Author: johndewhirst

‘How Football Began: A Global History of How the World’s Football Codes Were Born’ by Tony Collins (Routledge, 2018), softback £19.99

Tony Collins is a prolific author having originally established his reputation recording the history of Rugby League and then Rugby Union, followed by narrating the global spread of rugby. His latest book investigates the origins of football in the nineteenth century and how different codes evolved through the Anglophone world to become a global phenomenon, all the more remarkable for the fact that each of the principal codes emerged within the space of a generation in the third quarter of the nineteenth century.

Sports histories have traditionally focused on single codes and historians have tended to overlook the parallels and similarities in different sports. In Bradford for instance, those interested in the history of the city’s association football clubs have tended to neglect the history of rugby football. Rugby League supporters have been equally dismissive of Rugby Union. It is all the more surprising given that in Bradford the two senior football clubs changed codes not once, but twice from Rugby Union to and then from the Northern Union to become ‘soccer’ clubs.

Collins highlights the fact that for the Victorians, football was a single game played under different rules. Newspapers and the public alike referred to football whether played with an oval or round ball and in West Yorkshire, rugby was commonly known as football (and football as soccer) prior to World War One. It is a crucial but fundamental observation that encourages new perspectives about the origins of soccer and rugby, encouraging a different interpretation of how football in the widest sense became commercialised to become an industry in itself. At a stroke Collins also shatters the longstanding myth that Sheffield FC (established in 1857) should be credited as pioneers of association football by pointing out that the club regularly played games according to rugby rules until as late as 1876. Similarly Collins highlights the influence of cricket clubs and cricket culture upon the formation of footballing sides – a good example of which is Bradford FC whose formation in 1863 was linked to Bradford Cricket Club on whose ground ‘football’ was first played. Indeed I can attest that in Bradford, cricket provided the DNA for organised sport.

In fact Collins could have added that the Victorians originally regarded football as merely another branch of athleticism and that during the 1860s there were other activities – among them gymnastics, assaults at arms, athletics, rowing, swimming and from 1868, cycling – that young men began to dabble with. Again in Bradford there is evidence that each of these, as well as football, became subject to the whims of fashion among those who had the time or money to indulge. The conclusion I have derived was that around this time there was considerable enthusiasm to experiment and in Bradford, cricket was considered distinctly passe. Notable also was the fact that membership of the Rifle Volunteers had also become popular after the launch of the movement in 1859 and not only did this encourage a passion for soldiering but athleticism as well. The example of Bradford clearly demonstrates that people were receptive to sporting activity and that a form of pent-up demand helped drive the explosive growth of football.

There is a strong case to be made that any history of the origins of sport has to be written bottom-up, based around an understanding of what happened in individual towns. Collins does this admirably with chapters in respect of Sheffield, Glasgow as well as Melbourne. Inevitably I am inclined to compare my knowledge of the experience in Bradford with what happened elsewhere. Broadly speaking it accords to the narrative at a national level although there were notable local characteristics that defined the course of events. As I have written in Room at the Top, it was the topography of Bradford and a shortage of flat areas suitable for playing sport that proved a critical factor and one that also ensured that soccer was crowded out for so long. Collins cites the church, the workplace and the pub as important drivers of the democratisation of football but gives no mention of the influence of the Rifle Volunteer movement and a notional commitment to charitable giving that proved significant in shaping Bradford sport. (NB In Bradford the influence of organised religion was limited.) Collins might also have mentioned that if Bradford is anything to go by, it was the influence of local personalities and so-called physical aesthetes – such as John Nunn – who were significant in promoting the cult of athleticism and with it making people open to new pastimes such as football.

Whilst Collins brings valuable insight into the origins of football, in my opinion there is another perspective that is lacking from his version of events. I might add that he betrays his RL heritage with his class-based narrative, in particular relating to the thorny issue of professionalism – the apparent raison d’etre of the Rugby League. In particular I am not entirely convinced by the suggestion that RFU opposition to professionalism was a form of ‘proxy for wider concerns about the rise of the working class’. What I consider to be missing is the perspective of an economic historian to explain how it was that sports clubs transformed themselves into businesses which in turn became members – and competitors – in an emergent industry. It was the conduct of the Bradford and Manningham football clubs as competing businesses which was the defining theme from my own findings into what happened in Bradford in the nineteenth century and it is this which offers an altogether different interpretation to the commercialisation of sport. The ascendancy of soccer over rugby by the end of the nineteenth century, like that of rugby over cricket a quarter of a century before can essentially be likened to the outcome of business cycles, the growth then maturity and decline curve of industries. That association football has succeeded in continually reinventing itself is another discussion but testament to the strong foundations and global reach established pre-World War One that Collins describes.

