View source for Middlesbrough Ironopolis F.C.

{{short description|Former association football club in England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox football club
| clubname = Middlesbrough Ironopolis
| image =
| fullname = Middlesbrough Ironopolis Football Club
| nickname = ''The Nops''<br>''The Washers''
| founded = {{Start date and age|1889}}
| dissolved = {{Start date and age|1894}}
| ground = [[Paradise Ground]], [[Middlesbrough]]
| capacity = 14,000
| league =
| season = [[1893–94 in English football|1893–94]] | position = [[Football League Second Division]]
|pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=_whiterightsash|pattern_ra1=|pattern_so1=|leftarm1=CC0033|body1=CC0033|rightarm1=CC0033|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000
|pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=|leftarm2=|body2=|rightarm2=|shorts2=|socks2=

}}

'''Middlesbrough Ironopolis Football Club''' was a [[association football|football]] club based in [[Middlesbrough]], [[England]].

Although it was only in existence for five years, the club won three [[Northern Football League|Northern League]] titles and two cup competitions, and once reached the [[FA Cup]] quarter-finals.

==History==
[[File:IronopolisFC.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The Ironopolis team of 1892–93.]]
The club was formed in 1889 by some members of [[Middlesbrough F.C.]], an amateur club at the time, who wanted the town of [[Middlesbrough]] to have a professional club, as the original stayed amateur; however, once Ironopolis turned professional, Middlesbrough followed suit within a week.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=An Old Hand |title=The old club's resolve |journal=Northern Echo |date=27 November 1889 |page=4}}</ref> The team played its first ever game against [[Gainsborough Trinity]] on 14 December 1889 at home, having recruited a squad of professionals mostly from Scottish clubs, including four from [[Arthurlie F.C.|Arthurlie]], three from [[Dundee]] clubs [[Dundee Harp F.C.|Harp]] and [[Dundee Strathmore F.C.|Strathmore]], and retaining some from Middlesbrough.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Middlesbrough new professional club |journal=North Star |date=11 December 1889 |page=4}}</ref> The match ended in a 1–1 draw, T. Seymour scoring the new club's first goal, an equalizer just before the break.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ironopolis 1; Gainsborough Trinity 1 |journal=Northern Echo |date=16 December 1889 |page=4}}</ref>

===League and Cup===
Middlesbrough Ironopolis played in the [[Northern League (football)|Northern League]] from 1890 to 1893, winning three consecutive titles.<ref>{{cite web |title=England - Northern League |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engnorthernleaghist.html |website=rsssf |access-date=13 February 2025}}</ref> In their first season, they reached the Fourth Qualifying Round of the [[FA Cup]], losing to [[Darlington F.C.|Darlington]].

Both the Washers and Middlesbrough came to realise their only real chance of gaining promotion to [[the Football League]] was through a reunion of the two teams. On 7 May 1892, after a meeting between the two clubs, an application to join the Football League was made under the name Middlesbrough and Ironopolis Football and Athletic Club.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Middlesbrough and Ironopolis clubs |journal=Yorkshire Herald |date=9 May 1892 |page=8}}</ref> The club received only one vote in its application to join the First Division, and did not enter the vote to join the [[Football League Second Division]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Football League - admission of Notts Forest |journal=Nottingham Guardian |date=21 May 1892 |page=3}}</ref> so the two original clubs split up once more.  The [[1892–93 FA Cup|next season]], Ironpolis had its best run in the FA Cup, losing to [[Preston North End]] in a quarter-final replay; in the original game, at the Paradise Ground, Preston played the second half with ten men due to injury, and McArthur scored a late equalizer for the home side to send the game into extra time, which could not split the sides.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ironopolis v Preston North End |journal=North Mail |date=20 February 1893 |page=6}}</ref>

Ironopolis applied to join the [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]] for the [[1893–94 in English football|1893–94]] season, and was originally unsuccessful in the vote; however, in August 1893, [[Accrington F.C.|Accrington]] resigned, and Ironpolis was invited to take its place.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Football League |journal=Birmingham Post |date=3 August 1893 |page=8}}</ref>  Competing in the league alongside them were [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]], [[Newcastle United]], and Woolwich Arsenal (now known simply as [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]]). Ironopolis finished 11th out of 15 clubs, recording wins against Small Heath (now [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]]), 3–0, and over Ardwick (now [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]]) 2–0. They played in total 28 games, won 8, drew 4, lost 16, scored 37 goals, conceded 72, and finished with 20 points.<ref>{{cite web |title=1893–94 |url=http://www.englishfootballstats.co.uk/League%20Tables/1893-94.htm |website=English Football Stats |access-date=13 February 2025}}</ref> The squad that season was: G. Watts; J. Elliott, Philip Bach; Thomas Seymour, Robert Chatt, R. Nicholson; J. Hill, Archibald M. Hughes, Thomas McCairns, P. Coupar, Wallace McReddie.

