founder of hotspur fc...

[ZoC]

hi all

i'm doing some research about the history of thfc but am getting conflicting information re: the great man who actually founded the club...

according to wiki the honour goes to a chap called "e l sprylions" but according to other sources the man responsible is "john ripsher"; both are credited as being the bible class teacher from all hallows church, behind bruce castle....

meanwhile other sources list the names of the founders as:

"J. Anderson, T. Anderson, E. Beaven, R. Buckle, H.D. Casey, L.R. Casey, F. Dexter, S. Leaman, J.H. Thompson (jun), P. Thompson and E. Wall."

but these were presumably the grammar school boys (and members of the hotspur cricket club) who attended the bible class and who wanted to get together during the winter months to play football...

so can anyone shed any light? was it sprylions or ripsher who organised these boys to become the now famous football club?

 

[sammyspurs]

Ripsher........or was it Sprylions....

 

[ZoC]

odd that there should be this confusion... the two names aren't mentioned anywhere together on the internet. i thought maybe they had different roles within the church.... or maybe ripsher took over from sprylions... but it's got me stumped.

i mean, the guy ought to be quite an important personage in tottenham folklore.

 

[Schoolboy'sOwnStuff]

odd that there should be this confusion... the two names aren't mentioned anywhere together on the internet. i thought maybe they had different roles within the church.... or maybe ripsher took over from sprylions... but it's got me stumped.

i mean, the guy ought to be quite an important personage in tottenham folklore.

Zoc, where have you been?

Church records are really good. There should be an archive somewhere.

I think Danny Kelly looked into this a few years ago and found the grave of the founder. I think.

 

[ZoC]

odd that there should be this confusion... the two names aren't mentioned anywhere together on the internet. i thought maybe they had different roles within the church.... or maybe ripsher took over from sprylions... but it's got me stumped.

i mean, the guy ought to be quite an important personage in tottenham folklore.

Zoc, where have you been?

yo bro! i've given up on modern footie and decided to focus on the past... 1882 and all that!

Church records are really good. There should be an archive somewhere.

I think Danny Kelly looked into this a few years ago and found the grave of the founder. I think.

cheers. i'm gonna visit the church; and also bruce castle and see wot i can dig up... i'm pretty sure danny kelly would have been talking about ripsher; who was buried in dover... here's his grave...

he's called the 'first president'.... which again leaves us in doubt as to whether he was the actual founder.

 

[Schoolboy'sOwnStuff]

odd that there should be this confusion... the two names aren't mentioned anywhere together on the internet. i thought maybe they had different roles within the church.... or maybe ripsher took over from sprylions... but it's got me stumped.

i mean, the guy ought to be quite an important personage in tottenham folklore.

Zoc, where have you been?

yo bro! i've given up on modern footie and decided to focus on the past... 1882 and all that!

Church records are really good. There should be an archive somewhere.

I think Danny Kelly looked into this a few years ago and found the grave of the founder. I think.

cheers. i'm gonna visit the church; and also bruce castle and see wot i can dig up... i'm pretty sure danny kelly would have been talking about ripsher; who was buried in dover... here's his grave...

[ Image ]

he's called the 'first president'.... which again leaves us in doubt as to whether he was the actual founder.

That's probably the one. He found the grave that was in terrible condition and had found that the club has forgotten him. He got in contact with the club and they honoured him with a new headstone. Hence the modern badge. I think.

 

[ZoC]

yep... but notice the gravestone says he was the first president between 1883 to 1894. but the club was founded a year earlier, in 1882.

so that indicates ripsher wasn't necessarily the actual 'founder'... or the grave would have said as such, surely.

 

[Abbey Yid]

As far as I can tell, there isn't one "founder" - obviously the "founding members" were the original players of Hotspur FC (named in a post above). That came in 1882, before in 1883 the club was "reorganized" and John Ripsher became the first ever club president.

To me, it seems as if E L Sprylions was the guy who said "hey let's make a football team" with the 11 boys, and John Ripsher was the first president who actually began to make the club official.

 

[ZoC]

As far as I can tell, there isn't one "founder" - obviously the "founding members" were the original players of Hotspur FC (named in a post above). That came in 1882, before in 1883 the club was "reorganized" and John Ripsher became the first ever club president.

To me, it seems as if E L Sprylions was the guy who said "hey let's make a football team" with the 11 boys, and John Ripsher was the first president who actually began to make the club official.

yep... i think you're probably right. interestingly, both men (ripshaw and sprylions) are said to have been the bible class teacher at the church.