Given the explosive growth of football, one is tempted to look for a Big Bang moment of evolution, the stage at which creatures emerged from the oceans. Collins identifies cup competition as having been the catalyst – and in the case of Yorkshire football he cites the Yorkshire Challenge Cup (rugby) competition which began in 1877/78. But equally significant was how football clubs began monetising their activities and of how they persuaded people to pay to watch. This was the moment when football went from being dependent upon the supply of enthusiastic participants to the demand of potential spectators. For sure, cup competition set events in motion but it needed football clubs to have the necessary structures in place to become commercial entities. Adaptation to the new environment required business behaviours, the equivalent of former sea creatures now having to breathe oxygen. It was not simply footballers who facilitated the commercialisation of sport but administrators, club officials and emergent ruling bodies at a local level and this was not something that came out of nowhere. In this regard the example of Bradford shows how significant was the role of cricket in having already defined a commercial operating model that could be adopted and adapted by football.

Thus it seems incompatible for Collins to talk of sport being commercialised yet giving minimal reference to how sports clubs operated as commercial organisations. Besides, looking at football clubs as businesses offers alternative insights. The issue of professionalism for example can be seen as one concerned with wage control and profit management rather than necessarily about attempts to exclude working men from playing the game. An understanding of the profit motive likewise helps explain how clubs organised themselves and made decisions. Collins recognises that league structures came about for the purpose of optimising the profits of participant clubs but fails to acknowledge that in the north of England – and most certainly in Bradford – it was the economic implications of professionalism that carried more weight than any deep-rooted commitment to look after the interests of working men by paying them a wage. Furthermore, the leadership of the two senior Bradford clubs at Park Avenue and Valley Parade respectively were firmly Conservative (One Nation) in outlook.

My own study of Bradford confirms that the Northern Union’s emphasis on class identity (later inherited by the Rugby League) emerged only when that sport was facing the damaging impact of competition from professional soccer such that it sought to position itself as the authentic game of the people. Arguably this longstanding interpretation of RL history is contradicted by what happened in Bradford (and other northern towns) where working men continued to play Rugby Union and resisted the suggestion of throwing in their lot with the Northern Union until faced with the impending bankruptcy of their clubs. Junior sides in Bradford were unambiguous in their antipathy to the Northern Union after its formation in 1895 (which they regarded as a cartel established at their expense) and arguably had more in common with fellow Rugby Union sides based in leafy Surrey than the economic behemoth, Bradford FC on their doorstep at Park Avenue.

There is a temptation to view the Victorian sporting era as one of sportsmanship and pre-capitalist purity yet nothing could be further from the truth. Newspaper readers in the 1890s were equally aghast as their modern counterparts when informed about spiralling wage costs and football clubs veering perilously close to insolvency. Gambling was also endemic. And to suggest that this was a golden age of sportsmanship in England is wishful thinking. Returning again to class relations, there were good reasons why a team represented by sedentary middle class lawyers or businessmen should not relish the prospect of playing rugby against a team of manual labourers or miners.

Football was a dog eat dog world and the economic losers were equally as significant as the winners. Collins refers to the turnover of clubs and a high failure rate among early pioneers such that of the 32 clubs in the Football League in 1896 only eight had been formed before 1871 and of those only five were still in existence in 1901. A means by which clubs achieved economic advantage was through investment in grandstands and stadia that helped to redefine existing relationships and inequalities between them. This was evident first hand in Bradford after the development of Park Avenue in 1880 such that by the end of the decade the Bradford town club was reputedly one of the richest in Great Britain alongside Aston Villa. Yet by the end of the 1890s it would be overtaken by the wealth of those such as Everton and despite conversion to soccer in 1907, history records that the formerly pioneering Bradford FC remained very much a follower and overtaken by its former rugby rival Manningham FC who became Bradford City AFC in 1903.

My observations above do not detract from the opinion that How Football Began is a real tour de force and one deserving of wider readership beyond those with an academic interest. A strength of the publication is that it will encourage debate and the challenging of long established truths that have been taken for granted about the origins of football. The accompanying podcasts by Collins confirm that the punchy chapters are well suited to a radio or maybe even a TV series. Undoubtedly there is sufficient to capture public interest.

What distinguishes How Football Began is the sheer scope of its coverage and there are other dimensions that make it a unique publication. Collins’ style is very impressive, taking the reader across the continents with ease whilst also pausing to reflect on the fact that womens football never gained momentum. His chapter on womens football provides the sort of understanding that the vast majority of traditional football supporters (myself included) lack. To what extent the FA discriminated on the basis of misogyny as opposed to what it may have seen as a threat to the national game from the promotion of womens football as a spectacle for titillation and mockery is difficult to say. Either way it does not look good in the rear view mirror.

To be able to trace the parallel historical development of football in different continents is a considerable scholarly achievement. Again it is fascinating to make connections not just between the different codes but also geographies. Collins convincingly demonstrates the common origin as well as the similar growing pains of the different football codes in Australia, North America and Ireland (the common denominator of which was finance, again highlighting the need for this theme to be afforded prominence). He thus contradicts the efforts of the various codes to differentiate themselves as distinct and unique. In so doing I can’t help but think that How Football Began is capable of great mischief across the Atlantic. Whilst he credits the seminal influence of the British and the role of ex-pats who became sporting missionaries, he also highlights the influence of sporting culture in Melbourne, Australia and the manner in which Gaelic and Australian Rules football came to represent a nationalist identity as a counter to that of Imperial Britain. Football became a significant British cultural export not only across the Empire but in South America and Collins touches on how the game fascinated European visitors (in particular Germans) who launched their own clubs at home.

