Dreadnought F.C.

Dreadnought was an English association football club based in London. The club gave its foundation date as 1875[1] and its first recorded match was a 3-0 defeat away to Upton Park F.C. in November that year, although Dreadnought turned up with only eight men and had to rely on three un-named substitutes.[2]

The club entered the FA Cup on four occasions occasions. In the first round in 1880-81, the club beat Rochester 2-1, but in the second round lost 5-1 at Old Carthusians. In 1881-82 the club's first round opponents from Caius College withdrew and the club had a bye in the second round, but lost 2-1 at Marlow in the third.

In 1882-83, the club hosted South Reading in the first round, but the match kicked off at 4.15pm because of the late arrival of the visiting the South Reading side. Although South Reading won 2-1, Dreadnought appealed the result on two grounds; firstly, having had a goal wrongly disallowed; secondly, the game had ended in darkness, which allowed South Reading to score the winner. The Football Association ordered a replay,[3] which South Reading won again, by the same score, in a "warmly contested" match.[4]

The last match for the club in the competition was their first round defeat to Old Foresters in 1883-84. The club played 30 matches in 1883-84, winning 16,[5] but there is no record of them playing after the season.