The club's first recorded match was a 2–1 win over a "scratch eleven" on 4 January 1864,[5] the scratch eleven being made up of other members of the club. The first genuine external match followed on 16 January, a 2–0 home win against the Montague Club.[6]
The club played the Blackheath Rugby Club under the latter's rules (similar to rugby, but with a different offside rule) in 1865, winning 4–0.[7] The biggest win was a 6–0 win for a C.C.C. thirteen against a 20-man Clapham side;[8] the club's most notable win was a 1–0 win over the Wanderers in a match played to Westminster School rules, helped by the Wanderers having to use substitutes (one of whom was C.C.C.'s Edward Tayloe) as only seven visiting players - albeit including Charles W. Alcock and Alexander Morten - turned up.[9]
The last reported match was on 18 March 1871, a 0–0 draw at home to Sydenham F.C., in which the club was "represented on this occasion by an exceptionally weak team".,[10] although the club was still active within the FA committees at this time, with captain P.V. Turner being on the committee to choose players for the unofficial internationals.[11]
The formation of the Clapham Rovers was a factor in the decline of C.C.C.; the club's captain and secretary in 1868, John Tayloe, was captain of the Rovers in the latter's first match in 1869.[12] In the 1869–70 season, the club only played seven matches, with three 0–0 draws, three 1–0 defeats, and scoring just the one goal, in a win over Brentwood School.[13] By 1871, although the C.C.C. boasted 76 members, the Rovers cluld claim over 100.[14] From 1872, two of the C.C.C. regulars were playing for the Civil Service F.C., others played for the original Crystal Palace club, and the remainder - including the Dealtry brothers, Soden, and Ker, who had played in the club's very first matches - retired from the game.
Colours
Until 1870 the club listed its colours as being a black velvet cap with a red tassel and red stockings.[15] In 1871 the club described its colours as red and black.[16]
