Hawks F.C.
{{for|the Gambian club|Hawks FC}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox football club |
| clubname=Hawks
| image=
| fullname=Hawks Football Club
| nickname=
| founded=1875
| dissolved=1879
| ground=Robin Hood pub
| capacity=
| chairman=
| mgrtitle=Secretary
| manager=C. J. Fox (1876), W. G. Hamilton (1877), Arthur G. Pitman (1878–9)
| league=
| season=
| position=
| website =
| pattern_la1 = _thinnavyhoops
| pattern_b1 = _thinnavyhoops
| pattern_ra1 = _thinnavyhoops
|pattern_so1=_hoops_navy
| leftarm1 = ADD8E6
| body1 = ADD8E6
| rightarm1 = ADD8E6
| shorts1 = 000080
| socks1 = ADD8E6
| title = Hawks F.C.
|}}
Hawks F.C. was an English association football club from Anerley in London.File:Hawks F.C. first season results.png
History
Although the club claimed a foundation date of 1875,{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1878 |page=141}} its first reported game was against a Surrey School Masters select on 7 October 1876, ending in a 6–0 win.{{cite journal |title=Penge |journal=Norwood News |date=28 April 1877 |page=6}} The first match against a regular club was against Mosquitoes F.C. on 28 October 1876. The match ended goalless, after a Hawks goal was disallowed as Mosquitoes noticed that the club had 12 men on the pitch.{{cite journal |title=Hawks vMosquitoes |journal=Norwood News |date=4 November 1876 |page=3}}
As was common in the 1870s, many of the Hawks players also played for other clubs; the Hawks' victory over South Norwood in November 1876 being made easier by several of the South Norwood players choosing to play for the Hawks instead.{{cite journal |title=Football |journal=Norwood News |date=25 November 1876 |page=3}}
One remarkable game in January 1878 saw the club beat the Blue Mantles 6–0, with a further six goals being disallowed for offside.{{cite journal |title=Penge |journal=Norwood News |date=12 January 1878 |page=7}}
Hawks competed in the FA Cup twice.{{Cite web | url=http://fchd.info/HAWKS.HTM | title=Football Club History Database – Hawks }} In 1877–78, the club beat Minerva 5–2 in the first round, before losing to Remnants in the second, the Remnants club being reckoned to be two stones per man heavier on average than the Hawks. This weight difference proved decisive, as the Hawks' Jones went off injured in the first half,{{cite journal |title=report |journal=Norwood News |date=29 December 1877 |page=3}} and both Remnants goals came from scrimmages.{{cite journal |title=report |journal=Sportsman |date=24 December 1877 |page=4}} Notably, multiple reports praise the goalkeeping of the Remnants' Rev. William Blackmore. There was some consolation for one of the players, J. R. Fox, a former Westminster School pupil, as he played for the London Association in a representative match against the Birmingham Association in January 1878.{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1878 |publisher=Cricket Press |location=London |page=45}} Fox was known as a decent back, but considered "rather slow".{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1879 |publisher=Cricket Press |location=London |page=56}}
In 1878–79, the club lost to the Swifts in the first round, having taken the lead, but conceding an equalizer which saw a shot from Charles Bambridge "touching the tape, but going through", before a goal which the Hawks disputed as being offside.{{cite journal |title=Football |journal=Norwood News |date=16 November 1878 |page=7}}
In the latter season, the club played in far fewer matches than in the preceding year (11 as opposed to 24),{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1878 |page=141}} and the club membership had dwindled from 52 to 35.{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1879 |page=146}} The club seems to have been disbanded after this season, as for 1879–80 its players are recorded as playing for clubs such as Clapham Rovers and Grey Friars.
The name was revived in 1884 for another club in Anerley,{{cite journal |title=Penge |journal=Norwood News |date=2 May 1885 |page=3}} (recording the club's first season) with an entirely different set of players, and wearing red and black,{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1885 |publisher=Wright & Co |location=London |page=240}} but still playing at the Robin Hood fields.{{cite journal |title=Football |journal=Norwood News |date=10 October 1885 |page=6}} The last recorded match was a win over Champion Hill in December 1885.{{cite journal |title=Football |journal=Norwood News |date=12 December 1885 |page=6}}
Colours
The club's colours were dark and light blue,{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1877 |page=152}} probably in hoops, as that was the main pattern at the time, and the club did not describe any other pattern.
Ground
The club played a ground three minutes' walk from Anerley railway station, using the Robin Hood public house for its facilities.{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1877 |page=152}}