Great Bridge Unity F.C.

Football club

Great Bridge UnityFull name| Great Bridge Unity Football Club

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Nickname(s)| the Unity
Founded| by 1879
Dissolved| 1896
Ground| Horseley Heath

Home colours

Great Bridge Unity F.C. was an English association football club from Great Bridge, then in Staffordshire, now in the West Midlands county.

## History

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The Unity first entered competitive football in 1883–84, with an entry for the Birmingham Senior Cup and the Walsall Cup. In the former, the club lost to Sutton Coldfield in the first round, after two replays.[1] In the latter, the club beat Aston Victoria in the first round, but lost to West Bromwich All Saints in the second.[2]

The club competed in the FA Cup in the 1887-88 season. In the first round, the Unity was beaten by Stafford Road F.C., but the Football Association ordered a replay as only seven of the Stafford Road players were eligible for the tournament. Rather than replay the tie, the Wolverhampton side scratched, and played a friendly against the Unity on the due date (which ended 1-1).[3]

In the second round, the Unity came from 2–1 down to beat Burton Swifts 5–2 away from home.[4] The Unity beat Birmingham Excelsior away in the third [5] but were finally downed by Bootle in the fourth, amid controversy; the Sporting Life judged Bootle's winner to have been offside,[6] and the Unity made protests against the eligibility of six Bootle players. By the time the appeal had been heard, Bootle had been knocked out by the Old Carthusians, and the FA had little appetite for finding in the Unity's favour in such circumstances.[7]

In 1889-90 the club was one of the founders of the Birmingham and District League; it later dropped out but resumed membership of the league for the season of 1891–92, but did not complete the season.[8]

The final reported matches for the club are in the 1895–96 season, in the West Midland League for amateur and reserve clubs.[9]

## Colours

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The club wore white shirts,[10] although it formally described its colours as black and white.[11]

## Records

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FA Cup

* Best performance: 4th Round – 1887–88

Dudley Charity Cup

* Winners: 1885-86[12]

## Notable players

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* Jack Glover, League champion with Liverpool[13]

## Later clubs

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There were various attempts to start a new Great Bridge Unity club, the only one with any longevity being a 1910s incarnation which played in the very low-ranking Hill Top League in Birmingham.[14]

## References

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1. ^ Carr, Steve (2000). History of the Birmingham Senior Cup. West Bromwich: Grorty Dick.
2. ^ "Walsall Cup". Lichfield Mercury: 7. 30 November 1883.
3. ^ "report". Nottingham Evening Post: 3. 22 October 1887.
4. ^ "report". Manchester Courier: 3. 7 November 1887.
5. ^ "Excelsior 1-2 Great Bridge Unity". Birmingham Daily Post: 6. 28 November 1887.
6. ^ 19 December 1887, p. 3
7. ^ "Association Challenge Cup". Telegraph: 2. 16 January 1888.
8. ^ "Football Club History Database – Great Bridge Unity". fchd.info. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
9. ^ "Results". Birmingham Mail: 3. 25 January 1896.
10. ^ "Staffordshire Football Association". Birmingham Post: 8. 22 October 1889.
11. ^ Alcock, Charles (1891). Football Annual. p. 171.
12. ^ "Dudley Guest Hospital Charity Association". Birmingham Post: 7. 26 May 1898.
13. ^ "Without Comment". Sports Argus: 1. 23 January 1904.
14. ^ "Hill Top League". Evening Despatch: 4. 13 April 1817.

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