FA Cup Final, 1889

Here is a programme for the 1889 FA Cup Final between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Preston North End's Invincibles (the Cup version, with Mills- Roberts in the place of Trainer).
Major Marindin would undoubtedly have been rooting for Wolves' English XI (including 7 internationals).  Wolves had finished 3rd in the League,  conceding 9 goals across the 2 meetings with Preston.
Dewhurst, Ross and Thomson were the scorers as Preston won 3-0 to secure the Double. 

Christmas Day 1889 - Nick Ross

The first time that League football was played on Xmas Day was in 1889, the second season of League football.
In heavy conditions before a crowd of 6-7,000, top of the table Preston North End entertained Aston Villa at Deepdale.

North End took a 6th minute lead and then came back from 2-1 down to win 3-2.
When reading up on this match I was surprised to note that the scorer of Preston's goals was Nick Ross- one of the leading fullbacks of the era.
Ross had risen to prominence as a left back. In the 1888-89 season (when he was at Everton, reputedly earning £10 a week) he had played 2 games at centre forward, scoring once.
On his return to Preston for the 1889-90 season Ross played 16 of his 23 matches at centre forward, clocking up 24 goals.
Remarkably, with the exception of a match against Burnley in 1891 in which he played at outside right, all the remaining games of Ross' career were played as a back! He finished with a career total of 31 goals from his 6 seasons during the Football League era.
Incidentally the contemporary press referred to Ross (or Ross senior, as his younger brother Jimmy was also at Preston North End) as both Nick and Jack.  The great football writer Jimmy Catton (Tityrus) called him Nick- and that's the example I'll follow as Catton was very close to the Preston North End players.

Sandy Tait

Sandy Tait began his football career in his home village, with Glenbuck Athletic. Having played in the Scottish League for Glasgow Rangers and Motherwell, full-back Tait joined Preston North End in 1894. Tait played 76 first team games for Preston in 5 seasons.
 He then moved to Tottenham Hotspur. In 8 seasons at Spurs Tait played a total of 322 first team games (207 in the Southern League, 79 in the Western League and 36 in the FA Cup).
In 1899-1900 Tottenham won the Southern League and in 1901 the FA Cup.
Tait's robust tackling earned him the nickname Terrible Tait, but he was fair- never being cautioned or dismissed in his career. 

Managers

Here are some successful managers pictured during their careers as players.

The player in the centre of the back row of this photograph is Helenio Herrera. The team is Casablanca Roches Noires (1929).  As a manager in the 1950s and 60s he won La Liga 4 times, Serie A 3 times, The Fairs Cup twice, the European Cup twice, the Copa Del Rey twice and the Coppa Italia once. 

The legendary William Shankly of Preston North End. He guided Liverpool to 3 League titles, 2 FA Cups and a UEFA Cup. These figures mean nothing. His solid proletarian ethics and his philosophy of football cemented his place in the folklore of the game.

Guttmann Béla - Known outside Hungary as Bela Guttmann- the silk shirted dancing master who played at the heart of the great Hakoah Vienna side later won titles as a manager in Hungary, Brazil and Portugal ( he also managed clubs in the Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland, Austria, Uruguay, Argentina, Italy and Greece!) . He won the European Cup twice with Benfica, and his parting curse on that club remains potent to this day. 

Sir Matt Busby built 2 great sides at Manchester United, winning the European Cup, 5 League titles and 2 FA Cups. In his playing days he represented Liverpool and Manchester City.

Invincibles - John Goodall & Jimmy Ross

In the first ever season of the Football League John Goodall was the leading scorer, with 20 goals in 21 games for Preston North End.
He scored 2 hat tricks

Jimmy Ross was Preston's next highest scorer, with 19 goals in 21 games.

The Great Victory

I have seen all the best sides in Football but I have never seen a side that compared to Preston North End at their best. We beat them but I do not pretend for a moment that we deserved to beat them.
Billy Bassett

The FA Cup Final, 1888. Preston North End were strong favourites to win the match. From September 1887 to March 17th 1888 they had won every game. On March 17th they had drawn 1-1 with Crewe Alexandra.

