The Story muddles on 1925 John Dean had become Chairman, having resigned his directorship when Henry Norris tried to negotiate the merger with Arsenal in 1910, and returning only after the end of the war. An interesting character Norris (the rift between him and Dean in fact lasted until 1929) and while a little divergence to discuss this is tempting, it’s best to leave that for another time. Suffice to say that after his initial flirt with Arsenal, Norris finally jumped into bed with them in 1913. However as Mayor of Fulham from 1909 till 1919, when he was the elected as an MP in the first General Election after the war, he had continued to meddle in Fulham FC business, With Norris taking his focus elsewhere, it is no coincidence therefore, that Dean chose this time (1920) to re-join the Fulham board. Although never having participated in management of the club since 1910 he hadn’t sold his shares and in 1925 bought a further 832 from a fellow director, William Allen, becoming the controlling shareholder, This was the start of the Dean family Dynasty that ruled over the club for the next 3 decades. When Dean took over financial control of the club, the man who had been appointed to take over from Kelso was ex-player Andy Ducat. Ducat was the first former Fulham player to become the club’s manager. please log in to view this image . As a player he was unrivalled as a sportsman, had an unruffled academic approach to the game and was a master at positional play (think Franz Beckenbauer or Bobby Moore). However the manager’s job was still very much an administrative one and his fair-minded, studious, sporting qualities weren’t well suited to a manger’s chair. He also had some atrocious bad luck almost from the outset. Centre forward George Edmonds fractured a collar bone in a vicious match at Chelsea, trainer Elijah Moses lost an arm in a coach crash and, worse, was the death of young player Harvey Darvill. After playing in a home win over Coventry (2-0), Harvey returned to his home in Watford but on complaining of stomach pains was admitted to hospital. Diagnosed as having a burst blood vessel he sadly died the following Wednesday. Harvey had played in 12 of the first 14 games of season 1924/25 and was the second top scorer with 3 goals. Harvey’s goal tally tells the story of Ducat’s first season - the lack of goals. The final total that year was 41 (only season’s 1968/69 and 1973/74 have been worse). In only 3 matches did the team score more than 2 goals and in a third of their games didn’t get any at all. Despite that they were never in any serious threat of relegation, winning 13 games (10 of them by the odd goal) and ended up 12th with 40 pts. The thanks for this was again down to their home record, losing only 4 games at the Cottage. The next season, 1925/26, was scary. More goals were scored but the defence conceded 77; the worst to date. Eight of the first nine games were lost and Fulham were at the bottom throughout. Until a final flurry saw them go unbeaten in the last five to finish 19th and 2 pts, above relegated Stoke. Wins in the last two matches against Port Vale and Bradford City saved the day !! [This was the first season when the new off-side law came into play (reducing the number of defenders from 3 to 2 who must be between the attacker and the opponent’s goal. (go compare !) and undoubtedly contributed to our poor defensive record. In fact most clubs responded to the change in the law by setting new scoring records. Well,. ‘most clubs’ excepting Fulham who only managed to score 46 and QPR who were even worse.] The FA cup brought some welcome relief though. Drawn in the 3rd round away to Everton the team defied the odds and drew 1-1 in front of 46,000. The return game was mid-week and played in a snowstorm , yet 20,000 turned up to see Bert White score the only goal and a Fulham victory. The hero of the hour was goalkeeper Ernie Beecham however. He defied the Everton forwards, including mighty Dixie Dean, all afternoon and was chaired off at the end by jubilant fans. Next up were the other Merseysiders and over 36,000 at the Cottage saw the team beat Liverpool 3-1 through goals from Albert Pape (2) and Frank Penn. (Not bad when you consider Liverpool had been 1st division champions two years running). One of our goals please log in to view this image The 5th round was another tie against 1st division opponents - away to Notts County. The team came back from Meadow Lane with a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal from Bill Prouse in the second half. The quarter final was a home tie against Manchester United and 28,699 paid a record £3,806. Fulham went one down after only a minute but fought back and Pape equalised before half time. Facing a strong wind, then losing Chaplin to injury (no subs in those days) and some very strange refereeing decisions, Fulham were up against it. They held out till late on before United snatched the winner. This was hotly contested though, with Fulham claiming that keeper Beecham had been fouled earlier. The big club got the benefit of the doubt and that was it. After such a great run against so many top teams, some say this was the year the ’Wembley Dream’ was born. John Dean made his first incisive decision as Chairman - Ducat was sacked, the first Fulham manager to go that way. His two years had been far from successful but he left a legacy of a kind. In that final season some old favourites wore the Black and White for the last time - George Aimer, Harry Russell, Peter Gavigan and Arthur Reynolds moved on. While Joe Edelston became captain and unofficial coach for the reserves. [Joe went on to become one of the most respected, qualified FA coaches in the country and remained at the Cottage until he was controversially sacked towards the end of 1937.] Fred Linfoot, Bill Prouse, Reg Dyer, Bill Probert, Tot Pike, Jock McNab and Teddy Craig were brought in but of the newcomers that came to the club, three stand out Len Oliver, Albert Barratt and Ernie Beecham: please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Len Oliver Fulham born and bred, was signed as an amateur from Tufnell Park and went straight into the first team taking Andy Ducat’s No. 4 shirt. He remained a fixture for the next 10 years , missing only 27 games, and made a total of 434 appearances for the club. He captained the side for 7 of those years and won an International cap in 1929. Albert Barratt was an exceptionally talented youngster. As a schoolboy he broke a record, playing in 3 English Schools Shield finals (with West Ham boys) and went on to win 4 England amateur caps. He was 20 when Fulham signed him and went straight into the senior side. Distinctive with his blond hair he was a stylish wing half or full back, cool, unruffled and noted for his attacking flair. During his career with the club he was the target of many bigger clubs like Manchester City, Sunderland, Preston, Everton and Spurs but he stayed loyal to the club and made over 400 appearances. Ernie Beecham was the darling of the crowds. He was playing as an amateur for Hereford Town in the Spartan league when Fulham signed him and was third choice keeper before he made his debut in December 1925. He then played 120 consecutive games before a serious injury threatened his career. In a match against Exeter in November 1928 he dived at the feet of one of their forwards and broke a bone in his neck. An injury that partially paralysed him. Happily, he came back and made another 48 appearances before transferring to QPR. Ernie, as well as being known as “fearless”, was renowned for his tremendous kick. He won a cup at an athletics meeting at the Cottage for kicking a dead ball 127 yards. And in one match, against Clapton Orient (yes, them again!), he kicked the ball so hard their keeper Arthur Wood had to tip it over his own bar. Boys Own stuff !!! So, Andy Ducat left Fulham, the first ex-player to be appointed manager and the first manager to be sacked, but he had other things to do. Still a first class cricketer he continued his career with Surrey until 1931; in all he scored over 23,000 runs including 52 centuries. When he retired from that he went on to coach at Eton and do a bit of part time journalism before becoming a licensee. Craven Cottage remained quietly by the Thames as another depressing period of history was about begin and not confined to the “General Strike” which was about to shroud the country.
