{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Use British English|date=June 2015}} {{Infobox football club | clubname = Shepherd's Bush | fullname = Shepherd's Bush Football Club | nickname = The Bushmen | founded = 1880 | dissolved = 1915 | ground = Various, including Loftus Road | capacity = ? | pattern_la1=_white_stripes|pattern_b1=_whitestripes|pattern_ra1=_white_stripes|leftarm1=CC0000|body1=CC0000|rightarm1=CC0000|shorts1=000000|socks1=000000| }} '''Shepherd's Bush Football Club''' was an English football club based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, although they originally played in central and south London.
==History== The club was founded as '''Old St Stephen's FC''' in 1880 in Westminster,<ref name="qprlsa">{{cite web |url = http://www.qpr-lsa.co.uk/04sepoct.html |title = News September–October 2004 |work = QPR Loyal Supporters Association |accessdate = 2007-04-24 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20041208041520/http://www.qpr-lsa.co.uk/04sepoct.html |archivedate = 8 December 2004 |df = dmy-all }}</ref> although it soon moved out to play in Denmark Hill and Nunhead.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.peckhamsociety.org.uk/help/index.html | title=Help | work=The Peckham Society | accessdate=2007-04-23 | archive-date=3 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303201014/http://www.peckhamsociety.org.uk/help/index.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1892 the club was a founder member of the Southern Alliance, one of the first attempts at a league in southern England, and topped the table before the competition was abandoned before the 1892–93 season was out. In 1894 the club went on to become a founder member of the Southern League Second Division and finished third in its inaugural season; however the club lost a test match against Royal Ordnance Factories and did not achieve promotion to the First Division.<ref name="fchd1">{{cite web | url=https://www.fchd.info/O-ST-STE.HTM | title=Old St Stephen's | work=Football Club History Database | access-date=2007-04-23}}</ref>
The club continued to play in the Southern League under the Old St Stephen's name for another three seasons, never performing better than during its inaugural season.<ref name="fchd1"/> During this time, in 1895, it moved across London to Shepherd's Bush, playing on Shepherd's Bush Green itself,{{Citation needed|date=June 2007}} which was to host football at the 1908 Summer Olympics (linked article says this event took place at White City stadium). In 1898 Old St Stephen's merged with another local team to become '''Shepherd's Bush FC'''.<ref name="qprlsa"/> The club took Old St Stephen's place in the Southern League<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/engsouthernleaghist.html | title=England – Southern League Final Tables | work=RSSSF | accessdate=2007-04-23
}}</ref> and continued to play until the 1901–02 season.<ref name="fchd2">{{cite web | url=https://www.fchd.info/SHEPHERB.HTM | title=Shepherd's Bush | work=Football Club History Database | access-date=2007-04-23}}</ref>
Gaining the nickname of "the Bushmen", the club moved to Wormholt Farm, but when that site was threatened with development in 1904, Shepherd's Bush built and moved into the Loftus Road ground nearby, playing its first game there against Old Malvernians on 22 October 1904.<ref name="qprlsa"/> In 1907, the club joined the Spartan League, after winning the 1906–07 Great Western Suburban League,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/nlmnet/Regions_2/GWSL04.html|title=Great Western Suburban League 1904–1931|publisher=Non-League Matters|accessdate=17 February 2021}}</ref> and a year later the Isthmian League, where it played until the outbreak of World War I.<ref name="fchd2"/> [[File:Loftus Road.jpg|255px|thumb|Loftus Road as it is today]] During wartime, Shepherd's Bush F.C. was unable to play any further fixtures and disbanded in 1915.<ref name="qprlsa"/> In 1917, the ground, Loftus Road, was taken over by Queens Park Rangers, which continues to occupy it.<ref name="qprlsa"/>
==Colours==
The club's colours, from its Old St Stephen's days, were red and white vertical stripes.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Royal Ordnance |journal=Sporting Life |date=5 September 1895 |page=4}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book | title=Loftus Road Legacy: The History of the Shepherd's Bush Football Club | author=Trinder, Frances | publisher=Yore Publications | isbn=0954783018 | year=2004 }}
Category:Defunct football clubs in England Category:Association football clubs established in 1880 Category:Association football clubs disestablished in 1915 Category:Sport in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Category:Defunct football clubs in London Category:Southern Football League clubs Category:Isthmian League clubs Category:1880 establishments in England Category:1915 disestablishments in England Category:Shepherd's Bush Category:Great Western Suburban League