N.N. Club

N.N. Club or N.N. Kilburn—N.N. standing for "No Names"^[1] —was an amateur English football club based in the Kilburn district of London.

N.N. Club, N.N. Kilburn

Full name	No Names Club
Nickname(s)	The Mudlarks
Founded	1863
Dissolved	1870
Ground	Edgware Road
Secretary	C. M. Green, J. H. Rushworth
Home colours

History

The club's first recorded matches were victories over Barnes F. C. in January and April 1863.^[2] It was one of the eleven founding sides of the Football Association on 26 October 1863,^[3] and was represented by club captain Arthur Pember, who was elected as the FA's first president.^[4]

Although the N.N.s enjoyed goodwill as an FA founder, and in 1866 was one of the mere three clubs that played exclusively Association laws,^[5] the club was never considered one of the elite clubs, and, after Arthur Pember's emigration in 1868,^[6] interest in the club dwindled. In the 1869–70 season, the club often had to play without new captain Tebbutt^[7] and by the time of the club's final reported match - a defeat by Upton Park FC on 5 February 1870 - only seven members turned up to play. ^[8]

The club sent a representative to the annual meeting of the Football Association that month, and two players in the first representative match between England and Scotland on 3 March 1870 (Alfred Baker and George Gordon) are listed as N.N. players, but subsequent published lists of fixtures fail to show any activity from the club and there are no further results for the club available.^[9] The club is absent from lists of Football Association members from 1871 onwards.^[10]

The Brondesbury club, founded in 1871, was considered a resurrection of N.N.^[11] and occasionally listed as Brondesbury N.N.^[12]

Colours

The club's colours were blue jerseys, with N.N. embroidered on the chest in red letters.^[13]

Ground

The club originally played in a field adjoining the Edgware Road in Kilburn, but did not play any home matches from December 1866 until the next season because it was frequently under water;^[14] in 1867 the club secured a pitch near St Mark's Church,^[15] a 10-minute walk from Edgware Road station.^[16][17] In 1869 it moved back to Edgware Road, adjoining the station.^[18]

Nickname

The club's nickname of the Mudlarks came from the poor state of its original Edgware Road ground,^[19] described as a "mire".^[20]

See also

• N.N. Club players

References

1. "Barnes v N. N.". Bell's Life in London: 3. 6 February 1864.
2. "Football". Bell's Life in London: 7. 12 April 1863.
3. Harvey, Adrian (2005). Football, the First Hundred Years: The Untold Story of the People's Game. Routledge. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-415-35018-1.
4. "Meeting of Captains". Bell's Life in London: 10. 31 October 1863.
5. Along with Barnes and Crystal Palace: Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle (2288): 7. 24 February 1866.
6. Brown, Paul. "Arthur Pember's Code". What A Howler. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
7. "NNs 3-1 Old Bradfield". Sportsman: 3. 11 January 1870.
8. "match report". Sportsman: 3. 10 February 1870.
9. e.g. "Fixtures for March". Sportsman (773). London: 4. 17 March 1870.
10. Brown, Tony (2011). The Football Association 1863-1883: A Source Book. Nottingham: Soccerdata. p. 52. ISBN 9781905891528.
11. "news". Sportsman: 3. 1 November 1871.
12. "match report". Sportsman: 3. 23 December 1871.
13. Alcock, Charles (1868). John Lillywhite's Football Annual. Euston Square: John Lillywhite and Kent & Co. p. 79.
14. "No Names v Victoria Rifles". Sportsman: 4. 25 December 1866.
15. "match report". The Field. 7 December 1867.
16. "No Names v Barnes". Sportsman: 3. 16 November 1867.
17. Alcock, Charles (1868). John Lillywhite's Football Annual. Euston Square: John Lillywhite and Kent & Co. p. 79.
18. Alcock, Charles (1869). Football Annual. p. 50.
19. "match report". The Field. 7 December 1867.
20. "Wanderers v N. N.". Bell's Life: 3. 9 December 1865.