Derived from former pupils of Harrow School, the club was involved in the formation of the FA Cup in 1871.

The club was formed in 1865, "consisting of Harrovians past and present",[2] and its first reported game was in November that year.

The club played in blue and white "chequers", the term used for quartered shirts at the time, the shade confirmed as dark in 1877, when inherited by the Old Harrovians.

In 1891, an article in Fores's Sporting Notes reviewed a copy of the 1874 Football Annual, which commented on the fact that clubs could come and go over time.

The 1874 annual listed less than 200 football clubs in all of England, and the author asked "what has become of such old giants as the Gitanos, Harrow Chequers, Pilgrims, and Woodford Wells.