 In the eyes of  the FA president and match referee Major Marindin Preston North End were a Bad Thing- he disapproved of their supposed reliance on Scottish imports. Now the Preston players incensed him further by asking to have a team photograph with the cup before the match. 

Anecdotally West Bromwich Albion players refused to bet with their Preston North End counterparts on the outcome of the match. The team featured the majority of the players that would go on to feature in the Invincibles squad the following season. Add to that impressive pool of talent the name of  Nick Ross, probably the best defender of his era.

West Bromwich Albion		Preston North End
Bob Roberts	GK		R.H Mills-Roberts
Albert Aldridge	RB		Bob Howarth
Harry Green	LD		Nick Ross*
Ezra Horton	RH		Bob Holmes
Charlie Perry	CH		David Russell*
George Timmins	LH		Johnny Graham*
George Woodhall	OR		Jack Gordon*
Billy Bassett	IR		Jimmy Ross*
Jem Bayliss	CF		John Goodall
Joe Wilson	IL		Fred Dewhurst
Tom Pearson	OL		George Drummond*

* Scottish players. Mills-Roberts was Welsh. Mills-Roberts and Dewhurst were amateurs. The majority of the  West Bromwich players  were born in that town, with others from nearby Walsall, Tipton and Handsworth. 

Contemporary reports condemn the Preston forwards for their profligacy. Each of the 5 North End forwards was guilty of at least one serious error in front of goal, and Nick Ross was reported as having said at half time 'our forwards will cost us this match',

Preston North End

Bayliss put Albion ahead in the 20th minute, shooting home from a Bassett cross. Dewhurst equalised in a scramble 7 minutes into the second half, and after Jimmy Ross had hit the post West Brom got a winner with just over 10 minutes left to play. 

Modern references credit the winning goal to Woodhall, but most contemporary

newspaper reports I have read give the winning goal to Bayliss, heading in after Woodhall had shot against the post. Another account has a shot by Woodhall being deflected in off Bassett's knee. The Birmingham Daily Post infers that Woodhall was responsible for the goal.  Such was life before the action replay.

Bayliss

Woodhall

The Rev. Frank Marshall

The Rev. Frank Marshall was a clergyman and the headmaster of Almondbury Grammar School, Huddersfield. He was the co-author of Football; the Rugby Union game (1895). Rev Marshall was a referee and president of  the Yorkshire RFU.
In the 1880s and 1890s he was at the centre of a crusade against 'broken time payments' in Rugby football. Rev. Marshall believed that for anyone to receive payments in any form for playing football was morally reprehensible. His zeal for preserving amateurism knew no bounds. He was a committee member at Huddersfield FC, but this didn't prevent him for reporting them for professionalism, leading to a ban. 
Rev. Marshall's activities ultimately led to what is known as The Great Schism. In 1895 clubs who favoured 'broken time payments' to compensate their working class players for wages lost when they were playing football, broke away from the Rugby Union and formed the Northern Union. These clubs developed a different code that created a faster, more exciting game that we now know as Rugby League. 
So, what has this got to do with us, concerned as we are with the history of the Association game?

The  FA Cup 4th round tie played between Preston North End and the London club Upton Park on January 19th 1884 can be considered one of the most significant games in the history of Association football. The controversy following this game (which will be dealt with in more detail in a later post) led directly to the Football Association's acceptance of professionalism.

Liverpool Mercury 21.01.84

Was this the same Rev. F. Marshall?
It has never been made clear who provided the catalyst that inspired  Upton Park, in the person of the Secretary- Mr Barnett, to report Preston to the FA. Their local rivals Blackburn Olympic denied any involvement. Indeed, the press commented that none of the leading Lancashire clubs would be able to defend themselves against charges of professionalism.
I can find no other references to Rev F Marshall as a referee of Association games, and he seems to have had no input into the debate that raged on into the summer of 1885 regarding professionalism in football.