All told I warmly endorse this publication and can only encourage people to buy it. You can’t ask much more from a book that it should be original, engaging and thought provoking. As with all Tony’s other publications you get this in abundance and I look forward to the sequel.

John Dewhirst

I have written widely about the history of sport in Bradford and you will find various features on this blog.

My two most recent books, ROOM AT THE TOP and LIFE AT THE TOP narrate the origins of sport in Bradford and its subsequent development. Further details can be found at: BANTAMSPAST HISTORY REVISITED BOOKS

The following is a summary link of online Articles by John Dewhirst on the history of Bradford sport

Published in the BCAFC programme v Northampton Town on 13th January, 2018

On Saturday, 8 January, 1938 all three of the senior Bradford clubs played at home and their games were watched by a total of just under 38,000 people. At Valley Parade there were 13,088 spectators to witness City’s FA Cup Third Round tie against Chesterfield; at Park Avenue, 12,700 to see the Third Round tie against Newport County; and at Odsal, 12,000 watched Bradford Northern. Whilst there would have been away supporters in attendance, it is unlikely to have been a significant number such that it could reasonably be said 35,000 Bradfordians were seeing their teams in action.
Yet it was not the highest gathering of football followers in Bradford. That was on 15 February, 1936 when a total of 57,980 attended the Fifth Round FA Cup games in the city – 33,927 at Valley Parade to see the tie with Derby County and 24,053 at Park Avenue to see that with Spurs.
The statistics are notable by way of illustrating the extent to which the three clubs competed for spectators and diluted the available catchment. It was a factor that undermined the finances of each organisation and goes a long way to explain the fate of Bradford soccer in the twentieth century.
For much of the 1920’s, it had been Bradford RFC – the amateur side at Lidget Green – who commanded the interest of rugby enthusiasts and it was not until Bradford Northern relocated from Birch Lane to Odsal that attendances were boosted, arguably at the expense of soccer.
City had traditionally been the better supported of the two soccer clubs but there tended to be a good number of people who floated between them according to the fixtures. Many had been disgruntled with the policy of the Bradford City directors to sell a number of the club’s leading players, considered a contributory factor to relegation to Division Three (North) in 1937. Of course City remained in exile from the higher divisions until 1985.
Not surprisingly given the status of Bradford (PA) as members of Division Two, gates at Park Avenue had been higher during 1937/38. Yet whilst it may have been unexpected that the attendance for the cup game at Valley Parade should exceed the crowd at Park Avenue, it came down to the draw – a potential giant-killing against second division Chesterfield was probably more appealing than Avenue’s tie with lower division opposition. Nevertheless, those attending Park Avenue would have considered the home side’s 7-4 victory more entertaining than City’s 1-1 draw and Bradford went on to reach the Fifth Round whilst the Paraders were eventually defeated by Chesterfield.
The gates at Valley Parade and Park Avenue that day were above the average for those attending league games in 1937/38 and for City in particular, it provided welcome respite to the club’s finances. The economics of two Bradford clubs was based on a decent cup run and bumper derby gates. With 19,005 having watched the clash at Park Avenue in August, 1936 and 28,236 the return game at Valley Parade in December, 1936 the revenues were significant. The loss of the derby fixture further compounded the problems at Valley Parade where average crowds dropped from 10,046 in 1936/37 to 6,011 in 1937/38 although it is notable that despite the loss of the derby game, average attendances at Park Avenue increased from 10,424 to 11,111 with the benefit of ‘floaters’.
NB Contrary to what has been quoted in the press, it is a myth and an idle claim that there were regular crowds of 35,000 at Park Avenue. Had there been, the ground would not now be derelict nor attracting archaeologists and botanists. Indeed, the record attendance at the ground was 32,810 and on only five other occasions did crowds ever exceed 30,000.

John Dewhirst

John has written widely about the history of sport in Bradford: Articles by John Dewhirst on the history of Bradford sport

Elsewhere on this blog you can find his programme articles from earlier games this season and last.

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Details here about the new bantamspast History Revisited book by Jason McKeown and other volumes in the same series: BANTAMSPAST HISTORY REVISITED BOOKS

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Discover more about Bradford football history at www.bradfordsporthistory.com

The article was published in the BCAFC programme v Fleetwood on 26th September, 2017

In relation to clubs in other parts of the country – West Yorkshire aside – Bradford City, formed as recently as 1903 is a decidedly modern club lacking the nineteenth century pedigree of those as diverse as Blackburn Rovers, Notts County, Reading, Southampton, Sheffield United or Walsall. When it came to soccer, Bradford was left behind in terms of what was happening elsewhere and West Yorkshire remained a rugby stronghold until the beginning of the twentieth century.
My research has identified that the first competitive rugby match to have been played by a Bradford team (in this case, Bradford FC) was in February, 1867. Manningham FC (predecessor to Bradford City AFC) was established in 1880, the same year that Park Avenue was opened.