Cottager wonderful research,you will be shortly coming into the era,when I first watched, and followed Fulham,(and no it was not pre war).where I can add some anecdotes.
The Story Middles Out 1926 The year the Thames flooded causing the Chelsea embankment to collapse. The year of the General and the much longer miner’s strike. An austere time indeed and nowhere more than at Craven Cottage, manager-less and in debt. Chairman Dean decided that a shake up was necessary at the club and he promptly brought in Joe Bradshaw who at the time was managing Swansea. Son ....and....Father please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Bradshaw had played for Fulham some 20 years before and his father, Harry, had been the club’s first manager in the Edwardian days. Taking on board Dean’s dictact, Bradshaw offloaded established players like Jimmy Torrance (who went to be player/manager of Walsall), Alec Chaplin (who went to Northfleet, Spurs’ nursery side) and Harry Bagge (who went to Spain as a coach). With Ducat having made a similar purge during the 1925/26 season, only Frank Penn of the old guard remained. In came Tommy Brown (Newcastle), George Harris (QPR) and Johnny Tonner (Clapton Orient). The team which started the 1926/27 season was - Beecham; Dyer, Barratt; Oliver, McNabb, Wolfe; Harris, Craig, Pape, Tonner and Penn The loss of so many experienced defenders was apparent though and a total of 92 goals were conceded in the season; two thirds of them away from home. After averaging a point a game in their first 19, the team slumped and only 2 of the next 17 were won. At Easter, Fulham were lying in 20th position. The do or die spirit returned however and 4 of the last 6 games were won. The team ended up in 18th place on 34 pts. Yet again it was the home record that allowed the team to survive relegation. Of the 34 point, total 26 were won at home ! Things hadn’t all been doom and gloom during 1926 though. The country was rallying on the brunt of the strikes; John Logie Baird was showing off colour TV for the first time; Agatha Christie disappeared; Bruce Forsyth was born. And, at Craven Cottage there was singing the likes of which had never been heard before (or since !). The Daily Express, organised events at football matches during the 1926-27 season. The first of these was held at Craven Cottage prior to the match against Reading on Boxing Day 1926 (27 December, the 26th being a Sunday) - “It is bound to appeal to the football crowd as a jolly form of seasonable harmony, a fine lung-expanding exercise, and a splendid way of passing the time before the teams take the field,” announced the Express in its pre-match publicity. The singing was led by the band of the Welsh Guards. [Fulham lost 2-1] Season 1927/28 was bizarre, madcap almost. Only 3 games were lost at home; 68 goals were scored; new signing Sid Elliott set a club record scoring 26 goals; Wolves were thrashed 7-0; there were virtually no injuries and team selection was stable throughout; .....we were relegated. The 1928 Team : please log in to view this image The problem, yet again was away form. All but one of the 21 away games were lost (the only win being in the 40th game of the season at Meadow Lane 1-0 against Notts County). For the first time then, it was down - to the Third Division (South). please log in to view this image Nonetheless 1928, just as 1926 had been, wasn’t all gloom either. Sid Elliott was sold to Chelsea for £3,600 allowing the club, along with other lesser sales, to massively reduce it’s debts. John Dean purchased the assets of the Craven Cottage Syndicate for £21,000 (in other word he bought the job lot; ground and buildings !). Bandleader Noel ’Chappie’ D’Amato had joined the board (the first of Fulham’s show business connections). And, Fulham were scoring goals. By the end of December 1928, in their first 16 games in Division 3 they scored more time than they had in the whole of the previous season and by March of the next year they had netted 82, beating the previous record. With 10 games still to go. Fred Avey had the honour of getting goal number 100 in the 3-1 away win at Luton and the final total was 101. Playing with general freedom the team had gone into the New Year as League leaders but the heavy, wintry grounds started to take there toll and by the end of March they had slipped to fifth place. Although only one team was promoted in those days when Charlton came to the Cottage in April, Fulham were still in with a chance. A stunned crowd of over 30,000 however witnessed the unthinkable - a defeat at home - as the away team ran out 5-2 winners. The rest of the season was an anti-climax after that and the team ended up 5th with 52 pts, an agonising 2 pts behind the very same Charlton who were promoted. Like many clubs, Fulham had expectations of bouncing straight back up and although in many ways it had been an enjoyable year and there had been significant reductions in debts, the board were disgruntled. Bradshaw’s services, after only one year in Division 3, were no longer required. He was replaced by Ned Liddell, his assistant, at a salary of £10 per week. please log in to view this image Born in the North East, Liddell had worked in the shipyards, playing football as an amateur until joining Southampton in 1905. He had numerous clubs after that and then, after the war, spells managing Southend and QPR . He joined Fulham in 1922, initially as a scout. His two seasons as Manager at the club can be skipped over rapidly - 1929/30 7th with 47 pts,; 1930/31 9th with 43 pts. As usual, what excitement there was took place at the Cottage; over the two seasons, 27 wins out of the total of 36 and 113 goals out of the total of 164. Unfortunately Liddell can’t even take credit for two of Fulham’s legends since, although he brought them to the club neither came to the fore until he had gone - Syd “Carnera” Gibbons and Herbert Edward Hammond or as everybody knows him, Jim. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Syd was a snip of a signing at £500 from Manchester City. A beast of man (the nickname ‘Carnera’ was reference to the World heavy weight boxing champion at the time), Syd was a centre half who liked to go forward, scoring15 goals, including a hat trick against Southampton. He played a total of 318 games for the club. Jim was an amateur International when he was signed. A fast, strong inside forward with a good shot he scored 151 goals and made 342 appearances. Also a first class cricketer he scored over 4000 runs and took 428 wickets for Sussex. Jim very nearly became one of the few to get International recognition in both sports, just missing out on a football cap - he was selected for an England football match but being 12th man didn't get a cap. The Twenties had been a sigh rather than a roar for Fulham. Craven Cottage held it’s breath wondering what the next era had in store.
