MONTHLY ROUND-UP: JULY 1867
July ends with Angel Islington now a game ahead at the top of the Metropolitan League standings, after they won all three of their games this month. To their great frustration, they were not able to take that strong form into the important games against championship rivals The Regent’s Park and the Old Westminsters, as both of those games were postponed. The only game between two title contenders which was played saw the Old Westminsters defeat the Regents 2-0, only to undo that good work with defeat against the City of London Club.
It wasn’t the best month for the Regents as they were also beaten by Clapham, but they still sit in second place, just one game behind Angel. The Westminsters are one further back, with an ever growing gap between the first three and the last three in the standings. The City of London Club come next after a better month which brought three wins and two defeats, while Kensington lost four out of five. Their only win was against Clapham, which keeps them one game ahead of Clapham who sit last.
Also announced this month were the identities of the two teams who will join the Metropolitan League when it grows to eight teams next year. Four clubs applied and a vote was taken of the six member clubs, each of whom had two votes to cast. As was widely expected, all six voted for the Meridian Club of Greenwich, who were elected unanimously. The second votes were split between the other three applicants, but it was the team based at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich who won the day, as they had the support of three clubs. The Hackney club made a strong bid but received just two votes, while Lambeth earned just one as many clubs were concerned about the small size of their home field.