The first soccer match in the town was an exhibition game at Park Avenue between representatives of Blackburn Rovers and Blackburn District on 16 September, 1882. It proved enormously significant to the direction in which sport developed in Bradford that this game seemingly made little impact on public opinion.

In March, 1882 the FA Cup semi-final between Sheffield Wednesday and Blackburn Rovers had been staged at Fartown, Huddersfield (a rugby ground) and with the fixture in Bradford six months later it is evidence of a deliberate attempt to promote soccer in West Yorkshire at the time.

The game of association football was a curtain raiser to the new rugby season (with the first rugby fixture taking place a fortnight later) and it provided an opportunity to gauge public reaction to soccer in Bradford. There was a good chance that the code could have been introduced alongside rugby at Park Avenue as an alternative option for the public. The event can thus be identified as a decisive moment in the history of ‘football’ (a term applied to both rugby and association rules) in the district.

Blackburn Rovers won the match, 5-1 but what is bizarre is that accounts of the game were contradictory about its success. A number of newspapers reported the disinterest of the Bradford crowd, others the enthusiasm of spectators.

The only explanation to reconcile the alternative versions is that there was a deliberate attempt at misinformation or false news, evidence that certain people sought to eliminate the possibility of association football gaining a foothold in the area. Indeed, it was a criticism during the course of the next twenty years that the rugby establishment in West Yorkshire sought to suffocate, if not control, the emergence of association football.

By 1884 there was no commercial reason to justify a switch from rugby to association football in Bradford with rugby well-established, attracting unprecedented crowds and Bradford FC winners of the Yorkshire Cup. By 1890 Bradford FC would be one of the richest sports clubs in England. The Football Association did not stage another semi-final in West Yorkshire (although in 1897 there were rumours about Park Avenue or Headingley being utilised). It is a tantalising thought that if history had taken a different course Bradford FC could have been a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and one of the leading soccer clubs in the country. Manningham FC might then have become the town’s principal rugby club and Bradford City AFC might never have been.

John Dewhirst
John has written widely about the history of sport in Bradford: Articles by John Dewhirst on the history of Bradford sport

Elsewhere on this blog you can find his programme articles from earlier games this season and last.

===============================================================

Details here about the new bantamspast History Revisited book by Jason McKeown and other volumes in the same series: BANTAMSPAST HISTORY REVISITED BOOKS

The 6th volume in the series, LATE TO THE GAME  features the origins of soccer in Bradford

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Discover more about Bradford football history at www.bradfordsporthistory.com

A HISTORY OF BRADFORD CITY AFC IN OBJECTS

My article in the BCAFC match day programme v Wycombe, 25-Aug-18

Among the new range of retro souvenirs in the City Shop this season is a t-shirt featuring the programme cover from March, 1922 for the Bradford City v Sunderland fixture which was in the club’s final season in the old Division One.

Bradford City had been promoted to the first tier as Division Two champions in 1908 and spent a total of ten seasons in Division One: 1908-15 and then 1919-22 (punctuated by the abandonment of League competition during World War One).

Issues from that season are pretty rare for which there are a number of explanations. The first is that few programmes were likely to have been sold and probably no more than a thousand printed for each game. In turn this could be explained by levels of disposable income but also the fact that the content was limited and arguably poor value for money. Indeed, in contrast to the standard of City’s pre-war programmes the content was very basic and the editorials limited. Unsold programmes would have been destroyed but the club is unlikely to have purchased excess stocks. However I believe the principal reason why few of these programmes appear to have survived can be explained by the standard of the paper.

The aftermath of war witnessed major paper shortages, a phenomenon repeated after World War Two. Paper was not only in short supply but expensive as well. The quality of commercial printing paper was also poor. Inevitably this would have forced economies for Bradford City AFC – like other clubs – in the production of a match day programme. In comparison to the programmes issued before the war, those in the 1920s were printed on lower grades of paper and had fewer pages. Unless the original programme had been bound or preserved at the time of purchase, few are likely to have survived intact or been retained. Of course had people known that they were purchasing a future antiquity they might have taken more care but most spectators would have regarded a programme as ephemeral and not for keeping.

In my book, A HISTORY OF BCAFC IN OBJECTS I write about the history of the City programme and offer the suggestion that the standard of the City programme has historically been a very good indicator of the financial health of the club. Economies in the production of programmes were invariably a first resort at Valley Parade when times were tough, even to the point of cutting the number of staples!

Despite the austerity flavour of the 1921/22 publication, what continued to characterise the City programme was the adoption of pen and ink hand drawn sketches on the front cover, a tradition that dated to before World War One. In this instance the player is drawn in the old yoke shirt design that had been worn at the time of the 1911 FA Cup Final and the stand design in the background is based loosely on the original Midland Road stand. It’s a good sketch and the new t-shirts on sale look great!

