Hapton F.C.
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| Full name | Hapton Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1893 | |
| Dissolved | 1900 | |
| Ground | Lee's Meadow | |
| Secretary | T. Hodgson | |
|
| ||
Hapton F.C. was an association football club from the village of Hapton, Lancashire, active in the 19th century.
The club was founded in 1893.[1] An earlier Hapton F.C. had played in the 1884–85 Lancashire Senior Cup, losing 2–1 to Golborne in the second round.[2]
Hapton's first league was the Burnley and District League, finishing as runner-up in 1894–95,[3] and in 1896 it joined the North-East Lancashire Combination.[4]
The club's greatest honour was winning the 1896–97 Lancashire Junior Cup, in a major shock, as it was the only time a club from the North-East Combination won the tournament, and Hapton had to play eight matches just to reach the final, starting off in the first qualifying rounds.[5] The semi-final, against Turton, had been niggly, the original match at Hapton ending in a draw,[6] but the replay also being played there as Turton had fielded an ineligible player[7] - before the replay Turton officials measured the pitch "amidst the derisive cheers of the Hapton supporters" in preparation for a futile protest.[8] The final, against Skerton in front of 6,000 at Deepdale, had a remarkable ending. In injury time, with Skerton 2–1 to the good, a Hapton corner deflected off the referee - Mr Watson of Accrington - and went over the line; Mr Watson gave the goal, although under the laws in place at the time, the goal should not have counted, as it had not been touched by another player.[9] The game went to extra-time, and in the second period, Hapton's Lomax bundled a rebound home to claim the cup for the underdogs.[10] The triumph helped the club to return a £12 profit on income of £118.[11]
The club joined the Football Association in August 1897.[12] It entered the 1898–99 FA Cup qualifying rounds, but lost 5–0 away to South Shore in the preliminary round.[13] The following season it lost 3–2 at home to Oswaldtwistle Rovers at the same stage, having led for most of the match, but being undone by a winner right at the end of extra-time.[14]
Hapton finished one off the bottom of the North-East Lancashire Combination in 1899–1900, albeit it had also been ahead of two other clubs late in the season (Barnoldswick and Earby) who withdrew before completing their fixtures.[15] It did not however enter the competition for the following season, and a 9–1 defeat to Chorley St George's in the first round of the Junior Cup at the start of 1901[16] appears to have been the club's last match of any note, future Junior Cup entries being made by Hapton Church.[17]
Colours
The club's regular colour was red; in the Junior Cup final, because of a clash with Skerton's colours, Hapton wore pale blue, while Skerton wore Preston North End's colours.[18]