First Played: 1992-3
Win Rate: 50% (from 2 games)
We didn’t spend that much time with Windsor & Eton. And we won’t be adding to it either after the Royalists folded in 2011. Well, we say folded. The semantics may come into play here; the Berkshire club made to quit the Southern League when the High Court wound them up. Our role in their story? Well, it was very much an ickle, bit part one; coming up against them during the 1992-3 Diadora League Premier Division campaign. After that, our paths went in very different directions.
The origin of the Royalists’ tale is the year 1892. It started when Windsor Phoenix and Windsor St Albans decided to pool their resources; the new club signing up to the Southern Alliance – before then agreeing to merge with Windsor Victoria a year later. It would seem that, at this time, the club’s name featured the word ‘Temperance’ at the end. But that was binned in 1902 to the plain old name that we ultimately came to know them by.
Why the Royalists? Well, it’s not down to their locale. OK – it sort of is. But the reason is that a man called Prince Christian was linked to the club. King George V and King George VI were patrons of the club, along with the Duke of Edinburgh. So, the nickname is due to their very privileged connections. Not that it’d put them in favour with the footballing fraternity. The club would forever be a non-league one. And success is not something that immediately springs to mind when thinking about them.
On the matter of honours, the Royalists did win the Athenian League twice at the start of the 1980s. They also rose up through the Isthmian League during the 1980s too; promoted from Division Two in 1983 and champions of Division One in 1984 to reach the Premier Division. Nine years, and a best finish of seventh, was their return from their time at that level. Easy come, easy go though. When we met them in the 1992-3 season in the Premier Division, they were just about to be relegated two years in succession.
| Pl | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts* | WR% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 50% |
| Home | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0% |
| Away | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 100% |
| League | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 50% |
| Cup | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0% |
* league points only
| No Players |
© BoroGuide 2002-present