The Story move Onwards (and Upwards ?) 1931 Fulham had a reputation for fast open play but in the last few seasons promotion from the Third Division (South) was never a realistic proposition. The board appointed a new manager James McIntyre. please log in to view this image He had spent 13 years at the Dell managing Southampton (having had a spell at Coventry before that) and taken them to promotion in season 1921/22. His ambition was to become the first manager to take two teams out of the Third Division and his aims for Fulham were high. Known to be effective but outspoken, one of his first actions on the job was to turn his back on the newly formed Supporters Club saying, “ If Fulham cannot carry on without donations then its about time the ground was sold for a wharf or a potato patch”. Well !! Thankfully this new organisation prospered and played a significant part in the life of Fulham over the following years. This chapter in the story however only covers one year, season 1931/32. The reason will become obvious. McIntyre had inherited a strong team and if there was a criticism it was that it lacked ‘bite’. Fulham had never put any emphasis on the physical side of the game and, having been a playing colleague of Arsenal’s legendary Herbert Chapman, McIntyre had no intention of breaking that tradition. At the club’s AGM, he claimed that there was no reason why Fulham could not emulate the Gunners. Another of his early actions was to insist that all the players became full time. While this wasn’t universally accepted within the ranks at first, it proved to be a master stroke and a harmonious relationship developed between the manager and the players. The side he inherited included some natural footballers - Oliver, Barratt, Gibbons, Hammond, Finch, Price and Penn. Not only were they among of the best in the club’s history, they were some of the outstanding players in the country at the time. McIntyre only made two new signings before the start of the season, right winger Bill Richards (£100 from his old club Coventry) and forward Frank ‘Bonzo’ Newton (£500 from Stockport). The starting line up was - Beecham; Gibbon, Hickie, Oliver, Gibbons, Barratt; Richards, Hammond, Newton, Price and Penn. Ironically the opening game was against Coventry and Fulham ran out 5-3 winners, Bonzo Newton and Jim Hammond getting 2 each. [The return game was 5-5 so both sets of fans got their money’s worth seeing 18 goals in the two matches]. This was followed by 5 wins in 7 games putting Fulham in 3rd place at the end of September. A total of 28 goals had been scored with Newton and Hammond bagging 10 each. The highlight was probably a midweek game against Torquay watched by a meagre crowd of only 8,000 when the team rattled in ten goals (none against !). Jim Hammond got 4, Bonzo Newton and Johnny Price got two apiece with the others coming from Bill Richards and Frank Penn. McIntyre wasn’t happy though. There had been defeats against lowly Gillingham and Southend, 14 goals had been conceded and most irritating of all the team had lost 4-2 to promotion rivals Reading. In October, he took the team off to Margate for a change of air and made changes of his own. He signed full back Joe Birch from Bournemouth (£600) and brought in reserve Jake Iceton to replace Beecham in goal. He also replaced Frank Penn (who was getting on a bit by now) with Jack Finch on the wing. The altered side won 6 and drew 4 of the next 12 games to go into 2nd place by the end of 1931. Although a good run, critical points had been dropped with top of the table Southend getting a draw at the Cottage and rivals Watford winning 3-1 at Vicarage Road. Christmas hadn’t been that jolly either. Over the holiday period matches against neighbours Brentford (twice) and QPR had resulted in a disappointing one win, one draw and one defeat. The fans didn’t seem too downhearted however and an average of over 23,000 watched these games (not bad for the third division). All helped no doubt by one of the mildest winters on record and happy not to bother about the Highway Code which had just been introduced. [1931 had also seen a radical change in politics - on 27th October, the last time a General Election was held on a Tuesday, Ramsey McDonald’s Labour Government was defeated in a landslide victory for Stanley Baldwin’s Conservative Party] The new year started with that 5-5 draw with Coventry. Fulham then went out of the FA cup 3-0 to Watford after drawing 1-1 at Vicarage Road. The result was affected by injuries to Sonny Gibbon and Albert Barratt (no subs remember). The injury to Gibbon was particularly serious and McIntyre immediately signed Arthur Tilford (£750 from Coventry) to replace him. It was a worrying time with injuries soon following to Hicke, Dudley, Newton and Price. Like Gibbon, Price’s injury was bad and McIntyre again went into the market this time buying Frank Wrightson (£1,250 from Manchester City) Despite all this, the team’s form held and there were four straight wins. Reading came to the Cottage in February and 2 goals from Jim Hammond helped the team to come from behind to earn a 3-3 draw. This was enough to take Fulham to the top of the division !!!! By the end of the month the team had opened up a 3 point gap over next team Watford and by the end of March the lead was 4 points, ahead of Reading. Thames FC were then thrashed 8-0 [Hammond (3), Newton (2), Richards (2) and Finch] and bogey team Watford 5-0 [Hammond (2), Newton (2) and Finch]. With two home games left, Fulham were still topping the league. The first of these was against Bristol Rovers before a crowd of nearly 21,000 (only Goodison and Highbury had higher attendances that day - 30th April 1931). It was a tense affair and Rovers took a 1-0 lead in at half time. Playing the second half towards the home fans (Putney end in those days) and a strong wind behind them, Fulham were further helped by an injury to Rover’s full back Pickering. Jack Finch equalised. The team piled on the pressure and two goals in two minutes by Albert Barrett and Jim Hammond clinched it. Rovers managed to pull one back through the injured Pickering but Fulham were always in control and took the match 3-2. And the Title - Fulham were Champions of Division 3 (South). The final game against Exeter was a celebration with the club producing a special souvenir programme please log in to view this image and the championship shield being presented to chairman Dean. Fulham won 3-1. The final league table read - Fulham Played 42 Won 24 Drawn 9 Lost 8 For 111 Against 62 Pts 57 All sorts of record had been made; highest number of goals in a season 111; most goals by a player - Bonzo Newton 43 (can’t see that being bettered for a while !); even Jim Hammond (34) beat the previous record; 72 goals scored at home; 4 forwards shared a total of 93 goals; 24 pts, away from home; a total of only 9 defeats. The League refused to allow bonus payments of £25 but they did agree to watches and chains (valued at £375 (!) and paid for by the chairman personally) being given to the eleven players who had been mainly responsible for the success. [They also permitted the injured Gibbon and Price to receive these awards but refused Frank Penn who, although being the longest serving player and had given so much to the club over the years, had only played 9 games !!! ] The presentations took place at the Holborn Restaurant in August 1932. In his speech the chairman said “In 12 months McIntyre had revolutionised affairs at the Cottage, had produced order out of chaos and with judicious and inexpensive additions had provided the youngest and best team ever seen at Fulham. Never in the club’s history had there been such harmony at the Cottage and (he) looked forward to a long association with manage McIntyre”. For his efforts, James McIntyre received an honorarium of £450 and became a shareholder in the club. So, Fulham had won their first major honour in the 52nd year of their history and 21 years after joining the Football League. Craven Cottage was content.