John Dewhirst

John’s book A HISTORY OF BCAFC IN OBJECTS is on sale in the City Shop. In future issues of The Parader he will feature objects that tell the history of the club. If you have a City artefact in your possession that you would like him to feature or provide background about, contact him at johnpdewhirst at gmail dot com or tweets @jpdewhirst
John has written widely about the history of sport in Bradford: Articles by John Dewhirst on the history of Bradford sport

Elsewhere on this blog you can find his programme articles from earlier games this season and last.

===============================================================

Details here about the new bantamspast History Revisited book by Jason McKeown and other volumes in the same series: BANTAMSPAST HISTORY REVISITED BOOKS

==============================================================

Discover more about Bradford football history at www.bradfordsporthistory.com

A HISTORY OF BRADFORD CITY AFC IN OBJECTS

My column in the BCAFC programme v Burton, 21-Aug-18

A highly collectable enamel badge is that produced by the Bradford City Supporters and Shareholders Association in 1949 that features a bantam atop a football. There have been many different depictions of a bantam with regards to Bradford City AFC but arguably the 1949 badge was one of the best, albeit the same design as that associated with a motorbike. The design has been revived this year to depict Claret & Amber membership at Valley Parade.

The bantam identity had been revived in 1949, to all intents and purposes as a rallying call to turnaround the club. Whether or not it was the catalyst, in 1948 the Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) company had released its Bantam lightweight motorcycle which became a market leader. It was not coincidental that the bantam character which featured on the new BCSSA badges in 1949 was a close replica of the BSA Bantam marque.

The most prominent use of the new identity was its adoption as a badge on the home shirt during the 1950/51 season. The design was a bantam in a shield and it was the first instance of the club wearing a unique shirt badge other than the Bradford coat of arms. From examination of surviving press photographs it was originally worn in October, 1950 but this was not continued beyond the end of the 1950/51 season which seems bizarre. Whether this was for practical reasons (i.e. shirt laundry, the quality or cost of the badge) or regulatory (i.e. not the official or registered club crest) is impossible to say.

The bantam identity originally dated to November, 1908 but by the end of World War One had fallen out of favour and newspaper reporters tended to refer to the club as the Paraders. Between 1949 and 1964 a bantam character was used in a number of different designs, principally on club publications but its use was almost incidental. Stafford Heginbotham became chairman in 1965, assuming control when Bradford City was at the bottom of Division Four. Anxious to promote the club and signal a fresh start, the board launched a new identity in conjunction with a programme redesign mid-season and thus the bantam was retired in favour of The City Gent.

With regime change at Valley Parade in 1974, Bob Martin was anxious to demonstrate his own changes and dispense with the City Gent character that had been based on Stafford Heginbotham himself. Martin introduced a new crest, probably inspired by the logo of the incoming Bradford Metropolitan authority but in December, 1981 opted to revive the bantams identity. There were as many as three different bantam designs used by the club in as many years until the bantam identity was ditched in 1985 to be followed by the reintroduction of a civic Boar’s head crest by Stafford Heginbotham (who succeeded Bob Martin at Valley Parade as chairman). Another regime change in 1991 led to another reversion to the bantam identity and indeed the current club crest dates back to that year.

John Dewhirst

John’s book A HISTORY OF BCAFC IN OBJECTS is on sale in the City Shop. In future issues of The Parader he will feature objects that tell the history of the club. If you have a City artefact in your possession that you would like him to feature or provide background about, contact him at johnpdewhirst at gmail dot com or tweets @jpdewhirst
John has written widely about the history of sport in Bradford: Articles by John Dewhirst on the history of Bradford sport

Elsewhere on this blog you can find his programme articles from earlier games this season and last.

===============================================================

Details here about the new bantamspast History Revisited book by Jason McKeown and other volumes in the same series: BANTAMSPAST HISTORY REVISITED BOOKS

==============================================================

Discover more about Bradford football history at www.bradfordsporthistory.com

A HISTORY OF BCAFC IN OBJECTS
My column in the BCAFC match day programme v Barnsley, 11-Aug-18

Modern day games between Barnsley and Bradford City have been relatively infrequent and notwithstanding the county rivalry have been fairly low key affairs. However, before World War One the rivalry was defined by the FA Cup and the famous fourth round contest between the sides.

As just about every City supporter knows, in 1911 the FA Cup was won by the Bantams – or the Citizens / Paraders as they were variously referred to in the press. The year after, the trophy remained in Yorkshire having been won by Barnsley who defeated West Bromwich Albion in the final. In 1910, Barnsley had been defeated in the final by Newcastle United who City vanquished in 1911.

Barnsley’s triumph followed a quarter-final victory over Bradford City but the tie was only decided in the third replay after the first three games had finished goalless. In the end, City succumbed 2-3 after extra time in front of 38,264 spectators at Bramall Lane.

