The Royal Artillery have been playing football since the late 19th century. They lost 1-0 to Bishop Auckland in the 1896 Amateur Cup Final though two seasons later they went on to win the Southern League title. This team played all their matches in Portsmouth and were the first team to have Fratton Park as their home.
Much of their football played in the early 20th century was played by the three factions of the Gunners in their own right. The Royal Horse Artillery/Royal Field Artillery, Royal Garrison Artillery and the Royal Artillery all were very active in their own right.
Records show that the Gunners at Woolwich regularly played the Royal Engineers at Chatham; the earliest fixture took place in Chatham in 1895 though the result is not known. Although the two towns are just 26 miles apart it took the best part of a day to get there overland so the usual mode of transport was down the Thames by boat.
The three parts of the Artillery effectively functioned as separate corps until 1924, when the three amalgamated and became one regiment. Only then can the Gunners claim to have a represnetative side based on the organisation of today with games against the RAOC, The Durham Light Infantry and the Sappers.
The Gunners have a tenuous link with Arsenal FC so far as that in 1886 soldiers and worked at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich formed a football club initially known as Dial Square (named after the workshops in the heart of the complex), playing their first game on 11 December (a 6-0 victory over Eastern Wanderers) on the Isle of Dogs. Renamed Royal Arsenal two weeks later the club entered the professional football league as Woolwich Arsenal in 1893. They moved to north London in 1913. Royal Ordnance Factories FC was another successful team set up by soldiers of the Royal Arsenal but only lasted until 1896.
In March 1897 Aston Villa paid for William (Billy) George to be released from the Gunners; he went on to play for England. West Bromwich Albion did the same with Henry "John" Aston in 1902. He also went on to play for Aston Villa and England. Another was Stan Hanson, he played for Bolton Wanderers and he will be best remembered as the Bolton keeper in the Matthews' Cup Final of 1953. Significantly there is no record of Arsenal doing the same.
Currently in Massey Trophy terms the GUnners have won it once since the competition started in 1993/94 when they were victorious in 1997/98; they also reached the final of the Woolwich Cup in 2008 only to lose to the Sappers in extra time.