The Story Goes to Dark Places 1933 Flush from the triumph from the previous year, Fulham started season 1932/33 in the Second Division with the same group of players. It proved to be a slow start however with the team taking 6 pts. in their first six games to lie in 11th position. They were hindered by an injury to Frank 'Bonzo' Newton and although reserve centre forward, Arthur Haddleton, did well with 4 goals in as many, games he lacked the injured leaders drive. However, taking 12 pts. from the next 7 games and despite losing a 7 goal thriller at Old Trafford, they were lying 3rd when top of the table Stoke came to the Cottage at the end of November. A 30,000 crowd saw Fulham putting up a tremendous fight before going down 3-1. December saw an even bigger crowd, as over 43,000 crammed into the Cottage for a visit by Spurs and what an incident packed game it turned out to be. Jack Finch on Fulham’s left wing ran the Spurs defence ragged, along with two assists for goals by Bonzo Newton and Billy Richards. The home side went in at half time two up and resumed after the interval where they left off. Finch dribbled into the box only to be upended by the Spurs centre half, Albert Rowe. From the resulting penalty kick Bonzo Newton whacked the ball straight at the keeper Joe Nicholls and it hit his head so hard that it rebounded into the Fulham half. The poleaxed Nicholls went down as one spectator described, “liked a wooden soldier” and it was some time before the unfortunate keeper recovered. Minutes later the Spurs young inside forward, George Greenfield broke a leg in a collision with Joe Birch. Incredibly, ten man Spurs fought back and earned a draw through goals by George Hunt. Those two matches epitomised the team’s performances between November and January with only 10 pts being collected from 11 games and they slipped to mid-table. In that time manager McIntyre made one new signing, goalkeeper Alf ’Rubberneck’ Tootill (£1,000 from Wolves). Small and acrobatic Alf went on to play 214 games for Fulham. He was also an accomplished cricketer and played in the Lancashire League for his home town, Ramsbottom. Len Oliver….......... Alf ….........(??) ….........Jack Finch....and.... John Arnold sharing a bath please log in to view this image February saw a turnaround in fortune with three draws being followed by five consecutive wins. There was a blip in a game against Lincoln but the next four were again wins, including a 1-0 victory over leaders Stoke. Fulham were back up to third. What was to be a promotion decider came in the 40th game of the season, against second placed Spurs. A crowd of 47,000 watched this one. Spurs were dominant but a resolute Fulham defence held out and the game ended 0-0. The last two games were a severe disappointment however, the team going down 1-0 to Grimsby and by the same score away to Nottingham Forrest. Nonetheless they finished with 50 pts and a very credible 3rd place, the closest Fulham had come yet to reaching the 1st Division. During the latter part of the season McIntyre made two further signings, both from his old club Southampton, full back Alexander Edward (Mike) Keeping and winger John Arnold. Chairman Dean paid the combined fee of £5,100 out of his own pocket. ...... please log in to view this image ................................................................................. please log in to view this image Mike Keeping was a big lad, 6’1 and 13st and very experienced, He had toured with an FA team in South Africa and just before his signing played for the Football League against the Irish League. He went on to Captain the side and in all played 214 times for Fulham, scoring 7 goals. John Arnold a stocky chap for a winger he had a flair for goals (he scored in his debut against Bury) and notched 62 in his 213 appearances for Fulham. Another first class cricketer (maybe that’s why he and Jim Hammond hit it off so well ?) he played for Hampshire, making 21.831 runs, including 37 centuries, He was also among the elite few, being capped by his country at both cricket and football. Newton had again been top scorer; despite his injury, getting 27 in 31 games. It came as something of a shock then when McIntyre sold him to Reading at the start of the new season (in September for £650). The replacement he bought was Jack Lambert (£2,500 from Arsenal). Clearly past his best Lambert was a poor substitute, scoring only 4 goals in 26 games and predictably form suffered. The team drifted down the League and James McIntyre was sacked in February 1934. Joe Edelston who had been training the reserves took over as caretaker manager until the end of the season. In the summer Jimmy Hogan was brought in. This was an imaginative move by the board since Hogan, who up to that point had been coaching abroad, favoured the close passing and ball control style of play akin to the great Hungarian side and indeed not dissimilar to the Scottish influence in his own Fulham playing days (1905 - 1908). The English game according to Hogan was “a case of swinging the ball about, down the middle, catch it if you can”. Unfortunately for Jimmy and Fulham it was not to be. The players did not respond to this Continental style and within 9 months he too was sacked. Fulham’s fifth manager in ten years to go this way. His tenure of just 31 games was the shortest of any Fulham manager. please log in to view this image The last, very unstable, year was one of the most shameful in the history of the club (ranking alongside the treatment of Bobby Robson in the 1960s). Craven Cottage was not a happy place. Footnote: Jimmy Hogan remained strong in his beliefs and went on to become a significant influence in English football. Attached is a link to a short video in his praise: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/16577422
The Story marches on [Part 1] 1935 The period in Fulham’s history surrounding the sackings of James McIntyre and Jimmy Hogan is worthy of chapter in it’s own right. However time moves on and perhaps that can be re-visited at a later date. The board and in particular Chairman Dean were looking for stability. They turned to John George Peart. Better known as Jack, he had played for nine different clubs and earned himself the reputation as “the most injured player in football“. please log in to view this image He started out in management with Ebbw Vale before moving to Rochdale and then Bradford City. A quiet, unassuming man his track record was more as an administrator than a tactician but that’s exactly what Fulham wanted, ‘a safe pair of hands’. Chairman Dean made his terms of employment very clear from the outset - (Jack) was to be the Principal Adviser to the board and had control over all matters relating to players and matches.. (Jack) had responsibility for securing new players but where a fee was involved, the sanction of the board or the Chairman was required..finally, it was (Jack's) responsibility to dispose of any surplus or unsatisfactory players, again in consultation with the board. The offer was at a salary of £600 per annum plus the same bonuses as the players and to run until 30th April 1935. Jack accepted. [Twelve months later he was offered a 5 year contract.] Jack started the 1935/36 season more or less with team he had inherited. The only real change was the introduction of two reserve players. Jimmy Tomkins (originally signed as a centre half from Swansea but even though 6 ft tall was deemed too light weight, Jimmy established himself at left half for Fulham - his ferocious tackling went down well with Jack, and the fans!) and Eddie Perry (who had been signed from Thames FC but had been in the shadow of Frank 'Bonzo' Newton - Newton returned to the club the previous season but a broken leg pretty much put paid to his career - and although only playing 61 games in his 6 years, Eddie got 36 goals). Sadly in the close season, Sonny Gibbon, whose transfer to Crystal Palace had been blocked by the Chairman, was killed in a motor cycle accident. In the first month a hat trick from Jim Hammond in a 6-0 victory over Nottingham Forrest and another by Eddie Perry in a 5-1 win over Bradford City, were encouraging. However, overall the results were patchy and this inconsistency continued till the end of the year - 25 pts were taken in 23 games. Jack felt that there was a definite lack of fight about the team and that some players were downright lazy. He introduced new methods and style of training but in truth the problem was closer to home. As mentioned Jack was no tactician and his explicit, yet simple, team talk pre-match was, “If we’re defending, you all defend. If we’re attacking, you all attack”. In the second half of the season there were some high scoring wins, like the 7-0 drubbings of both Bury and Port Vale but it was very much the same old, same old - inconsistency. The team finished 9th on 44 pts. Once again home form had been strong with 25 pts being taken at the Cottage and only 4 games lost. Jim Hammond was top scorer getting 15 of the total of 73. To say that the FA cup came as a welcome relief would be an understatement. In the 3rd round goals from Herbert Worsley and Jim Hammond saw the team overcome Third Division Brighton 2-1 in a hard fought away match before 29,000 fans. Second Division Blackpool were easily beaten 5-2 at the Cottage in the next round. Eddie Perry getting 4 goals and Jim Hammond the other. The 5th round tie was against old rivals, Chelsea. Despite the game being played on a Wednesday afternoon, following a postponement because a waterlogged pitch, 52,000 watched an ill-tempered affair end 0-0. Chelsea’s George Gibson was sent