History
While no one knows exactly when Gonville & Caius College first had an official football club, it is highly likely that members of the college were playing football on Parker's Piece in the mid-19th Century with other members of the university. Caius entered a team in the inaugural Cuppers tournament of 1882-1883, but took their place in history by entering the FA Cup in 1880-1881 and 1881-1882 as the only university team in the competition. The last year that Cambridge and Oxford university teams had entered was 1879-1880, the year in which Oxford finished as runners-up to Clapham Rovers. It was left to Caius to continue the Corinthian values of the amateur teams in the face of the impending dominance of professional clubs such as Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End. The challenge by Caius was not to be successful, with the team giving walkovers to Nottingham Forest in 1880 and Dreadnought in 1881. This was to mirror the end of an era for amateur clubs as the last year a university side competed in the 1st round of the FA Cup was the last year an amateur side would win the competition. The achievement of Caius has only been replicated once, in 2003, by Team Bath. Since 1881, Caius has only competed in intra-University competitions.
Read more about this topic: Gonville & Caius A.F.C.
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