Windsor Home Park F.C.
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox football club
| clubname = Windsor Home Park F.C.
| fullname = Windsor Home Park Football Club
| founded = 1870
| dissolved = 1882 (became Windsor F.C.)
| mgrtitle = Secretary
| manager = P. G. Chamberlain, E. C. Bambridge
| ground = Home Park
|pattern_la1=_thinbluehoops|pattern_b1=_thinbluehoops|pattern_ra1=_thinbluehoops|pattern_so1=_hoops_black|leftarm1=000000|body1=000000|rightarm1=000000|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=1F75FE|
}}
Windsor Home Park F.C. was an amateur football club who featured in the early years of the FA Cup.{{fchd|id=WINDSOHP|name=Windsor Home Park}}
History
A cricket ground opened in Windsor Home Park in the summer of 1850, and Windsor Home Park Cricket Club started playing matches in that year.{{cite journal |journal=Bell's Life in London |date=1850-06-30 |title=Cricketers' Register |page=6 }}{{cite journal |journal=Bell's Life in London |title=Further Matches to Come |page=7 |date=1850-07-07 }} While there is some evidence of a "Home Park Football Club" existing in Windsor as early as 1854,{{cite journal|journal=Windsor and Eton Express |date=1854-10-07 |page=1 |title=W. Runicles: Carver, Gilder and Picture Frame Maker [advertisement]}} A newspaper advertisement for W. Runicles, of Eton High Street, boasts of patronage by "H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, the Young Gentlemen of Eton College, and the Members of the Home Park Football Club". this particular club was founded in September 1870, originally to play under "modified" association laws,{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1871 |publisher=Virtue |location=London |page=63}} and it played its first match in December 1870.{{cite journal |journal=Windsor and Eton Express |volume=lix |issue=3046 |title=Football |date=1870-12-10 |page=4 }}
The club played regularly against local rivals such as Maidenhead F.C. and Great Marlow F.C. In 1872–73 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time. It beat Reigate Priory in the first round, at the Kennington Oval with the score given as 3 goals, plus one "in abeyance", to two.{{cite journal |title=report |journal=The Field |date=2 November 1872 |page=438}} There was no referee for the match, so, after a Home Park goal was disputed for being offside, the teams continued with the decision to be left for the Football Association to rule, as was normal under the laws of the game at the time. As Home Park scored three undisputed goals, there was no need for an adjudication.{{cite journal |last1=Stevens |first1=F.J. |title=letter |journal=Sportsman |date=31 October 1872 |page=7}}
The second round tie with South Norwood, at the Kennington Oval, proved controversial, as both sides claimed to have won 1–0. Windsor Home Park claimed the South Norwood goal was the result of a handball, with which both umpires agreed,{{cite journal |title=Windsor Home Park v South Norwood |journal=Field |date=30 November 1872 |page=542}} and South Norwood claimed that the Windsor Home Park goal the result of Home Park taking a corner that ought to have been a goal-kick.{{cite journal |title=Windsor Home Park v South Norwood |journal=Bell's Life |date=30 November 1872 |page=8}} As at the time the referee's decision was subject to an appeal, the Football Association ordered a replay, which Home Park won easily.
The third round tie, with Maidenhead, was played at the Slough cricket pitch, as a neutral ground, as Home Park refused to toss for the choice of venue.{{cite journal |title=report |journal=Maidenhead Advertiser |date=24 December 1872 |page=3}} Maidenhead won 1–0, and had one goal disallowed as it went directly through the goal from a free-kick; under the laws at the time, all free-kicks after a handball were indirect.{{cite journal |title=report |journal=Maidenhead Advertiser |date=24 December 1872 |page=3}} The winning goal was from an early example of a corner kick (at the time, called a free-kick), which was landed at the feet of Hebbes, who made no mistake.{{cite journal |last1=Bambridge |first1=W.S. |title=letter |journal=Sportsman |date=28 December 1872 |page=6}}
The club entered a second time in 1874–75, but did not play a match; first round opponents Uxbridge withdrew, and Home Park in turn withdrew when drawn to play Oxford University. The club's next competitive football came in the first edition of the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup in 1878–79, but Home Park lost 1–0 at home to Maidenhead.{{cite journal |title=Football |journal=Berkshire Chronicle |date=14 December 1878 |page=2}}
The club entered the FA Cup twice more, in 1880–81 and 1881–82, both times exiting in the first round. The latter exit was controversial; the club was knocked out by Reading Minster, the Reading Observer reporting that Minster had won 1–0, with a disputed goal against which Home Park had made a protest,{{cite journal |title=Reading Minster 1-0 Windsor Home Park |journal=Reading Observer |date=29 October 1881 |page=3}} and the Windsor newspapers reporting the score as being 0–0.{{cite journal |title=Reading Minster 0-0 Windsor Home Park |journal=Windsor & Eton Express |date=29 October 1881 |page=4}} The Football Association rejected the protest. Home Park also exited the Berks & Bucks Cup in the first round both years, losing 5–0 at home to Reading in 1879–80{{cite journal |title=Reading v Windsor Home Park |journal=Bucks Herald |date=17 January 1880 |page=8}} and 1–0 at home to Grosvenor F.C. in 1880–81, in front of fewer than 600 spectators.{{cite journal |title=Berks & Bucks Association Challenge Cup |journal=Sporting Life |date=16 November 1881 |page=1}}
In September 1882, the club amalgamated Grosvenor to form Windsor Football Club.{{cite journal |date=1882-09-30 |page=4 |journal=Windsor and Eton Express |title=The Windsor Football Club |volume=lxxi |issue=3662 }}
Notable players
- Three of the Bambridge brothers - Ernest Bambridge, Charles Bambridge, and George Bambridge - played for Home Park before joining Swifts. Ernest and George both scored in the Cup tie against Reigate Priory.
- Francis Heron, future England international, played in the 1872–73 season.
Colours
The club's colours were blue and black hoops.Charles Alcock Football Annuals 1871-73, 1877
Ground
The club played at Home Park in Windsor, a two-minute walk from Windsor railway station.{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1872 |publisher=Virtue |location=London |page=62}} It used the Royal Oak in Datchet Road for changing facilities.{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1877 |publisher=Ward, Lock, and Tyler |location=London |page=172}}