Football Stitchers

The Yorkshire Evening Post 15.08.16

The local press (predominantly in the north of England) were advertising for football stitchers right up to the end of our period (1937)

Frank Barson

Imagine Nobby Stiles, Bryan Robson and Roy Keane rolled into one and the hardness multiplied by 10. That's the image that history tends to portray of the 6 foot tall half back Frank Barson.
Whether or not he actually carried a  gun into a negotiation over pay,it is often claimed that  Barson was one of the hardest characters to grace the English game. As such he also became something of a target for referees, Famously Jack Howcroft approached Barson before the 1920 Cup Final and warned  him that he would send him off as soon as he stepped out of line.
If we consider the hard evidence though- in 394 League, FA Cup and international matches he was only sent off 3 times! So either his reputation has been enhanced by romanticism or referees were far more tolerant back then.
Barson's Villa career had suffered as a result of his refusal to move to Birmingham from Sheffield, where he had business interests. He was capped by England on 1 occasion, playing in a 2-1 defeat against Wales in 1921.
On one occasion Barson, then with Watford, was suspended for 6 months for an assault that seems to have occurred only in the mind of the referee.
At Manchester United he was celebrated for his leadership skills, but when the club presented him with a pub, he promptly gave it away...

Club career:

		League	FA Cup	Goals
1911-19	Barnsley	91	3
1919-22	Aston Villa	92	16	10
1922-28	Manchester United	140	12	4
1928-29	Watford	10		1
1929-30	Hartlepools United	9		2
1930-31	Wigan Borough	19	1
	Total:	361	32	17

Dismissals:

Date	For	Against
09.01.15	Barnsley	Everton
29.09.28	Watford	Fulham
26.12.30	Wigan Borough	Accrington Stanley

The Maley Brothers

Thomas Maley was an Irishman who served in the Royal Highland Fusiliers for 22 years. He was a veteran of the Crimea and had traveled the world. He had 4 sons. One,Charles,became a priest, the other 3 were involved in football.

Tom (1864 –1935)

Tom was born in Portsmouth. He was an all round athlete, particularly successful at the 100 yards. Unsurprisingly he played on the wing, as outside left. Known as Handsome Tom, he played football as an amateur, being a qualified school master. 

Tom played in Celtic's first ever match , and when his playing days were over he became a director of the club (1897).

In 1902 Tom took over as manager of Manchester City. Maley's time at City got off to a tragic start. Welsh star Di Jones died as the result of an injury sustained in an exhibition match. Tom Maley was influential though in creating a strong bond between his players. They won promotion back to the First Division  in his first season in charge, and the following season (1903–04) they won the FA Cup and finished 2nd in the League. 1904–05 saw City finishing in 3rd place and 1905-06 5th. Maley was transforming City into a major force.

Manchester City's record under Maley:

P	W	D	L	F	A	Win %
150	89	22	39	322	178	59.33

However in the summer of 1906 an FA investigation into the payment of bonuses had a catastrophic impact on the club. 17 players were fined and suspended from football until January 1907 . City had to sell many players and Maley received a life ban from the game.

He returned to Glasgow and worked as a teacher, When his life ban was revoked in 1910 he returned to football management. 

As a player:
1881	Cathcart
1882	London Caledonian
1883	Partick Thistle
1884	Third Lanark Rifle Volunteers
1885	Hibernian
1886	Third Lanark Rifle Volunteers
1887	Clydesdale Harriers
1888- 1891	Celtic
1891	St Mirren  (loan)
1892-93	Preston North End
As manager:
1902	Manchester City
1911	Bradford Park Avenue
1925	Southport
1931	Celtic (assistant)

Willie (1868 –1958)

 Willie was born in Newry in Ireland. Like Tom, he developed into an all round athlete. His incredible association with Celtic began by chance. Brother Walfrid and Mr Glass were calling on Tom Maley in Cathcart to ask him to join the club they were forming. Tom was out, Willie was at home. They suggested that if Tom decided to take up the offer that Willie should come along as well. 

Consequently Willie played alongside Tom in Celtic's first ever fixture. 

Playing at half-back Willie was at Celtic for 9 seasons as a player, winning 3 Scottish League Championships (1892-93, 1893-94, 1895-96) and the Scottish FA Cup (1892). He made 2 international appearances for Scotland in 1893.

Maley had his first taste of football administration when he took on the role of Player-Secretary in May 1894. Maley became full-time manager of Celtic at the end of the 1897 season. He remained in post for 43 years, during which time he led the club to 30  trophy wins.

As a player:
1886	Cathcart Hazlebank
1887	Third Lanark Rifle Volunteers
1888-97	Celtic
1889	Ardwick  (loan)
1893	Scotland (2 internationals)
1895-96	Manchester City  (loan)
1896-97	Everton  (loan)
As manager:
1897- 1940	Celtic

	League	Cup
1897–98	Champions
1898–99		Winners
1899–1900		Winners
1900-01
1901-02
1902-03
1903–04		Winners
1904–05	Champions
1905–06	Champions
1906–07	Champions	Winners
1907–08	Champions	Winners
1908–09	Champions
1909–10	Champions
1910–11		Winners
1911–12		Winners
1912-13
1913–14	Champions	Winners
1914–15	Champions
1915–16	Champions
1916–17	Champions
1917-18
1918–19	Champions
1919-20
1920-21
1921–22	Champions
1922–23		Winners
1923-24
1924-25		Winners
1925-26	Champions
1926-27		Winners
1927-28
1928-29
1929-30
1930-31		Winners
1931-32
1932-33		Winners
1933-34
1934-35
1935-36	Champions
1936-37		Winners
1937–38	Champions

Celtic's record under Maley:

P	W	D	L	Win %
1,611	1,039	314	258	64.49

One of the only pics I've seen of Willie Maley sans hat- in a hat advertisement.

Alex (1874 – 1949)

Youngest brother Alex never played at a high level, but followed his brothers into management. He was, incidentally, the only one born in Scotland. He also worked as a journalist. 

He led teams to the Scottish FA Cup final on 4 occasions, but was on the losing side every time (1910 and 1912 with Clyde, 1923 and 1924 with Hibernian).

As manager:

1909–1912	Clyde
????–1921	Clydebank
1921–1925	Hibernian
1925–1927	Crystal Palace