The English Disease- 1885

Birmingham Daily Post

26-0

In 1887 there was no Football League and there was no Lancashire League. 
There was The Lancashire County Football Association Cup and there was the FA Cup.
People in Lancashire were taking to football in their hundreds of thousands.  Clubs in Lancashire were employing professionals and they were having a major impact on the game's development.
The two biggest clubs, the most formidable, were Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End. 
In 1883 Blackburn Olympic won the FA Cup.
In 1884 Preston North End had been thrown out of the FA Cup for professionalism.
In 1884, 1885 and 1886 Blackburn Rovers had won the FA Cup. 
In 1885 The Football Association had accepted professionalism.

In the 1887-88 season 149 clubs entered the FA Cup. 25 of these clubs were from Lancashire. 

On 15 October 1887, Hyde, from Manchester, traveled to Deepdale to play Preston North End. Preston North End won the match 26-0.
This is still a record for a senior football match in England.  

Preston North End		Hyde
Addison	GK	Bunyan
Howarth	RB	Gregory
N.J Ross	LB	J.H Hall
Goodall	RH	Hurst
Russell	CH	Bowers
Graham	LH	Wilson
Gordon	OR	J. Hall
J.D Ross	IR	Presslee
Thomson	CF	Robinson
Dewhurst	IL	Wood
Drummond	OL	Hodgkinson

At half time it was 12-0 and Addison had yet to touch the ball. 
Jimmy Ross scored  8 goals. 
Gordon and Thomson scored  5 each.
Dewhurst scored  3, Drummond 2 and  Nick Ross, Russell and John Goodall each scored  one goal.




In the next round Preston North End played Everton and beat them 6-1. Everton were retrospectively disqualified from the competition and Preston North End then had to play the team who Everton had defeated in the first round, Bolton Wanderers. At Deepdale Preston North End defeated Bolton Wanderers 9-1. Jimmy Ross scored 6 goals. 
 It was quite a season for Preston, as they clocked up 42 consecutive victories.
 Further Cup wins came against Halliwell (4-0), Aston Villa and The Wednesday (both 3-1 away), and Crewe Alexandra (4-0).
The biggest prize evaded them, however, thanks to a 2-1 defeat to West Bromwich Albion  in the FA Cup Final.

Hibernians, Champions of the World.

Hibernians (pre 1892 there was a pluralizing s at the end) were victims of their own success.
 Formed in 1875 as a club for Edinburgh's Irish community by Catholic priest Canon Edward Hannan, Hibernians were the model for a similar venture in Glasgow. When brother Walfrid  formed Celtic in 1888 they initially loaned a number of Hibernians players, many of whom later moved permanently to the Glasgow club. 
Initially the Scottish Football Association refused Hibernians membership because they were Irish, not Scottish. 
After this bit of foolishness had been rectified Hibernians won the Scottish Cup in 1887.
The week before the clash with Preston North End, Hibernians defeated Stoke 2-1. The origin of the World Championship billing is unclear. Preston North End might well have been one of the foremost clubs in England, but they were not, as is often stated, the FA Cup holders when this match took place.  
The Glasgow Herald report of the match makes no reference whatsoever to a world championship billing, stating that the famous professional combination the Preston North End were, as in the previous year, opening their season with a tour of Scotland (see below). The Herald points out that Preston were weakened by absences, but had drafted in Trainer (Bolton Wanderers) Weir (Halliwell) and the newcomers Ferguson and the Goodall brothers.

McGhee put the home side in front in the tenth minute. In the second half McLaren doubled the lead with a swift low shot.After hitting the bar with a sitter, Archie Goodall pulled one back with a header. Hibs had a third goal disallowed for offside.

Hibernians: Tobin,  Lundie*, McLaughlin, Gallagher, McGinn, McLaren*, Clarke, Dunbar*, McGhee*, Groves*, Smith. 
* Scottish Internationals

A Hibernians line up featuring several of the players who faced Preston. A James McGhee,B Peter McGinn,C Phil Clarke,D John Tobin,E James McLaren,F Willie Groves,G James Lundie,

H George Smith. 