off for a foul on Jack Finch and Chelsea’s tackling throughout drew criticism from the press, if not the referee. Gibson got a 28 day suspension for his misdemeanour. please log in to view this image Although Eddie Perry had a goal disallowed in the first minute, keeper Alf Tootill was Fulham’s star. In the replay at the Cottage on the following Monday goals from Trevor Smith, Jim Hammond and John Arnold gave Fulham a comfortable lead. Sloppy play allowed Chelsea to pull two back but the team held out. First Division Derby were next up and a 37.000 crowd at the Cottage watched a goal-less first half. Early in the second a John Arnold goal put the team one up and a screaming 35 yard shot from Albert Barratt sealed the victory. Trevor Smith added a third near the end to give Fulham the tie 3-0. A semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday at Molineux was on !! The draw had been kind to Fulham. The other tie was between 1st Division sides Arsenal and Grimsby and the Cottagers had already beaten the Blades 3-1 in the League. The team that day was - Tootill; Hindson, Keeping; Barratt, Gibbons, Tomkins; Worsley, Smith, Perry, Hammond and Arnold Sheffield took the lead after 10 minutes when Bird scored following a flick on by Pickering and that was about it in a scrappy first half. Pickering made it 2-0 shortly after the re-start, scoring from 20 yards. At last Fulham came to life, Jim Hammond and Eddie Perry swapped positions and with 10 minutes to go Jim Hammond pulled one back. Despite continued pressure they couldn’t find that elusive equaliser however. In the final analysis Sheffield were more dangerous on the break and their open tactics were better suited to the condition than Fulham’s close passing game. While Alf Tootill and the fullbacks Jimmy Hindson and Mike Keeping had fine games but with wing halves, Barratt and Tomkins never really getting going and wingers Worsley and Arnold also struggling to find form, it just wasn’t to be Fulham’s day. Another ’Wembley Dream’ came to an end! Ironically, the sides met five days later in the League at Bramall Lane and Fulham won 1-0 thanks to a Mike Keeping penalty. On the bright side the club banked £8,200 from gate receipts for the cup ties (which helped reduce, but not remove debts, current at the time). Jack was gradually re-building the team however, During 1935 he had brought two new forwards, Herbert Worsley (from Leeds United) and Trevor Smith (from Charlton). However, Season 1936/37 was very average with the team finishing mid-table on 43 pts. The problem was again inconsistency, for instance from November until the end of the season the team were never able to win two consecutive games and conversely, they never lost two on the trot. Home form was once again where most points were gained; of the 15 wins, 11 were at the Cottage (as were 43 of the 71 goals). The highlight of the season was probably the game at Aston Villa. Villa had just been relegated for the first time and in front of 30,000 Fulham had an emphatic 3-0 win with goals from Eddie Perry (2) and John Arnold. please log in to view this image Jack hadn’t made many other changes during the season but one significant signing was the Crystal Palace 23 year old centre forward Ronnie Rooke (£300). In his debut game against West Ham in the November he scored a hat trick, the first of 4 that season. Playing 21 games in 1936 he scored a total of 19. Ronnie was the typical English centre forward, full of running and bustle and not much craft. Where he differed from many was in his ability to score; he was lethal in the box. please log in to view this image Ronnie went on to score 78 goals in 110 League and Cup appearances, including 6 in a 3rd round cup tie against Bury in January 1939. He continued to play for Fulham (and others) during the war years and be the highest goal scorer. Records are unofficial and sometimes incomplete but he is said to have scored 212 goals in 199 appearances in the various makeshift competitions. In December 1946, at the age of 33, he was controversially transferred to Arsenal (in exchange for two players and £1,000). The following season he was the Gunner’s highest scorer (33) and helped them win the championship. Jack rattled out the changes in Season 1937/38. This had the effect of unsettling the team which was reflected in the results. The first win didn’t come until the 11th game in and at the end of the year they only had 14pts from 22 games. The highlight was an away win (5-3) against Manchester City when Ronnie Rooke scored 4. please log in to view this image
[Part 2 - Picking up the Story in season 1937/38] During that time their was a quite unsavoury affair. Trouble had been brewing for some time and there were rumours about some players staying out all night at local dance halls, about another who disobeyed instructions to stay at home while injured and about disagreements between Jack and the reserve team coach, Joe Edelston. Things came to a head just after that first win of the season. It was an away game in November against Nottingham Forest and while the team only won 1-0 they had played uncommonly well. Perversely Jack “blamed” Joe, suggesting that Joe had ’got at’ the first team and advised them to change tactics for this game. please log in to view this image Joe had been encouraged to become a qualified FA coach by Jimmy Hogan and when Hogan was sacked, Joe reverted to being the reserve side’s coach. He had maintained those ’Hogan values’ and at the time the reserves were flying in the Combination League, playing a very different style from Jack’s first team. And that against first division reserve teams - please log in to view this image After their spat at Nottingham Jack went to the board who then accused Joe of usurping the manager’s job and promptly advised him to seek new employment. Chairman John Dean in particular said, “that coaching was unnecessary for mature players“ !! Back on the football field January saw an amazing turnaround. It all started with an 8-1 hammering of Swansea at the Cottage. In the next 20 games Fulham lost only 3 and the team finished in 8th position with 43 pts. There was no co-incidence that the revival was fired by the return to the team of Ronnie Rooke who had been absent for most of the first half of the season through injury; 14 of his 17 goals came after January. please log in to view this image A relieved board (as well as the Edelston affair in November, supporters had been demonstrating after home matches) decided in recognition of this second half of the season improvement to give the players a wage rise. The weekly wage in winter months was raised from £6 to £7, while staying at £6 in the summer. Jack had made a number of changes in that second period of the season. Established players like Alf Tootill, Joe Birch, Syd Gibbons and Jim Hammond all lost their first team places. Among them they had played almost 1100 games for Fulham. Trevor Smith (£1,500 to Doncaster) and Eddie Perry (£2,500 to Crystal Pallace) were transferred). In had come Viv Woodward (from non-league Folkestone for £300), Jimmy Evans (from Arsenal on a free transfer) and amateur Joe Baccuzi (from Tuffnell Park). Baccuzi made 299 appearances for the club over the next 18 years and was one of the fan’s favourites. please log in to view this image In his time, Joe was generally recognised as one of the best, and fairest, full backs in the country. In November 1945 he was asked by Arsenal to guest for them in that famous game against Moscow Dynamo at White Hart Lane. Peart always maintained that the best players at the club came through the amateur ranks or from non-league sides. In reality, finance was probably the main consideration. The club was in debt throughout the 1930s and in the latter years gate receipts were falling; the average in 1935/36 was £1,036, in 1936/37 it was £1,021 and in 1937/38 had fallen to £971. [Admission fees at the time for season ticket for the centre stand was £3/10/0d (5 guineas for the balcony at the Cottage although that included tea and cakes !) and admission to the terraces 1/- (5p in today’s terms) or 7d for boys.] Fulham started the final peacetime season, 1938/39, in fine form taking 16 pts from their first 10 games to lead the Second Division table. And held on to that position till the end of the year. Attendances in the first half of the season had been exceptionally high, probably as much a reflection of the Nation's mood after the infamous meeting between Neville Chamberlain and Hitler in Munich than Fulham's success on the field. A crowd of 49,335 was at the Cottage for the game against Millwall - a club record at the time which still stands. The Lions took a first half lead thanks to an own goal by Mike Keeping but Viv Woodward equalised in the second. When Jimmy Evans scrambled a late winner for the Cottagers, the fans invaded the pitch. The following week, 47,500 were at White Hart Lane to watch Spurs win 1-0 and in November 64,000 at St James Park saw Newcastle take the honours 3-1. In January 70,000 watched Chelsea beat the team 3-0 in a cup tie at Stamford Bridge. Fulham’s form fell drastically in the second half of the season, winning only 3 of the last 14 games. The team finished 12th on 44 pts. Ronnie Rooke was again the highest scorer with 20 goals. In his 4 seasons at the club Jack Peart had given the board the stability they wanted with the team hovering between 8th and 12th position with 42 to 44 points. He had also re-built the team and the club was now looking to the future with some exciting youngsters. Season 1939/40 was abandoned after only 3 games. The Nation went to War.
