Stanley F.C. (Liverpool)

Stanley F.C., often referred to from 1887 to 1890 as Liverpool Stanley, was an English association football club, from Liverpool in Merseyside.

History

The club was founded in 1882 by cricketers from the Stanley Cricket Club, who played their matches in Stanley Park in Liverpool. The club optimistically entered the Lancashire Senior Cup straight after foundation, but lost by a competition record score of 23–0 to Witton F.C. of Blackburn.

In 1885, the club used the proceeds from a Liverpool Senior Cup tie against Everton at Anfield to build an enclosure at Walton Stiles and set up a new home there. The club's first match at their new ground was against Darwen F.C. at the start of the 1885–86 season.

The club struggled to gain support because of earlier clubs in the city, such as Everton, Liverpool Ramblers, and Bootle. One way in which it attracted players, in an era in which professionalism was banned, was for the club's backers to provide employment; many of the players brought in to play for Stanley worked at the United Grain Elevating Company in Bootle. Certainly by 1886 the club had enough members to field three teams on the same day; a measure of the times is that in that era the third team was good enough to face Tranmere Rovers.

However, while the club could attract 2,000 fans when hosting Everton, more regular matches only brought in a "poor attendance". The club's one match in the main section of the FA Cup, in 1887–88, a 5–1 defeat at home to Halliwell (having reached half-time 1–0 up), only attracted a crowd of 1,000.