Middlesbrough Ironopolis F.C.
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| Middlesbrough Ironopolis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Middlesbrough Ironopolis Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | The Nops The Washers |
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| Founded | 1889 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dissolved | 1894 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Paradise Ground, Middlesbrough (Capacity 32,000) |
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| 1893-94 | Second Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Middlesbrough Ironopolis Football Club were an English association football club which briefly played in the Football League in the 1890s. Their entire history was played out during the Victorian era in Middlesbrough.
Although they were only in existence for five years, the club managed to win three Northern League titles, two cup competitions and reach the FA Cup quarter-finals.
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[edit] History
The club was formed in 1889 by some members of Middlesbrough F.C., who were an amateur club at the time. The men wanted Middlesbrough to have a professional club; and thus formed Ironopolis.
They played their first ever non-competitive game against Gainsborough Trinity on 14 December 1889 at home, it ended as a 1-1 draw.
[edit] League and Cup
They played in the Northern League from 1890 to 1893, winning three consecutive titles. In their first season, they reached the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, to face Darlington F.C.. During the 1892-93 season, they also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup before going out to Preston North End in a replay, after drawing the first game.
For the 1893-94 season, they were accepted into the Football League Second Division, replacing Accrington who had just resigned. Competing in the league alongside them were Liverpool, Newcastle United, Woolwich Arsenal (now known as simply Arsenal). They finished 11th out of 15 clubs, recording impressive results against Small Heath (now Birmingham City) with a 3-0 win, they also beat Ardwick (now known as Manchester City) 2-0.
Ironopolis lost their stadium "Paradise Ground" (which was adjacent to Ayresome Park) at the end of the season, their financial situation had been poor, as gate receipts did not cover the cost of players' wages. Another factor was that some of the fixtures involved travelling to Lancashire and the Midlands, this put further strain on finances. In February 1894 all the professional players were served notice of the plans to liquidate the team. They played their final game against South Bank on 30 April 1894 it ended 1-1. Ironopolis resigned from the Football League the following month and was disbanded.
[edit] Name and Colours
The club were formed during the late Victorian Industrial boom and adopted the name "Ironopolis" partly to emphasise this and also to distinguish themselves from the other club in town; Middlesbrough F.C..
They went through three different kits in their history; initially they wore a maroon and dark green kit. But traded it in for a dark blue kit with a white sash. As they moved into the Football League, they adopted their most famous kit; cherry red and white stripes.
[edit] Honours
- Northern League Division One
- Champions: 1890-91, 1891-92, 1892-93
- FA Cup
- Quarter-finalists: 1892-93
- Cleveland Charity Cup
- Winners: 1889/90, 1892/93