Is there some way to make this a "perma-post" (or a sticky)? I know I'm going to want to re-read it. (Certainly over the winter, when the weather's cold, with a glass of something comforting nearby . . . .)
The Story During WW2 (Part 1) 1940 The Nation was at war and on 1st September 1939 a complete blackout was ordered .A Balloon Unit was established at Bishops Park and a barrage of these, each 62 feet long and 25 feet in diameter, loomed over Craven Cottage. While the Civil Defence were busy organizing, the war at this time seemed to be having little effect on people’s everyday lives. Few bothered to wear gas masks any more. In March 1940 the paddling pool at Bishops Park was re-opened for normal use and sand for the beach, which had been used for protective sand-bags around Borough Buildings, was replaced. In May however things changed dramatically. On the 27th ‘Operation Dynamo’, the evacuation from Dunkirk, had started and although there was no official announcement, over the next few days people in Fulham realised that something big was happening. Thousands of troops flooded through the area on their way to a base at Willesden. Britain was under threat of invasion and bombing raids. In view of the gravity of the situation evacuation of children from the area became a priority. please log in to view this image There was also a marked increase in the number of young men called-up for service. In readiness for mobilisation ‘get fit’ programmes were introduced. Men used to jumping and cheering their team from the terraces of Craven Cottage went there instead to do their physical jerks on the turf. Video link to a typical session at the Cottage - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6J5sWaLBlk The League and FA Cup competitions were abandoned. However, football continued during the war years, as much to keep the population occupied as any other reason. Clubs were divided into regional leagues, cups were competed for by pools of teams playing for points rather than the usual ‘sudden death’ and players turned out for clubs nearest to where they were stationed , as ’guests’. The list of Fulham list of ‘guests’ reads like a Who’s, Who. Among the notable names who turned out in Black and White were, Billy Wright, Frank Swift, Stan Cullis, Leslie Compton and Vic Buckingham (yes, the very same !). Social events such as football had to co-exist with the bombings. In this makeshift League set up, in season 1940/41 Fulham played 42 games and won 15. In their respective League the team had a goal average of 0.849 (because not all teams could complete their fixtures, placings were decided on goal average) and came 23rd out of 26. Some of the bizarre scores give an idea of how makeshift the teams were; Brentford beat Fulham 8-3 at the Cottage and 7-4 at Vicarage Road. While Fulham trounced QPR 7-5 and Southend 8-2. please log in to view this image The first bombs fell on Fulham on the night of 9th September 1940. One badly damaged Fulham Hospital. Video link of the King and Queen visiting the day after - http://www.britishpathe.com/video/king-and-queen-visit-a-bombed-hospital Two bombs fell in Bishops Park,; one destroyed the bandstand and the other narrowly missed Craven Cottage, landing in the river. In 1941/42, the team took 24 pts from 30 League matches and finished 11th. In Group 4 of the London War Cup they were denied a semi-final place on goal average following a 9-1 defeat by Portsmouth. While there was a 1-1 draw away to West Ham, many games again had crazy score lines. Brighton were beaten 7-3 but the team went down 7-4 at home to Charlton and 7-2 to Portsmouth. please log in to view this image By early 1942 the worst of the bombings were over. However, in Fulham, 494 houses had been destroyed and 1185 badly damaged. The army installed a new searchlight at Parsons Green but, following complaints from locals, it was removed. Food was the main concern however, and new ration books were introduced in July 1941. The No.1 Polo ground at the Hurlingham Club was ordered to be taken over for allotments. In 1942/43, of the 28 League matches played, 10 were won and the team ended up with 22 pts. Not surprisingly crowds were fairly low but around 10,000 attended each of the home and away against Chelsea (3-1 win at home and 4-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge). For some reason the score lines this season were quite modest and the only one that stands out was a 7-2 defeat at Highbury. please log in to view this image In January 1943 bombing of London resumed and while none fell in Fulham, on the night of 17th four anti-aircraft shells came down south of the New Kings Road. Three bombs fell in the grounds of Fulham Palace on 3rd March 1943; there were no serious casualties and Craven Cottage was unscathed. In 1943/44, of the 30 League matches played Fulham won 11 ended up in 9th spot with 31 pts. Their highest position during the war years. Goals flew in again although there was a 0-0 against Clapton Orient, watched by the lowest crowd of the season (2,500). Crowds generally were on the increase and 16,000 watched a thrilling 4-4 draw with Arsenal. In February 15,000 turned up at the Cottage to watch Ronnie Rooke score the only goal in a cup tie against Watford. please log in to view this image Fulham’s turn for renewed bomb attack came on the evening of 20th February 1944. In less than an hour 20 high explosive bombs and 7,000 incendiary devices fell, mainly in the North of the Borough; 76 were killed, 95 houses demolished and 2,500 badly damaged. On 28th July 1944, a flying bomb fell in the allotments at Fulham Palace and killed 7 people but again Craven Cottage escaped. The flying bomb raids across Fulham that week, demolished 262 houses, a further 457 made uninhabitable and 767 more badly damaged. Season 1944/45 was typical of the other years with bizarre score lines. A typical example of the situation occurred in late 1944. Fulham were doing pretty well in terms of results with Charlie Layfield (Doncaster) and Harry Potts (Burnley) joining Ronnie Rooke, John Arnold and Taffy O’Callaghan in the forward line. The results quickly ended when Ronnie and Harry received new postings and Charlie broke a leg. By the end of the season Fulham had won 11 of their 30 League games and ended up with 26 pts. please log in to view this image The winter of 1944/45 was a hard one and the shortage of coal made life harsh. On 2nd May1945, with the enemy retreating, lighting restrictions were lifted and on 8th May the VE celebrations began. Sadly three team players from before the war were killed in action. Major Jimmy Tomkins was killed at the age of 30 in the first wave of the D-Day Landings. Dennis Higgins (a Fuselier) was killed in North Africa in 1942. Ernie Tuckett (a corporal in the RAF) was killed in a flying accident in Yorkshire. John Dean also died, of natural causes, in 1944 an was succeeded as Chairman of the Board by his son Charles. Before the Football League resumed in 1946, tow other new members were co-opted onto to the Board, Tony Dean (son of the Chairman) and comedian Tommy Trinder. The other Board members at that time were Chappie D’Amato, Frank Osborne (ex-Fulham player) and E. Dudley Evans.