 

[Abbey Yid]

That's probably the one. He found the grave that was in terrible condition and had found that the club has forgotten him. He got in contact with the club and they honoured him with a new headstone. Hence the modern badge. I think.

As far as i've read, Ripsher moved to Dover once he parted with Tottenham and died with no nearby family or money, so was given an unmarked grave at one of those city/state burial sites (can't remember the official name - pauper's burial).

EDIT: And i'm not entirely sure who Danny Kelly is. I was just brushing up on my reading and found it was a guy named Peter Lupson who did the research and tracked down the unmarked grave.

 

[Schoolboy'sOwnStuff]

That's probably the one. He found the grave that was in terrible condition and had found that the club has forgotten him. He got in contact with the club and they honoured him with a new headstone. Hence the modern badge. I think.

As far as i've read, Ripsher moved to Dover once he parted with Tottenham and died with no family or money, so was given an unmarked grave at one of those city/state burial sites (can't remember the official name).

That sounds about right.

 

[Abbey Yid]

As far as I can tell, there isn't one "founder" - obviously the "founding members" were the original players of Hotspur FC (named in a post above). That came in 1882, before in 1883 the club was "reorganized" and John Ripsher became the first ever club president.

To me, it seems as if E L Sprylions was the guy who said "hey let's make a football team" with the 11 boys, and John Ripsher was the first president who actually began to make the club official.

yep... i think you're probably right. interestingly, both men (ripshaw and sprylions) are said to have been the bible class teacher at the church.

On the "All Hallows" wiki page, it says the Sprylions was "of the All Hallows Bible Class" whereas another source mentions how "they asked John Ripsher, known to many of them as the Bible Class teacher from the nearby All Hallows Church, for his help".

I think the terminology used for the passage of Sprylions indicates he may not have been the teacher at All Hallows, but was involved in another role.

 

[S.L.R]

What Abbey said sounds plausible. It corroborates something I read on MEHSTG, that Ripsher joined the club in the second season and became president, but that Sprylions started the idea of the club.

 

[Abbey Yid]

Seen this? I think it mentions Ripsher, but I'm on
my phone and can't really see.

http://livesite1.spurs.autonomycloud.co ... m_ar07.pdf

Has a timeline similar to that on the OS, mentions 1882 as
"Club formed by boys from Hotspur Cricket Club and from he local grammar school. The name of "Hotspur FC" was adopted."

1883 then states "Club reorganised under the presidency of John Ripsher."

Rest of the file goes through financial and important business-y stuff. I do love this subject though, it's fascinating to try to track something like this down. Great way to kill some time!

 

[Schoolboy'sOwnStuff]

Seen this? I think it mentions Ripsher, but I'm on
my phone and can't really see.

http://livesite1.spurs.autonomycloud.co ... m_ar07.pdf

Has a timeline similar to that on the OS, mentions 1882 as
"Club formed by boys from Hotspur Cricket Club and from he local grammar school. The name of "Hotspur FC" was adopted."

1883 then states "Club reorganised under the presidency of John Ripsher."

Rest of the file goes through financial and important business-y stuff. I do love this subject though, it's fascinating to try to track something like this down. Great way to kill some time!

I actually have this report on my desk from when I was a shareholder (a gift). I use it as a mouse mat.

 

[Flav]

Ripsher has family.

 

[ZoC]

thank for all the help in clearing things up, everyone.

 

[78Spur]

I now feel tempted to alter our wikipedia page and say we were founded by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, just to see if anyone buys it!!

Seriously ,some very impressive research there and it's good to see this club's modest beginnings aren't being forgotten.

 

[57 varieties]

thank for all the help in clearing things up, everyone.

try here fella for more info!!
its a e-book about the history of spurs from the beginning in 1881 with some wonderful newsprint from books & newspapers of the day &
is fantastically interesting

http://www.spurshistory.com/index.html

 

[Abbey Yid]

This is a fantastic read, no idea how i've not stumbled into it in the past.

To answer the original question; the founders were (as named by one of the original founders):
J. Anderson
T. Anderson
E. Beaven
R. Buckle (captain)
H. D. Casey (vice-captain)
L. R. Casey (treasurer)
F. Dexter
S. Leaman
J. H. Thompson Jnr. (secretary)
P. Thompson
E. Wall