CUP KINGS WANDERIN' FREE AGAIN

A FASCINATING slice of embryonic football history has been revived in the lower echelons of the Non-League Pyramid.

- Tony INCENZO

It concerns Wanderers FC who won the very first FA Cup Final way back in 1871/72. They beat Royal Engineers 1-0 at Kennington Oval to cap a truly pioneering occasion.

As every avid soccer scholar will know, Wanderers went on to lift the now-world famous competition five times across the opening seven seasons. Alas, the London-based team swiftly faded into oblivion due to a lack of players and eventually folded.

However, Wanderers were relaunched in 2009 and currently compete in the Surrey South Eastern Combination Junior Division Two.

I’ve watched Wanderers play several games in contemporary years because their unique pedigree intrigues me. So I spoke to club secretary Mark Wilson regarding ongoing progress.

“We undertook our first match during November 2009 in a weekly seven-a-side West London kick-about which soon relocated to Kennington Park,” he told me. “After a couple of months, the players fancied 11-a-side action.

“I went online to source relevant names of football teams connected to Kennington and the only result coming up was ‘Wanderers’. Via a family genealogy website, I subsequently traced Karen Gunnell – the great-granddaughter of John Alcock. He was one of two brothers that founded the original Wanderers and Karen kindly gave us her family’s blessing to reform the club.