The Association Footballers' Union 1898- 1901

Jack Bell (Everton) -  chairman of the AFU

John Cameron (Everton)- president of the AFU

Now look here, how would any man in business like to have his wages reduced by 25% if his employers could well afford better terms?- John Cameron.

The first Trade Union connected with Association football was founded in February 1898. Given that football was now becoming the Peoples' Game and the majority of players were from proletarian backgrounds, it seems a shame that the AFU wasn't exactly steeped in socialist principles. 

It is often reported that the catalyst for the foundation of the AFU was the introduction of the maximum wage in 1893. However, the maximum wage was proposed in 1893 but did not come into force until 1901. Prominent member Jack Devey (Aston Villa) stated that the AFU were not concerning themselves with wages, and president, John Cameron said that the main objective was to enable players to negotiate transfers, rather than being excluded from the process completely. This was a response to the retain and transfer system, introduced in 1893, that effectively gave the clubs complete control over players, even if they were 'out of contract'. The AFU failed in their attempts to challenge this system, which, incredibly, remained in force until 1963.


By 1901 the situation for professional players had actually worsened. The Football League had introduced a maximum wage and outlawed the payment of bonuses. The maximum wage was fixed at £4 per week- a higher sum than most professionals could hope to earn in the League. On this front the AFU was more of a vehicle for the concerns of star players and Scottish imports who, in a free market, would be commanding wages more in the region of £10 a week. 

In fact 1901 saw the dissolution of the AFU as many of it's more active members had left League clubs to seek employment in the Southern League (which had no wage cap and at the time didn't recognise the retain and transfer system).
Neither the Football Association nor the Football League recognized the Association Footballers' Union.

Football at Ruhleben 1914-18

Ruhleben was a civilian detention camp at a racecourse in the Spandau district of Berlin.
During the 1914-18 war the camp contained between 4,000 and 5,500 civilian prisoners. A complex society evolved in the camp- newspapers were printed and drama and music groups were formed. Football was a popular distraction, and there were several noteworthy former professional footballers and coaches among the inmates.

Spiksley's name is spelled incorrectly here.

Fred Spiksley-  44 year old Spikesley had won 7 England caps between 1893 and 1898, and played most of his first class matches for The Wednesday 

(with whom he won the FA Cup in 1896). 

At the outbreak of the war he was a coach in Germany. 

He had moved there in 1913 and worked with TSV 1860 München and 1. FC Nuremberg.

There has been some debate as to whether Fred Spiksley was at Ruhleben. 

Modern biographers claim that he wasn't.  However he is mentioned as having being interred there 

in Samuel Wolstenholme's memoirs, and there is also a photograph of him at the camp.

 Fred Pentland - after a ten year professional career (Middlesbrough being his main team)  31 year old Pentland had gone to Germany in 1914 to coach the German Olympic team.  Pentland had won 5 England caps in 1909.

Sam Wolstenholme- the 36 year old former Everton, Blackburn Rovers and Norwich defender had gone to Germany in 1914 as team coach/manager of the Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband (North German Football Association)  representative XI. He was capped 3 times by England in 1904-05.

Steve Bloomer- the legendary Derby County, Middlesbrough and England goalscorer only arrived in Germany 3 weeks before the war broke out. The 40 year old had been appointed manager of  Britannia Berlin 92, having played his final game for Derby the previous January.

John Cameron- the 42 year old former FA Cup winning Tottenham player manager and Scotland international was in Germany as coach of Dresdner SC when the war started. 

Edwin Dutton- nobody seems to know where Dutton was born. He had English parents but grew up in Poland and Germany. His teams as a player included Britannia Berlin 92, BFC Preussen and Newcastle United. He was capped by Germany in a match against Hungary in 1909. He was 24 at the start of the war.

Jack Brearley- 38 year old Liverpudlian Brearley was coach of Viktoria 89 Berlin in 1914. As a player he had represented Millwall Athletic, Notts County, Middlesbrough, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace. 

England v The Rest of the World, 1915

 The Ruhleben Football Association was formed with Pentland as chairman and Cameron as secretary and cup and league competitions were organised with games attracting crowds of up to 1,000.

In November 1914, Bloomer captained a Tottenham Hotspur XI to victory in a cup final against an Oldham Athletic XI.

On May 2nd 1915 an England XI featuring Pentland, Wolstenholme, Brearley and Bloomer played a World XI captained by Cameron.

Pentland and Cameron produced a souvenir booklet of the 1915  season.

March 3rd 1916: John Cameron's XI defeated Steve Bloomer's XI.

October 7th 1916: Cameron's XI 4 Brearley's XI 2.

In 1918 Coupe de Allies, a triangular tournament featuring a British XI, a French XI and a Belgium XI, was organized. 

Tottenham Hotspur 1901

The Tottenham Hotspur team of 1901 is known as the only 'non-league' team to win the FA Cup. This creates images, to our modern minds, of a part time or obscure amateur team punching well above their weight. At this point in the games development, however, the term 'team from outside the Football League' is far more accurate a description of their status. Tottenham, professionals since 1895, had been Southern League champions in  1899-1900 season, but did not apply to join the Football League.Of the 36 teams competing in the two divisions of the Football League in 1900-1901 only one (Woolwich Arsenal) was from the south. 

The final, against Sheffield United, was the first FA Cup final to be filmed (the footage is very brief). 110,000 watched the first match, a 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace. United's second goal was highly controversial. Following a scramble in the goalmouth the referee awarded a corner, only then to decide that the ball had crossed the goal line earlier in the melee. 

In the replay at Burnden Park, Bolton, Tottenham won 3-1.

Tottenham's winning XI was:

 George Clawley (England),Harry  Erentz (Scotland), Sandy Tait (Scotland), Tom Morris (England),Ted Hughes (Wales), Jack L Jones (capt. Wales), Tom Smith (England), John Cameron ( player-manager-  Scotland), Sandy Brown (Scotland), David Copeland ( Scotland), Jack Kirwan* (Ireland).

Sandy Brown- his 15 FA Cup goals in a single season remains a competition record.

Tottenham joined the  Second Division of the Football League for the 1908–09 season.
In their early years Tottenham underwent many changes of club colours. At one point they wore blue and white halves in imitation of Blackburn Rovers. They adopted white shirts in 1899-1900 in tribute to Preston North End, the team they defeated in the first round of the FA Cup the following year.

* Kirwan went on to manage Ajax.

Association Football and How to Play It- John Cameron (1908)

Association
Football

AND HOW TO PLAY IT

BY

JOHN CAMERON

(Late Queen's Park, Everton, and Player-Manager, Tottenham Hotspur F.C.)

 PASSING WITH THE INSTEP

 SHOOTING WITH THE INSTEP.

 SAVING A "HIGH FLYER"

 HEADING THE BALL

 READY FOR THE KICK-OFF

 CENTERING FROM THE RIGHT WING

CENTERING FROM THE LEFT WING

John Cameron played for Queen's Park, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. he was capped once by Scotland.
In 1898 he became the first secretary of the Association Footballers' Union.
 Shortly after joining Tottenham in 1898 he became player- manager. Under his leadership Tottenham won the Southern League and the FA Cup, Cameron scoring a goal in the relayed final.
After leaving Tottenham in 1907 Cameron went to Germany to coach Dresdner SC. He was interred during the 1914-18 War with the Central Powers and was secretary of the Ruhleben Football Association, leading the World XI against England.
After the war Cameron spent a brief spell in charge of Ayr United (he had started his career with their predecessors, Ayr Parkhouse) before concentrating on journalism.


You can read the book here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35683/35683-h/35683-h.htm