HISTORY
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PENZANCE AFC "THE MAGPIES" - FOUNDED 1888
A brief history of the Magpies
PENZANCE Association Football Club has enjoyed a long and proud 114 year history, being formed at the end of March, 1888.
At a meeting of 'Penzance Football Club', held in the town, it was announced that it was to become an Association Football Club by the start of the new season. This was the same year as the famous 12 of Accrington Stanley, Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Burnley, Derby County, Everton, Notts County, Preston North End, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers founded the Football League, and one year later the Magpies became founder members of the Cornwall County Football Association.
Although there had been soccer teams in Penzance many years before that historic year of 1888, they had not featured the word 'association'.
Penzance's first opponents in that first season of organised association football were drawn from the employees of the Eastern Telegraph Company, Porthcurno and a little farther afield at Truro.
By the end of the 19th century, Penzance had already made their mark on the county's football scene, this due to their unrivalled exploits in the Cornwall Senior Cup competition, that was first played for in the 1892/93 season. The Magpies became the first winners of the trophy, defeating Launceston 5-0 at Liskeard. They repeated that success in 1896, 1898, 1899, 1904, 1908, 1961, 1973 and most recently in 1981.
In 1948, Penzance celebrated a famous double, winning the Durning Lawrence Cornwall Charity Cup as well as the Cornwall Senior Cup. This feat was almost achieved again the following season, the Charity Cup was retained but they lost in the final of the Senior Cup, 2-0 to St Austell in front of what is believed to be a record crowd of 15,000.
Penzance's present home, the picturesque Penlee Park, is situated close to the seafront, and when opened by Sir Stanley Rous in August, 1952, it was heralded as one of the best football venues in the Westcountry.
The first visitors to Penlee Park were Luton Town, who beat the Magpies by ten goals to nil in a friendly. Penzance were founder members of the South Western League in 1951 and have remained in the league for 50 consecutive seasons since then, winning it on three occasions, in 1955/56, 1956/57 and 1974/75.
The club has been fortunate to welcome several illustrious visitors to the town in years gone by, including West Ham, Stoke City, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, AFC Bournemouth, Brentford, Corninthian Casuals, Wimbledon, Walthamstow Avenue, Plymouth Argyle, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool - and, in an unfortgettable Centenary season they enjoyed a unique distinction for a non-league club, playing host to the Champions of England (Liverpool) and Scotland (Glasgow Celtic) in 1988/89.
