The club claimed a foundation date of 1873 and was certainly playing matches in the 1874–75 season.

In 1876-77 the club lost 2–0 to the Swifts in the first round; as local rivals Reading F.C.

had not entered the competition, two of the Reading players (Rogers and Marks) guested for the Hornets.

[3] The club had generally had a good season, with a win over Cup regulars Maidenhead[4] and no heavy defeats.

However a defeat against Reading in 1876 under acrimonious circumstances[5] saw key players leaving the Hornets for the more established club at the start of the 1877–78 season (including captain Gilbert Sillence),[6] and, after losing 10–0 to Maidenhead in the first round of the Cup (a tie so one-sided that the tenth goal was scored by the Maidenhead goalkeeper W. E. Lovegrove, who had come out of goal for the last ten minutes[7]) the club did not have enough players remaining to fulfil the next two fixtures which it had arranged.