STUDEnTS, n ETFLIX AnD FORMER WORLD CHAMPS
Football clubs can go under no matter how much they’re adored – but some aren’t quite so easily forgotten.
From history-making universities to Scottish conquerors, FFT recalls six defunct sides who made their marknOn-LEAGUE nEWS
AROUnD THE
GROUnDSTEAM BATH
1999-2009
Life comes at you fast. Team Bath made history just
three years after forming when they became the first
university club to reach the FA Cup First Round since
1880, led by rookie boss Paul Tisdale. They lost 4-2 to
Mansfield, though nothing could stop their upward
trajectory: by 2008, the students – some suspiciously
mature and professional – were a Conference South
side... and set to be dissolved. When the Conference
barred them from future promotions for not being
a limited company, they split up. Uni drop-outs, eh?DARWEN
1870-2009
They’re best associated with marvellous moustaches
and baggy shorts, but Darwen existed for 139 years
prior to going bust. The 1880-81 FA Cup semi-finalists
were northern pioneers in a game where Carthusians
and Old Etonians ruled – their pluck inspired Netflix
series The English Game – yet they’d wandered into
the wilderness before the 19th century was up. After
exiting the Football League in 1899, the Salmoners
entered the Lancashire League and later the North
West Counties in 1982 – but didn’t make it out alive.RUSHDEN & DIAMONDS
1992-2011
The Northamptonshire team have respawned since
their dissolution 11 years ago, but failed to escape
the Southern League or come close to their previous
third-tier heights under manager Brian Talbot. Lee
Tomlin, Yannick Bolasie and Billy Sharp all cut their
teeth at Nene Park with the Diamonds, whose final
years were sadly tainted by tragedy – not least the
suicide of goalkeeper Dale Roberts. Rushden’s last
manager was the late Justin Edinburgh, who passed
away after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest in 2019.RENTON
1872-1922
Steeped in history, the West Dunbartonshire villagers
featured in the first Scottish Cup fixture, and twice
won the cup in the 1880s. After gubbing Cambuslang
6-1 in the 1888 showpiece – still a joint-record for
the final – they bullied FA Cup winners West Brom 4-1
to claim the unofficial Football World Championship
crown. Then it all went wrong. Professionalism killed
Renton’s hopes of keeping their top performers, and
a slip towards oblivion was inevitable. If nothing else,
their place as Scottish legends was forever assured.THIRD LANARK
1872-1967
They may have gone out of business 55 years ago,
but their Cathkin Park ground remains as a ghostly
relic – it’s now a public park leased by the Jimmy
Johnstone Charitable Trust, but has real historical
significance in Scotland. Three of the stands are still
in one piece and there’s a campaign to restore it to
former glories, which is hardly surprising: Thirds were
founder members of the Scottish Football League,
champions in 1903-04 and finished third merely six
years before they went under. It was no time to go.MIDDLESBROUGH IRONOPOLIS
1889-94
Terrific name, terrible stamina. Only two clubs have
spent one season in the Football League: Bootle and
Ironopolis, founded after members of Middlesbrough
FC – then an amateur team – broke away to turn pro.
Today’s Boro went pro themselves in response, then
turned amateur again, before going pro for good in- Ironopolis had gone by then; perhaps having
three sets of colours wasn’t a great idea financially:
maroon and green became blue with a white sash,
then red and white. Ahead of their time, evidently...
FourFourTwo June 2022 89Words
Joe Brewin