Pegasus A.F.C.

The club was founded in 1948 as a joint venture of Oxford University A.F.C. and Cambridge University A.F.C., instigated by Harold Warris Thompson, professor at St. John's College, Oxford and later an administrator with The Football Association.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2011/mar/18/pegasus-amateur-football-wembley|title=Pegasus soared briefly but they made Wembley cheer itself hoarse|last=Lacey|first=David|date=18 March 2011|work=The Guardian|accessdate=19 March 2011}} The founding president was Kenneth Hunt, formerly of the star amateur club Corinthian F.C.{{cite web|url=http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/genealogy/KennethHunt/chapter7.htm|title=Chapter 7. The Final Whistle|last=A. Quirke|first=Patrick|work=The Reverend Kenneth Hunt "Wolves footballing parson"|publisher=Wolverhampton history & heritage|accessdate=19 March 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517030340/http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/genealogy/KennethHunt/chapter7.htm|archivedate=17 May 2011}} The symbol Pegasus was chosen as containing elements from the logos of the football clubs of both Oxford University (a centaur) and Cambridge University (a falcon). At first, members had to be current Oxford or Cambridge University players or to have left the previous year, but this rule was later relaxed.{{cite web |url=http://www.ouafc.com/varsity/players/299 |title=Harold Thompson |publisher=Oxford University Association Football Club |access-date=2 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928050105/http://www.ouafc.com/varsity/players/299 |archive-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=dead }} In the postwar years, Oxbridge students included many men in their twenties demobilised from service in World War II.

Pegasus had an attractive style similar to the Tottenham Hotspur of the day, whose Vic Buckingham and Bill Nicholson had previously coached Oxford and Cambridge respectively. The club had great success in the 1950s including wins at Wembley Stadium in the FA Amateur Cup in 1951, which finished 2–1 against Bishop Auckland, and 1953, which finished 6–0 against Harwich & Parkeston in front of a full house of 100,000 spectators. On both occasions, the semi-final was played at Highbury and was drawn, so that a replay was necessary. In the 1951 semi-final, Pegasus's opponents, Hendon, were awarded a penalty in the last minute, but missed it, and Pegasus won the replay at Selhurst Park.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/06/05/nl_hendon_feature.shtml|title=Hendon FC|date=13 February 2008|work=The Non League Football Show: Your team A-Z|publisher=BBC Online|accessdate=19 March 2011}} In 1954, Pegasus toured Hong Kong, and supplied seven members of the England amateur international team.{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesp/pegasushk54.html|title=Pegasus AFC (England) tour of Hong Kong 1954|last=Morrison|first=Neil|date=6 November 2009|work=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation|accessdate=23 March 2011}}

Changes in university culture in the 1960s and defections to Corinthian-Casuals undermined its ethos and the club folded in 1963, following an Oxfordshire Senior Cup tie against Marston United.

The club played in white shirts, navy blue shorts (in honour of Oxford), and sky blue socks (in honour of Cambridge), with a badge of a sky blue Pegasus on a dark blue patch.{{cite journal |title=Pegasus v Southall |journal=Fulham Football Club Programme |date=21 March 1953 |page=7}}

The club used Iffley Road in Oxford for its home matches, as the Cambridge pitch at Grange Road was owned by the Cambridge University rugby club.{{cite book |last1=Shearwood |first1=Ken |title=Pegasus |date=1975 |publisher=Oxford Illustrated Press |location=Oxford |pages=11–12}}

• Vic Buckingham{{cite book |last= Twydell |first= Dave |title= Defunct F.C. |page=172}}
• Joe Mercer
• Malcolm Allison
• Arthur Rowe

• Reverend Kenneth Hunt, founding president
• Sir Harold Warris Thompson

• FA Amateur Cup
• Winners: 1950–51, 1952–53
• Oxfordshire Senior Cup
• Winners: 1949–50, 1957–58

{{Reflist}}

• {{fchd|name=Pegasus F.C.|id=PEGASUS}}
• Ken Shearwood, Pegasus: The Famous Oxford and Cambridge Soccer Side of the Nineteen Fifties. With an Introduction by Geoffrey Green, and an Afterword by David Miller. (Kennedy & Boyd, 2011). [http://www.kennedyandboyd.co.uk/biblio/1849210470.htm]

Category:Defunct football clubs in England

Category:Association football clubs established in 1948

Category:Association football clubs disestablished in 1963

Category:Clubs and societies of the University of Cambridge

Category:Clubs and societies of the University of Oxford

Category:Oxbridge

Category:Defunct football clubs in Oxfordshire

Category:1948 establishments in England

Category:1963 disestablishments in England

Category:University and college football clubs in England