Editing Accrington F.C. (section)

==History==
[[File:Accrington fc 1886.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The 1886 Accrington squad]]
[[File:Accrington FC league results 1889-1893.PNG|thumb|250px|right|Graph showing Accrington's performance from the first season of the [[English football league system|English Football League]] in [[The Football League 1888–89|1888–89]] to [[The Football League 1892–93|1892–93]] when they resigned from the league]]

Accrington Football Club was formed following a meeting at a local [[public house]] in [[1878 in association football|1878]].<ref>[http://www.brfcs.co.uk/history/history_rivals_accrington.php BRFC Supporters – The Original Accrington Club]</ref>  It was the second association club in the town, after [[Enfield F.C. (Accrington)|Enfield]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1879 |publisher=Cricket Press |location=London |page=113}}</ref>

===Local cups===

With backing from mill owners, the Owd Reds became one of the strongest sides in Lancashire.  In 1880–81, it won the [[Lancashire Senior Cup]] for the first time, beating [[Blackburn Park Road F.C.|Blackburn Park Road]] 6–4 in the final.  The Roadsters walked off the field with five minutes to go in protest at the refereeing, and put in an unsuccessful protest, one reporter stating that the second Accrington goal was seen as handball "by every reporter present" and the sixth Accrington goal was so far offside that "the referee ([[William Peirce Dix|William Peirce-Dix of Sheffield]]) was obviously bribed or neglecting his duty as a final judge",<ref>{{cite journal |title=Lancashire Challenge Cup |journal=Blackburn Weekly News |date=30 April 1881 |page=8}}</ref> another stating that "the greatest wrongdoer in this last piece of business connected with the already ugly career of the Lancashire Association Challenge Cup is the referee of Saturday last".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Notes from Free-Kick |journal=Blackburn Weekly News |date=30 April 1881 |page=2}}</ref>

The club was part of the revolt against [[the Football Association]] in 1884 over professionalism, after being expelled from the FA the previous year for paying a player, and was a founding member of the [[British Football Association]], in a successful ploy to have the FA overturn its ban on professionals.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Lancashire Clubs and the New Rules |journal=York Herald |date=24 October 1884 |page=7}}</ref>  It won the Lancashire Senior Cup twice more; in 1887–88 by forfeit, after [[Preston North End]] refused to play the final in [[Blackburn]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sports & Recreations |journal=Blackburn Weekly Standard |date=21 April 1888 |page=7}}</ref>  and in 1888–89.  Accrington was fortunate to be in the final, turning up late to its third round tie at [[Halliwell F.C.|Halliwell]], which claimed the tie; however, before the crowd had left, Accrington turned up and the tie took place, the Owd Reds winning 1–0.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Lancashire Cup Ties |journal=Birmingham Daily Post |date=25 February 1889 |page=7}}</ref>   The final, against underdogs [[Higher Walton F.C.|Higher Walton]], ended 1-1<ref>{{cite journal |title=Lancashire Senior Challenge Cup (Final Tie) |journal=The Guardian |date=29 April 1889 |page=7}}</ref> and around 6,000 turned up to [[Deepdale]] for the replay, in which the Owd Reds scored the only goal.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Lancashire Cup - Final Tie |journal=Lancaster Gazette |date=11 May 1889 |page=6}}</ref> 

===FA Cup===

The club had less fortune in the FA Cup, as the regionalization of the early rounds in the 1880s meant it was drawn against strong Lancastrian sides.  Its best run, in [[1887–88 FA Cup|1887–88]], saw it beat [[Rossendale F.C.|Rossendale]] by an easy 11–0, and then beat [[Burnley F.C.|Burnley]] 3–2 at home, coming from 2–0 down at half-time, before a crowd of at least 5,000;<ref>{{cite journal |title=Accrington v Burnley |journal=Lancashire Evening Post |date=5 November 1887 |page=3}}</ref> however the club was then drawn to host [[Blackburn Rovers]], which had just had a three-season winning run in the competition.  [[Harry Fecitt]] gave Accrington the lead against his former club, the goal followed by a burst of music from the Accrington Volunteer Band, but Rovers rallied to win 3–1.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Accrington v Blackburn Rovers |journal=Lancashire Evening Post |date=26 November 1887 |page=2}}</ref>

===Football League and decline===

It was one of the original twelve clubs that formed the Football League on 17 April 1888. Accrington's best season was in [[1889–90 in English football|1889–90]], when the club finished sixth in the table. However, in the [[1892–93 in English football|1892–93]] season they finished fifteenth (of 16) and were relegated after losing a [[Test match (association football)|test match]] 1–0 against [[Sheffield United F.C.|Sheffield United]] at [[Trent Bridge]]. Accrington then resigned from the league rather than play in the [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]], becoming the first of the founding Football League clubs to leave the League permanently ([[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke]] had failed to be re-elected in 1890, but rejoined the league a year later).

After its first season in the Lancashire League, Accrington, realizing that business was better in the national competition,<ref>{{cite journal |title=Sports and pastimes |journal=Nottinghamshire Guardian |date=19 May 1894 |page=3}}</ref> unsuccessfully applied for re-election to the Football League.<ref>{{cite web |title=Football League Division 2 table 1893/94 |url=http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/LeagueTables/Season1893-94/Div21893-94.htm |url-status=dead |access-date=30 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003205452/http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/LeagueTables/Season1893-94/Div21893-94.htm |archive-date=3 October 2018}}</ref> Shortly afterwards, Accrington F.C. suffered financial problems, which eventually led to its demise. The club continued outside the league until [[1895–96 in English football|1896]], when they finally folded following a 12–0 defeat on 14 January against [[Darwen F.C. (1870)|Darwen]] in the [[Lancashire Senior Cup]].  The growth of the Football League, and the increased - and consistent - crowds of clubs in bigger population areas, had dwarfed the money available to Accrington from its benefactors, and, with bigger towns close by, Accrington had no room to breathe.

Accrington did not have a Football League club again until in 1921–22 the [[Lancashire Combination]] league's [[Accrington Stanley F.C. (1891)|Accrington Stanley]] (formerly a local rival), became a member as part of a major expansion of the league.