 Preston North End 

All four home nations were represented:

Trainer (Wales), Nick Ross (Scotland), Drummond (Scotland), Weir (England),  Ferguson (Scotland) Robertson (Scotland), Archie Goodall ( Ireland ), Dewhurst (England), John Goodall (England), Gordon (Scotland), Jimmy Ross (Scotland).

Preston North End tour 1887
13.8.87 Hibernians 2-1 Preston North End
18.8.87 Dundee Strathmore 2-16 Preston North End 
19.8.87 Arbroath 0-2 Preston North End 
20.8.87 Glasgow Rangers 1-8 Preston North End

The  following week Preston entertained Scottish visitors at Deepdale:
27.8.87 Preston North End 6-1 Third Lanark RV

World Team of the Decade-1880s

Just a bit of fun to stimulate some debate. I'm going to select a team for every decade from the 1880s to the 1930s. The inspiration? In November 1905 The Daily Mail chose a World XI to challenge another planet at football. I came across this when reading about Leigh Richmond Roose. 
As yet I have not been able to track down that 1905 World XI.
A difficult selection, as the 1880s was probably the decade in which the most profound changes in football took place. In 1880 the game at the highest level would have been almost exclusively the preserve of the old boys and amateurs. 
Three key developments shaped the decade:
 The emergence of the professional teams of Lancashire and the midlands.
The influx of Scottish professionals and the influence they had on the way the game was played.
The legalization of professionalism. 
Anyway, my selection for the 1880s- lining up in the 2-3-5 formation:

	Player	Team	Country
GK	Herby Arthur	Blackburn Rovers	England
In the 1880s the FA Cup was the measure of success in the domestic game and Arthur won it 3 years in a row with Rovers. Another considered was James Trainer of Preston North End.
RB	Nick Ross	Preston North End/Everton	Scotland
A pioneer professional, considered the best defender in the country, reputedly paid £10 a month in 1888.
LB	Fergus Suter	Blackburn Rovers	Scotland
One of the earliest professional signings in the game when he joined Darwen. Caused a stir by moving to neighbours Blackburn Rovers. Others considered were Walter Arnott ( Queen’s Park/ Scotland ) and P.M Walters (Old Carthusians/ England).
RH	Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird	Old Etonians	Scotland
Lord Kinnaird’s physical approach to the game may have been a bit old school even at the end of his own playing days, but his achievements cannot be overlooked. He could play in any position.
CH	Norman Bailey	Clapham Rovers	England
The first man to have a protracted run as England captain and the first to reach the magical figure of ten caps. A solid performer.
LH	Jimmy Forrest	Blackburn Rovers	England
The first openly professional player to represent England. Won the FA Cup 5 times.
OR	Billy Bassett	West Bromwich Albion	England
1.65 m in an era of physicality, Bassett was a winger who also scored goals.
IR	Fred Dewhurst	Preston North End	England
The team of the decade would have to have some representative from Corinthian FC, but Fred Dewhurst wasn’t your typical Corinthian- he was the only amateur in the Preston Invincibles line up. A prolific scorer at international level.
CF	John Goodall	Preston North End	England
I chose Goodall as one of the earliest in a long line of professional centre forwards who have been England superstars. I gave consideration also to Tinsley Lindley (Cambridge University, Nottingham Forest/ England) and Archie Hunter (Aston Villa/ Scotland).
IL	Jimmy Ross	Preston North End	Scotland
The Little Demon scored a goal a game in the first two seasons of the Football League. In his time at Preston he scored 250 goals in 220 appearances.
OL	James Brown	Blackburn Rovers	England
Brown was another leading figure in the FA Cup dominance of Blackburn Rovers. Charlie Bambridge (Swifts/England) was a contender.

I expect some criticism for the lack of Scotsmen in the team, and would welcome readers to submit their alternative selections.