arranged in 1883. Two com- 

 petitions, one open to all Surrey, the other 

 only to the clubs of west Surrey, were also 

 instituted. These football bonspiels, it is 

 only fair to say, were very popular, and were 

 instrumental in the formation of several clubs. 

 The same year (1883) also saw the installation 

 of the Duke of Connaught, a Surrey resident, 

 as president of the association. The ques- 

 tion whether the tournaments which had 

 come into vogue in Surrey, Hampshire and in 

 some other counties were permissible under 

 the rules of the Football Association became 

 a matter of discussion in 1884. The decision 

 of the parent association, which was against 

 their legality, naturally was a source of trouble 

 to the Surrey Football Association, as well as 

 to the other associations concerned. The 

 first idea was to organize a counter movement 

 in the shape of a combination of associations 

 which should act independently of the Foot- 

 ball Association. That the Surrey executive 

 favoured such an action is shown by the 

 minutes of a meeting which was called to 

 consider the question of secession from the 

 Football Association and empowering the 

 secretary to call a general meeting if neces- 

 sary at an early date to arrange an alliance 

 with Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Sussex 

 and other counties. This meeting was 

 held on 5 November 1884 but the scheme 

 failed. 



All this time the record of the association 

 had shown a division of opinion producing 



naturally anything but consistency of action 

 or continuity of policy. The management i n 

 1884 seems to have been in the hands of dele- 

 gates representing the different hundreds of 

 Surrey, one to each, with two for each division 

 of the Brixton hundred. But in spite of the 

 prevalent discontent in 1884 the year pro- 

 duced one good thing in the formation of 

 the charity competition, open to west Surrey 

 only. Meanwhile the Surrey eleven had been 

 playing a few matches annually with a fair 

 amount of success. Middlesex, Berks, Bucks 

 and Sussex were Surrey's chief opponents, 

 with Oxfordshire and Oxford University, and 

 later on Hampshire and Dorsetshire. 



The end of the year 1886 was memorable 

 for the establishment of a junior cup. For the 

 purposes of the competition, Reigate Priory, 

 Dorking, Surrey, Zingari, East Sheen, Barnes, 

 Sandhurst, Charterhouse, Clapham Rovers, 

 Dulwich, Weybridge, and Walton, Guy's 

 Hospital, St. Thomas' Hospital, Lyndhurst, 

 Godalming, Champion Hill and Leatherhead 

 School were declared to be senior clubs, 

 with any others subsequently competing for 

 the Surrey cup. Mention has already been 

 made of Reigate Priory's success in the 

 challenge cup in 1883, the first year of 

 its institution. Though it only came into 

 their possession once again in the next three 

 seasons, the club took part in the final every 

 year from 1883 to 1887 inclusive. Reigate 

 also supplied the first winner of the junior 

 cup in the Reigate West End team, who 

 administered to their then opponents, the 

 Prince of Wales' Own Regiment, a most 

 decisive defeat by five goals to one. In 

 1886-7 Surrey's chief matches were against 

 Sussex, Kent, Middlesex, Hertfordshire and 

 the two Universities. 



An important change in the working of the 

 challenge cup competition was made at the 

 annual general meeting held on 31 October 

 1887. It consisted of the sub-division of the 

 county into six districts, each managed by its 

 respective committee. The six districts were : 

 (i) Guildford District, comprising the hun- 

 dreds of Woking, Farnham, Blackheath and 

 Godalming; (2) Dorking District, com- 

 prising the hundreds of Walton, Copthorne, 

 Effingham and West Wallington ; (3) Reigate 

 District, comprising the hundreds of Reigate 

 and Tandridge ; (4) Walton and Weybridge 

 District, comprising the hundreds of Emley 

 and Godley ; (5) Richmond and Kingston 

 District, comprising the hundreds of West 

 Brixton and Kingston ; (6) Dulwich and 

 Croydon District, comprising the hundreds 

 of East Brixton and East Wallington. By 

 this time (1887-8) the Surrey Football 



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