The club lost its stadium, the Paradise Ground, which was adjacent to Middlesbrough F.C.'s [[Ayresome Park]], at the end of the season. Its financial position was poor, as gate receipts did not cover the cost of players' wages and the costs of travelling to fixtures in distant parts of England. In February 1894 all the professional players were served notice of the plans to liquidate the team. The club's final game was a 1–1 draw against [[South Bank F.C.|South Bank]] on 30 April 1894.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ironopolis v South Bank |journal=Northern Echo |date=1 May 1894 |page=4}}</ref> Ironopolis resigned from the Football League the following month and disbanded.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Failure of a Middlesbrough tailor |journal=Northern Weekly Gazette County |date=22 September 1894 |page=8}}</ref> Ironopolis and [[Bootle F.C. (1879)|Bootle]] are the only two clubs to have spent a single season in the Football League.<ref>{{cite web|last=Yarden|first=Paul|title=Football Trivia Question of the Day May 2013 Archive.|url=http://www.myfootballfacts.com/Question_of_the_Day_May_2013.html|work=myfootballfacts.com|access-date=13 June 2013}}</ref>

==Seasons==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
!scope=col|Season
!scope=col|Division
!scope=col|{{Abbr|P|Played}}
!scope=col|{{Abbr|W|Won}}
!scope=col|{{Abbr|D|Drawn}}
!scope=col|{{Abbr|L|Lost}}
!scope=col|{{Abbr|F|Goals for}}
!scope=col|{{Abbr|A|Goals against}}
!scope=col|{{Abbr|Pts|Points}}
!scope=col|{{Abbr|Pos|Position}}
!scope=col|[[FA Cup]]
|-
!scope=row|[[1889–90 in English football|1889–90]]
|colspan=13|''Middlesbrough Ironopolis played only [[exhibition match|friendly]] matches''
|-
!scope=row|[[1890–91 in English football|1890–91]]
|[[1890–91 Northern Football League|Northern Football League]]||14||9||2||3||37||24||20||bgcolor="gold"|'''1st'''||[[1890–91 FA Cup|First round]]
|-
!scope=row|[[1891–92 in English football|1891–92]]
|[[1891–92 Northern Football League|Northern Football League]]||16||14||1||1||49||13||29||bgcolor="gold"|'''1st'''||[[1891–92 FA Cup|First round]]
|-
!scope=row|[[1892–93 in English football|1892–93]]
|[[1892–93 Northern Football League|Northern Football League]]||10||9||1||0||22||6||19||bgcolor="gold"|'''1st'''||[[1892–93 FA Cup|Quarter-finals]]
|-
!scope=row|[[1893–94 in English football|1893–94]]
|[[1893–94 Football League#Second Division|Football League Second Division]]||28||8||4||16||37||72||20||11th||[[1893–94 FA Cup|Second round]]
|}

==Name and colours==
The club was formed during the [[Second Industrial Revolution|late Victorian industrial boom]] and adopted the name "Ironopolis" ([[iron]]-city) partly to emphasise this (Middlesbrough was then a centre for iron and steel production; see [[Teesside Steelworks]]) and also to distinguish itself from the other local club, Middlesbrough F.C.

The club had three sets of colours in its brief history; initially a cardinal and green kit jersey, which had been Middlesbrough's colours in 1885–86.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Alcock |first1=Charles |title=Football Annual |date=1885 |publisher=Cricket Press |location=London |page=247}}</ref>  In 1891 it changed to cherry and white stripes (the racing colours of Alderman Weighell, who presented the club with its new shirts),<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ironopolis 2; Cambuslang 1 |journal=Northern Echo |date=5 January 1891 |page=4}}</ref> and in February 1893 altered the design to cherry with a white sash, worn for the first time in an [[FA Cup]] tie with [[Preston North End]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=English Challenge Cup - Third Round |journal=Yorkshire Herald |date=20 February 1893 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Moor |first1=Dave |title=Middlesbrough Ironopolis |url=https://www.historicalkits.co.uk/Middlesbrough_Ironopolis/Middlesbrough_Ironopolis.htm |website=Historical Football Kits |access-date=13 February 2025}}</ref>

==Ground==

The club played at the [[Paradise Ground]], a former [[rugby union]] pitch on Linthorpe Road, next to [[Ayresome Park]]; indeed part of the latter was later built over a corner of the Paradise pitch.<ref>{{cite web |title=Paradise Ground in Middlesbrough |url=https://www.oldvelodromes.co.uk/HTML%20tracks/405.html |website=Old Velodromes |access-date=13 February 2025}}</ref>

==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

==References==
<references />

==Sources==
* {{cite book | author=Dave Twydell | title=Rejected F.C. Volume 3 | publisher=Yore Publications| year=1995| isbn=1-87442-726-7}}
* [http://www.thisismiddlesbrough.com/history/History-of-Middlesbrough-FC.asp History of Middlesbrough FC]

==External links==
*{{cite web |url=http://members.aol.com/ironopolis/ |title=History of Middlesbrough Ironopolis |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080725015226/http://members.aol.com/ironopolis/ |archive-date = 2008-07-25}}

{{former football league members}}

[[Category:Association football clubs established in 1889]]
[[Category:Association football clubs disestablished in 1894]]
[[Category:English Football League clubs]]
[[Category:Defunct football clubs in North Yorkshire]]
[[Category:1889 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1894 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:Sport in Middlesbrough]]