It was a contest that commanded much coverage in the regional press and the attendances of the second replay at Elland Road and that at Bramall Lane bear witness to the interest that was generated. Indeed, the crowd of 31,910 represented a new record for a game hosted by the then Leeds City club. Equally, the attendance at Bramall Lane was not far off the 39,146 record at Valley Parade set the previous year for the quarter-final tie with Burnley.

What was striking about Barnsley’s achievement was that it involved no fewer than six replayed games with replays also in the first round, semi-final and final stages. Like City, Barnsley had a strong defence and conceded only four goals in winning the FA Cup (of which two scored by City).

Barnsley won the FA Cup as a second division club and never competed in the first tier until securing promotion to the Premier League for a solitary season in 1997. Like City, Barnsley never repeated the FA Cup triumph yet whilst the Bantams competed in the top division for ten seasons between 1908 and 1922 (excluding the period 1915-19 when the competition was suspended), Barnsley’s subsequent league record has been much better than that of Bradford City with 78 out of 110 seasons since 1898 spent in the second tier compared to City’s 29 in the second and 12 in the first out of 105 seasons since 1903.

In my opinion the reason for City’s historic underachievement was the fact that the club was forced to compete for support in the city with Bradford (Park Avenue) AFC and Bradford Northern RFC. The record of Barnsley is demonstrable proof of what a club the size of Bradford City should be able to achieve and I would hope that both clubs will be competing at a higher level in the not too distant future.

John Dewhirst

John’s book A HISTORY OF BCAFC IN OBJECTS is on sale in the City Shop. In future issues of The Parader he will feature objects that tell the history of the club. If you have a City artefact in your possession that you would like him to feature or provide background about, contact him at johnpdewhirst at gmail dot com or tweets @jpdewhirst
John has written widely about the history of sport in Bradford: Articles by John Dewhirst on the history of Bradford sport

Elsewhere on this blog you can find his programme articles from earlier games this season and last.

===============================================================

Details here about the new bantamspast History Revisited book by Jason McKeown and other volumes in the same series: BANTAMSPAST HISTORY REVISITED BOOKS

==============================================================

Discover more about Bradford football history at www.bradfordsporthistory.com

Thanks for visiting my blog! [Home page] This post provides links to articles I have written about the origins of sport in Bradford, the development of commercialised sport in the nineteenth century and the early history of cricket, rugby and soccer in Bradford.

My background

I am a longstanding supporter of my local club, Bradford City and have an extensive collection of football memorabilia.

My interest in sports history has been shaped by a number of influences but principally stems from a fascination with the history of Bradford, its industrial and urban development as well as its social history. I have collected football artefacts as a means of connecting with the past and strongly believe that history – and indeed the history of sport – can be told through objects. Having studied economic history at university, and as an accountant specialising in undertaking business reviews and providing support to off-plan businesses, I also have a particular interest in the evolution of sport as an industry in itself.

These themes are evident in my most recent books which seek to examine the history of football clubs as commercial organisations, to understand how financial circumstances in the past dictated decision-making and outcomes. My books also feature a wealth of historic memorabilia illustrated in colour as a means of making relics accessible to a wider audience.

I was co-founder of The City Gent (Bradford City) fanzine in 1984. I have authored four books on the history of Bradford football and the origins of sport in the district and been involved in the production of five others. I am currently writing a history of the Bradford City / Park Avenue rivalry which will be the sixth volume in the BANTAMSPAST ‘History Revisited’ series. (NB Another title featuring sport in nineteenth century Bradford is also planned, details to be announced later.)

For details about these books visit: BANTAMSPAST HISTORY REVISITED SERIES

Copies of A HISTORY OF BRADFORD CITY AFC IN OBJECTS, ROOM AT THE TOP and LIFE AT THE TOP are still available and can be purchased direct from the publisher, BANTAMSPAST, PO Box 307, SHIPLEY BD18 9BT price £20 each including postage (cheques payable to BANTAMSPAST).

I have contributed a series of articles to the Bradford City AFC programme during the 2017/18 season and these are published on this site. They feature varied themes from the origins of soccer in Bradford  / the Boar’s Head identity / the influence of the military on sport in Bradford / the origins of Valley Parade and its early development / the story behind how BCAFC became known as the Bantams and various topics relating to the history of both City and Bradford Park Avenue.

Also published on this site are a number of other varied articles, from the history of railways in Bradford to the story of Harry Garnett of Bradford FC (also a former RFU President).

I have written a number of articles about the origins of Bradford sport which have been published variously on the following websites:  PLAYING PASTS and VINCIT, an online journal of Bradford Sport History as well as The World Rugby Museum website These, as well as planned future articles, are summarised as below.