(Part 2) Football during the war years was free from the pressures of promotion and regulation and was played with gay abandon, as the score lines attest (and Ronnie Rooke with 212 goals in 199 games). Players therefore fell back on their natural ability than rather performing within a system. It also allowed talented youngsters to emerge; with so many men overseas they got more games and also games playing with seasoned professionals. Jack Peart also managed to run a junior side throughout the war years. Among the Fulham youngsters who came to the fore as a result were, Arthur Stevens, Jim Taylor, Harry Freeman and Len Quested. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Arthur âPabloâ Stevens 413 appearances. From Battersea he was a winger renowned for being able to cross the ball while running full tilt, he loved scoring goals (his total was 124) - lobs, headers, back-headers, 30 yard rockets, whatever.. His most profitable performance was in a 4th round cup tie against Bristol Rovers in January 1946. Tommy Trinder promised him a new overcoat if he scored a hat trick. Arthur duly obliged and at the end of the game waved to Trinder in the Directorâs Box. The comedian promptly took his overcoat off and waved it in the air. [Arthur never would tell if he got the coat !] Jim Taylor 278 appearances. A strong, powerful Centre half, he had originally been an inside forward with Hillingdon British Legion. His war time appearances for Fulham had been restricted by his service in the Merchant Navy but he got experience with St Mirren and Distillery. He started back at Fulham as a left half but soon made the switch to centre half. He went on to Captain the club an was capped twice for England. Harry Freeman 190 appearances. A right back with a powerful kick, he scored twice in one game against Spurs with 30 yard rockets. A dour man, he was renowned for never smiling, on all but one occasion that is. In a cup tie against Charlton he again scored with a pile driver and followed it up with a handstand in the centre circle. Len Quested 188 appearances. A human dynamo at right half, he could run all day. Ruthless and determined in defence, he could be equally creative when supporting the forwards. Many questioned why he was never capped for his country. The fans were in uproar when he was controversially sold to Huddersfield in 1951. When hostilities ended in April 1945, there was insufficient time to organise the proper Football League and the 1945/46 season continued on the war basis, except that the âguestâ arrangement ended and the transfer system re-introduced. Jack Peart had his group of youngsters and a few players from the pre-war time still on the books but he still had to re-group somewhat. By and large he went for stop gap solutions bringing in John Watson (Bury), Harry âChoppyâ Wall banks (a Northumberland miner who travelled to games on a Friday night), Cliff Lloyd (Wrexham), Ron Lewis (Bradford City) and Jimmy McCormack (Spurs). With a view to the future he brought in Harry Ayres. Jack saw him as the future successor to Ronnie Rookes (who was now 32) but unfortunately, he never fulfilled the managerâs expectations. In 3 seasons he managed only 36 games 8 goals. Harryâs one claim to fame was in the 1948/49 season when he was seen as the teamâs lucky mascot and was regularly chosen as 12th man. Jackâs other signing at the time turned out to be a shrewd move. He bought the hugely experienced Albert âPatâ Beasley (£750 from Huddersfield) who had been Alex Jamesâ deputy at Arsenal in the 1930s (he even managed to imitate the Jamesâ âfluttering footâ trick !) please log in to view this image Pat was 32 when he joined Fulham and although initially signed as an inside left he was later shifted to left half. This proved to be an inspiration by Jack (ring any bells ??) and gave Beasley a new lease of life. A loss of pace was made up for by fierce determination and canny reading of the game. Pat went on to be team Captain and made 153 appearances for the club. Season 1945/46 kicked off with two away games with very differing fortunes. please log in to view this image In the first against Derby County the team went down 5-2 but in the second against Newport County there was a complete reversal and Fulham ran away 5-1 winners. The one thing that was the same in both games was Ronnie Rooke ; he notched a total of 5 goals. A decent run followed and after 6 games the team had accumulated 10 pts. A mixed set of results followed by a disastrous January and February, when no points at all were taken, which saw the team in the bottom half of the League. However they rallied and went unbeaten in the final 13 games taking a total of 22 pts. The highlight of that magnificent run of games was a 5-3 away win against West Ham. Ronnie Rooke got a hat trick and Ernie Shepherd the other 2. please log in to view this image Fulham finished the season in 8th position on 50 pts. Ronnie Rooke was highest scorer on 28 goals and winger Ernie Shepherd second on 18. The FA Cup was resumed but for the first time in history, ties all the way to the semi-final were on a home and away basis. Fulham were drawn against Charlton and lost the first leg at the Valley 3-1. In the return leg, despite being down to 10 men and 2 Ronnie Rooke goals, Charlton won 2-1 to go through 4-3 on aggregate. They went on to reach the final and went down in history as the only team to reach an FA Cup Final having lost a game ! [They also lost the final 4-1 to Derby County] So the war was over, the preparation and re-building of the team had been done. All that awaited Craven Cottage was the start of the Football League proper.
