South Bank F.C.
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| Full name | South Bank Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Bankers |
| Founded | 1868 |
| Dissolved | 1999 |
| Ground | was Normanby Road Ground |
South Bank F.C. were a football club based near Middlesbrough, England. The club claimed to have been founded in 1868, which would have made them one of the oldest football clubs in England.
South Bank's claim to have been founded in 1868 would make them the oldest club in the North-East and one of the oldest in England. While the date is recognised by most football historians, there is little contemporary evidence to support it.
The club initially played friendly matches with other clubs in the Middlesbrough area. In 1885 they amalgamated with South Bank Eribus and South Bank Excelsior and in 1886 incorporated South Bank Black Watch. It was at this time that the club left their Cricket Field home, which had been criticised due to the narrowness of the playing field, to move to the Paradise Field, a site which was later to be covered by the sinter plant at British Steel’s Cleveland Works.
The 'Bankers' remained at Paradise field for a period of three years during which time they entered the FA Cup for the first time. Their first game in the competition came on 30 October 1886 when they lost 0–4 to Gainsborough Trinity in the First Round. The following year they entertained Newcastle East End and triumphed 3–2 following extra time. They then succumbed to Middlesbrough (1–4) in the Second Round.
The club became founder members of the Northern League in 1889–90 and moved to a new ground at Normanby Road. They left the Northern League after this inaugural season, returning for another season in 1891–92 before applying to join the Teesside League in 1892–93 becoming champions, .
Switching again back to the Northern League in 1893–94, they also competed in the first FA Amateur Cup. They established themselves in the Northern League, finishing runners-up in 1894–95, 1895–96 and 1906–07 before finally winning their first title in 1907–08 after a play-off against Darlington St.Augustines. They then lost a title play-off the following season against Bishop Auckland. They also achieved the largest win ever recorded in the Northern League on 29 April 1895 when they hammered North Skelton Rovers 21–0!
The following years leading up to the start of World War I were one the club’s most successful periods. Four more runners-up spots in the league (1909–10, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1913–14) were matched by success at national level, finishing runners-up in the FA Amateur Cup of 1909–10 (losing 2–1 to RMLI Gosport) before winning the same trophy in 1912–13, beating Oxford City 1–0 in a replay. A new grandstand, luxurious at the time, was also built in 1909. The structure remained largely unchanged until demolished in 1993 after fire damage.
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