Published on PLAYING PASTS…

The role of social networks on the early development of football 

The case of Bradford FC and the origins of football as a business

The origins of professional football in Bradford

Reconsidering 1895 – a Bradford perspective

Published on the World Rugby Museum website…

Bradford’s contribution to rugby history 

Published on VINCIT…

The origins of women’s football in Bradford

The significance of sport in shaping a Bradford identity 

History of the Bradford Charity Cup

Compendium of Bradford sports club names  

The late development of soccer in Bradford 

What’s in a name? Semantics about Bradford City and Park Avenue  

John Nunn, Bradford physical aesthete

The story of the Belle Vue Hotel, a nineteenth century pub adopted as a sports headquarters in Bradford 

150th anniversary of football in Bradford, 1867-2017

The history of Bradford rugby and the case to reassess the split in English rugby in 1895  My findings from investigation of the origins and development of Bradford football provide sufficient evidence to challenge the orthodox view that the split in English rugby was driven by social class as opposed to the economics of sport.

Bradford’s rugby heritage  

The myth that the City – Avenue rivalry was based on class politics

The political origins of Bradford Cricket Club in 1836: Blaming the Tories

Cricket: the DNA of Bradford sport

Bradford football: the long view

Other articles are scheduled in coming months on the following subjects:

• the origins and early history of cricket in Bradford;
• the story of the long forgotten junior rugby clubs in late Victorian Bradford;
• the origins of soccer in Bradford;
• the history of sports journalism in Bradford;
• the political history of Odsal Stadium; and
• the influence of the railways on Bradford sport.

International Football History Conference, Manchester 2018

In June, 2018 I am presenting a joint paper with Professor Wray Vamplew at the City Football Academy, Manchester examining the transformation of sport from a recreational activity to an entertainment business, specifically with regards to the experience in Bradford and Glasgow. This will form the basis of a planned academic paper and is also featured in a forthcoming book ‘Insights into the Economic History of the Sports Industry‘ (editors Pomfret & Wilson) to be published in 2019.

ROOM AT THE TOP and LIFE AT THE TOP provide a detailed account of how football – both rugby and soccer – became commercialised in Bradford and provide what may be the first business history of English rugby clubs.

Bradford Library – Presentation May 2018

On 19 May, 2018 I am giving a presentation at Bradford Library to talk about the origins of sport in Bradford, covering cricket, rugby and football and the early history of sport in the town. I will also be answering questions about my recent books.

Anyone wishing to contact me or collaborate can do so through a DM tweet, refer my account @jpdewhirst

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Details about the BANTAMSPAST HISTORY REVISITED BOOKS

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There has been disagreement as to whether Harry Hanger, who played for Bradford City between 1906-09 before his transfer to Crystal Palace was killed in action during World War One. The authoritative website produced by the National Football Museum Football & the First World War states that Hanger was killed in March, 1918. The same detail is recorded by the Crystal Palace Holmesdale website which credits Harry Hanger as a war fatality.

Chris Ambler of Queensbury had previously drawn attention to the fact that the individual stated to have been killed in action was said to have been born in Market Harborough whereas Harry the footballer had been born in Kettering, admittedly only 15 miles apart. Thus the suggestion was that ‘our Harry’ had been confused with another from Market Harborough. Nevertheless, military records confirm that a Harold (Harry?) Hanger of Market Harborough had served with the 3rd Battalion, Leicester Regt and crucially that he had enlisted in 1903 which would contradict any suggestion that he was our man. Despite military records often being inaccurate it does seem as though the Market Harborough link can therefore be discounted.

Notwithstanding, there may be altogether different reasons for confusion not previously identified. Kieran Wilkinson has established that our man Harry had two brothers, Charles and Fred who all played with Kettering Town. They lived at Havelock Street, Kettering nearby the Rockingham Road ground of the football club.

Harry enlisted in December, 1914 with the Footballer Battalion.

The Football and the First World War site records the footballer Harry Hanger to have been killed in action in March, 1918 but crucially his identity is stated as being Harold of the 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers. Harold (Harry?) Hanger was killed in March, 1918 in France whilst serving with the 5th Lancers (although records suggest he enrolled originally with the Household Cavalry in October, 1914).

Harold’s family lived in the Barton Seagrave district on the edge of Kettering. His father, Harry Mobbs Hanger – born in 1862 and married in 1882 – was evidently anxious to preserve his identity and proceeded to name three of his sons as follows: Harry (1886), Harold Coles (1887) and Harold (1888).

A Harry Hanger of Kettering is recorded to have been buried in Newark in 1966. Was he the Harry formerly of Havelock Street or a Harry from Barton Seagrave?

Military records suggest that there were at least three other Harry Hangers killed in action: Pvte Harry Hanger of the Machine Gun Regt, #43847; Corporal Harry Hanger of the Rifle Brigade, #204770; and Private Harry Hanger of the 14th London Regt, #511643. I have found no evidence that these were the same as our Harry which may suggest that he did indeed live into old age. That being the case it should rightly be said that ten serving or former Bradford City players were killed in the Great War of 1914-18.

** My thanks to Kieran Wilkinson for his contribution. 

*** Subsequent to publication I was contacted by a Kettering Town supporter who confirmed that Harry Hanger died in Newark in 1967. He added that Harry had been one of three brothers who played for Kettering Town and another, Arthur Hanger served as club secretary.

