Founded in 1866, the club were one of the 15 teams to play in the very first edition of the FA Cup in 1871–72;[1] they never won the competition but did reach the quarter-finals on four occasions.[2] They were also the inaugural winners of the London Senior Cup in 1882–83. Though resolutely an amateur club, they inadvertently sparked the legalisation of professionalism in the game after complaining about Preston North End's payments to players after the two met in the FA Cup in 1884; Preston were disqualified, but the incident made the FA confront the issue and, under threat of a breakaway, they allowed payments to players the following year.[3]
The club were wound up in 1887 but were resurrected four years later in 1891.[3] In 1892 they were founder members of the Southern Alliance, an early league competition amongst teams from southern England, but were bottom of the league with only one win to their name when the competition folded before the 1892–93 season ended.
Despite the obvious similarity of name to Upton Park stadium (officially known as the Boleyn Ground), the club had no connection with the ground and never played there; however there were formal links between Upton Park and West Ham United (then known as Thames Ironworks) and many players did play for both.[3] In addition, Upton Park's home games in West Ham Park attracted large crowds to their games, which may have influenced Thames Ironworks' decision to move to the area from Canning Town, where football was not as popular.[4]
An Upton Park team of 1900. That year the team won the Gold medal representing Great Britain at the Olympics
The Amateur Status Committee of the Football Association offered the club the opportunity to play in Paris at the inaugural Olympic Games. Records show that Upton Park were the first club to agree to play but were unlikely to be the first to be asked. Upton Park were not participating in a league at the time playing only cup games and friendlies. They had never reached the semi-final stage of the FA Amateur Cup and the competition was now in its seventh year.[5]
Upton Park won the competition in Paris, beating a USFSA XI representing France, 4–0.[6] Although a gold medal was not awarded to the side at the time (it being a demonstration sport), the IOC have since retrospectively awarded one.[7] The team that day (playing a 2–3–5 formation) was:
Upton Park continued to play until at least 1911, according to modern-day records.[9] The Upton Park Trophy, the annual playoff between the league champions of Guernsey and Jersey, is named for the Upton Park side, to commemorate their tenth annual tour of the islands, which they made in 1906.[11] In 2016, coinciding with West Ham United's move to the London Stadium, Upton Park were 'reformed' as an amateur club and staged the final game at the Boleyn Ground, against Royal Engineers.[12][13]
Upton Park FC was responsible for proposing two of the most important rule changes in the history of association football: in 1870, the club proposed abolishing all handling of the ball (previously, any player was allowed to catch the ball).[14][15] In 1871, the club introduced a proposal to create the special position of goalkeeper, who alone would be allowed to handle the ball.[16]
