Gitanos Football Club

 

Gitanos Football Club was an English association football club founded in 1864 and dissolved in 1881. The name "Gitanos," Spanish for "gypsies," reflected the club's early lack of a permanent home ground, leading them to play most of their matches away from home. In 1874, they secured a tenancy at Prince's Cricket Ground in Chelsea. 

 

The club primarily consisted of former students from Eton and Charterhouse schools, known as Old Etonians and Old Carthusians. Notable players included Arthur Kinnaird, Edgar Lubbock, and Albert Meysey-Thompson. ​

 

Gitanos F.C. participated in the inaugural FA Cup in 1873 but lost 3–0 to Uxbridge in the first round. Due to overlapping memberships with more prominent clubs like the Wanderers, many players opted to represent those teams in competitive matches, leading to a decline in Gitanos' prominence. The club gradually faded in the late 1870s and ceased playing after a match against Westminster School in January 1881. 

 

Their team colors were scarlet, violet, and white, arranged in broad hoops.

 

In 1891, an article in Fores's Sporting Notes reflected on the disappearance of early football clubs, mentioning Gitanos among the "old giants" that had faded from the sport.