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Links to other articles written by myself on the history of football and the origins of sport in Bradford HERE

On Saturday 19 May, 2018 I am giving a talk in the Bradford Local Studies Library on the origins of spectator sport in nineteenth century Bradford and the development of the city’s sporting culture and identity. This will cover principally cricket, rugby and football and include a Q&A session.

My feature published in the Bradford City AFC programme vs Milton Keynes on 24th April, 2018.

On 7th March, 1908 Bradford City played Leicester Fosse at Valley Parade. Prior to the game the club sat at the top of Division Two, on course for joining the elite of English football only five years after being elected to the Football League.

City supporters were in a confident mood, their team unbeaten in six games that included a sequence of three consecutive victories: 6-2 (Wolves, home); 5-1 (Gainsborough, away); and then 5-0 (Stockport, home). With 28 games played City had won 18 and been defeated on only five occasions. The City goal average was the highest in the division and the team had scored a total of 68 goals including an opening day 8-1 thrashing of Chesterfield, a 5-0 defeat of local rivals Leeds City and then a 7-1 win over Gainsborough Trinity (all of which at Valley Parade).

Leicester Fosse came to Valley Parade in 8th place. Nevertheless, with a strong home record and 11 wins from 13 games and only a single loss, most people expected Leicester to be defeated. The fact that City had been held 2-2 away at Glossop North End in their previous game tended to be overlooked.

Can anyone guess what happened? Bradford City being Bradford City, they suffered a 1-5 reverse! A cartoon in the Bradford Daily Telegraph described the outcome as a doleful day at Valley Parade and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

To make matters worse, in their following match City lost 1-2 at Blackpool, like Glossop another club struggling at the foot of the division. Although Stoke City were defeated 6-0 in the next game at Valley Parade, in the last fixture of the month on 28th March, City lost 2-3 at West Bromwich Albion. A 1-1 draw against Grimsby on 4th April left the club in third place in the table behind Oldham Athletic and Derby County with five games left. Nevertheless it remained tight, with City only a point behind the leaders.

City eventually finished as champions of Division Two and did so by winning each of their remaining games. Promotion was all but sealed following victory in the penultimate fixture of the season against Burnley at Valley Parade in front of a 27,000 crowd but it was guaranteed with a home victory over Lincoln City in the final match. The season ended with City four points clear of runners-up, Oldham and 90 goals scored in 38 games.

The manner in which the team prevailed after the wobble in March helped define a new club legend. It instilled a self-belief that allowed Bradford City to consolidate in the first tier the following season.

The achievement of winning promotion was considered vindication for the decision to reject merger – and with it, relocation to Park Avenue – at the end of May, 1907. However, the promotion of Bradford City opened the way for Bradford Park Avenue to be elected to the Football League. Previously there had been outright opposition to Bradford having two clubs in the second division but the success of Bradford City was used to support the case that Bradford was a hotbed of soccer enthusiasm.

Having secured membership of Division One, Bradford City embarked on an ambitious ground development programme that incorporated new offices on Burlington Terrace with a tunnel from the dressing rooms and the construction of a grandstand on the Midland Road side.

Peter O’Rourke had been appointed secretary-manager in November, 1905 and was also the man in charge at the time of the FA Cup victory in 1911. His signing of Frank O’Rourke and James McDonald in April, 1907 was said to have been decisive in strengthening the squad and Frank O’Rourke was later credited for having transformed an average side into a championship team the year later. In fact, Frank – no relation to Peter – scored 21 of the team’s goals in 1907/08.

In August, 1907 another key player, Robert Torrance had been signed from Kirkintilloch Rob Roy although he did not make his debut for the first team until the following season. Alongside Frank O’Rourke and James McDonald, Torrance played in the 1911 FA Cup Final replay to win the trophy. On 24th April, 1918 at the age of 30, Torrance was killed at Ypres whilst serving with the Royal Field Artillery. Two members of the Bradford City squad in 1907/08 were also killed in World War One: Harry Hanger (36 League & cup appearances) and Gerald Kirk (3).

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• Read more about the early history of Bradford soccer in my books ROOM AT THE TOP and LIFE AT THE TOP If you are interested in Bradford sport history visit VINCIT: https://www.bradfordsporthistory.wordpress.com 

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Thanks for visiting my blog. Apart from publishing my BCAFC programme articles I also upload occasional articles of historical interest. Scroll down for details about my books in the BANTAMSPAST History Revisited series which tell the history of sport in Bradford – and in particular football. The books seek to explain why things happened as they did instead of simply recording what occurred and readers may be surprised at the extent to which they contradict many of the myths and superficial narratives that have circulated previously.

Links to other articles written by myself on the history of football and the origins of sport in Bradford HERE

On Saturday 19 May, 2018 I am giving a talk in the Bradford Local Studies Library on the origins of spectator sport in nineteenth century Bradford and the development of the city’s sporting culture and identity. This will cover principally cricket, rugby and football and include a Q&A session.

Tweets @jpdewhirst