The Story Takes A Check 1946 Fulham entered the modern, post-war period with a good caucus of players. Manager Jack Peart was able to start the new Football League with a group of 31 who had a mix of experience and youth. These included the 12 survivors from 1939/40 (Flack, Bacuzzi, Freeman, Pitts, Malpass, Taylor, Hiles, Woodward, Rooke, Thomas, Shepherd and Cranfield), the young war time discoveries (Buchanan, Quested and Stevens) and some experienced new signings (Wallbanks, Watson, Lewin, Lloyd, Beasley and McCormack). The war had changed the world but the football authorities were nothing if not redoubtable. The new season 1946/47 started exactly where it left off in 1939/40 with the same teams in the same divisions playing to the same fixture list. Fulhamâs visit to Gigg Lane was even less successful than the one seven years before as Bury hammered them 7-2. Jack immediately went out and got a new goalkeeper, Ted Hinton. please log in to view this image He came from Distillery in Northern Ireland (they had forgotten to re-sign him) and made 86 appearances for Fulham. Ted was the second Fulham player, but the first goalkeeper, to be capped for Ireland (the first was player was Alex Steel in 1929). The next game was away as well, this time to West Ham and it was another defeat (3-2). This was Ted Hintonâs debut game and unfortunately he was responsible for all three of the Hammersâ goals !! The teamâs first home game, in front of 30,000, brought a return to Cottage invincibility though with a 2-1 win over Luton. By the end of September the team had 8 pts from 8 games and that ratio of a point a game continued for most of the season. In this respect there was little difference in results in 1946/47 than those under Peart in the last 4 years of the 1930s. After 21 games the team had 22 pts and after 30 games, 30 pts. The winter of 1946/47 was one of the severest ever, and the league season was virtually wiped out for 6 weeks from the middle of January to the beginning of March. The season was extended into June as a result. The team won only 3 of itâs last 8 games and finished 15th on 39 pts. Away form was yet again a contributory factor with only 3 games being won (Bradford, Swansea and Newcastle). But this time that wasnât the only reason. The other was the lack of goals in the second half of the season; 40 had been scored in the first 21 games and only 29 in the second 21. The Fulham Chronicle at the time said, âSomething must be done to infuse more devil in the forward lineâ. The reason for the change wasnât hard to find - Jack had controversially sold Ronnie Rooke to Arsenal in December (in exchange for Cyril Grant and Dave Nelson plus a £1,000). [A deal that must rank with the sale of Allan Clarke to Leicester in 1968] As a replacement Jack bought Doug McGibbon for £8,000 from Southampton. He had scored 9 goals in 12 games for them and on his Fulham debut scored all three in the teamâs 3-0 win over Plymouth. In the rest of the season (20 games) he scored 5 more times and in the next season he got 10. He was then sold to Bournemouth for £4,000 and went on to score 30 goals for them in his first season and was their top scorer for the next three seasons. He also went on record as scoring one of the fastest goals; less than 7 seconds after the kick off. Doug was a hard working and fast centre forward but for whatever reason Fulham and he were not to be. Season 1947/48 was to be like all the others under Jack. The team had 15 wins and 10 draws to give them 40 pts and 11th place. The best win all season was a 3-0 victory over Newcastle at the Cottage in September. please log in to view this image The goal of the season undoubtedly went to centre half Jim Taylor. In an away game against Brentford in December, he picked up the ball in his own half then dribbled past the whole Brentford team before rounding the keeper and blasting the ball into the roof of the net. There were no real sustained runs of results though. The team see-sawed their way between 9th and 15th position, winning 13 pts from 14 games, 27pts from 28 games and 35 pts from 35 games. There was one significant difference however. Up until now the clubâs strength had been itâs home form and indeed, only a poor away record had prevented them from becoming serious challengers for promotion on numerous occasions. In season 1947/48, 6 of the 15 wins had been at home and 9 away. That statistic might be slightly misleading though, since a record 9 games at home were draws. There were two important team changes in the season. Len Quested made his debut in March in a home game against Burnley (Fulham won 1-0). And, Bob Thomas was signed from Plymouth (for £4,000). Before the war he had played for Brentford but on being demobbed from the Navy in 1946 had moved to Plymouth. please log in to view this image A fast inside forward, his strength was getting into scoring positions inside the penalty box. He should have scored more than he did, as evidenced by his nickname, âover the bar Bobâ (ring any bells ?!) He made 176 appearances and scored 57 goals. Jack sold Peter Buchanan and Dave Nelson to Brentford for £5,500. He also tried to sign Tommy Lawton from Chelsea and Archie MacAulay from Brentford but wasnât successful. However, in the close season before the start of season 1948/49 he did manage to sign two players, Jack McDonald from Bournemouth for a club record fee of £12,000 and Jimmy Jinks from Millwall. If the League had been a routine affair during 1947/48, the FA Cup was an altogether different matter. In the third round Fulham had an easy 2-0 (Harry Ayres and Arthur Stevens) over Doncaster at the Cottage. The fourth round was an equally kind draw at home. This time against Third Division Bristol Rovers and the team ran out 5-2 winners. [This was the game where Arthur Stevens got his hat trick and Tommy Trinderâs overcoat (Harry Ayres got the other 2 goals)]. The third round brought First Division Everton to the Cottage and a crowd of 37,500 saw a finely fought contest. Everton took a first half lead through Eglinton and shortly after Pat Beasley missed an open goal, Len Quested got the equaliser (his first goal for the club) towards the end. please log in to view this image The return leg was at Goodison 7 days later and 71.587 turned up to watch this one. [This was the highest attendance Fulham played before until they went to Old Trafford in 2006 ! (excluding the Cup Final of course)] please log in to view this image That was the view of one Sunday Tabloid reporter. A Fulham fan on the other hand, summed the game up saying, âFulham looked like the First Division sideâ. Blackpool, with Matthews and Mortisen, were the opponents at the Cottage in what was Fulhamâs fifth quarter-final . A crowd of 40,000 saw the visitors take an early lead when Harry Freeman was injured after 20 minutes. He took no further part in the game, and 10 man Fulham could not stem the tide of the Seasiderâs attacks. They scored another in the second half and ran out comfortable 2-0 winners. It had been another marvellous cup run by the team though. please log in to view this image Sadly season 1947/48 turned out to be the last one for Jack. He died suddenly in September 1948. That season had proved to be an almost exact replica of his first one, 13 years earlier; average in the League and a superb cup run. The bare statistics of his time managing Fulham are not all that impressive; the highest League position was 8th and the lowest 15th, one semi and one quarter final in the cup. What he had done however, was restore stability at the club and steered them through the war years. With the exception of Ronnie Rookeâs sale to Arsenal, he had been shrewd in the transfer market and a fairer judgment would be in a comparison of the team he took over and the one he left.
The Story Jumps On (Part 1) 1948....... Olympic Year ............................................................ please log in to view this image The Games were in town, and before the new League season started Craven Cottage was to host two of the (amateur) olympic football matches. They had been dubbed the ’Austerity Games’, reflecting the hardship people were experiencing in the 3 years since the end of the war, and no doubt feeling the pinch in the pocket only 7,000 turned up on 31st July for a 1st round match between Yugoslavia and Luxembourg . Luxembourg scored first courtesy of Schammel after 10 minutes and it took Yugoslavia 47 minutes to reply through Stankovic. Further goals came from Mihajlovic (61’, Cajkovski (65' & 70'), Mitic (74’ and finally in 87 minutes by Bobek, for Yugoslavia to run out easy 6-1 winners. The second game was Great Britain v France. Before the Games had even started the press were on the back of GB manager, Matt Busby and a Guardian report at the time said, please log in to view this image On the 5th of August a much healthier crowd of 25,000 turned up to see GB win 1-0 through a goal scored by Hardistry on 29 minutes. please log in to view this image GB lost 3-1 in the semi-final to Yugoslavia and Sweden were the eventual winners. Only two more weeks were left till the start of the Season and in preparation manager Jack Peart organised a trial match so that he could look at not only the players themselves but at different combinations. please log in to view this image The starting line up for the first match of season 1948/49 that he went for was :- Hinton; Freeman, Bacuzzi; Quested, Taylor, Beasley; Stevens, Thomas (R), Jinks, Ayres and McDonald The team made a confident start with wins over Grimsby and Nottingham Forest and two draws with Barnsley, which put them in second place. The first shock of the season hit the club the day after the second Barnsley match however, when Jack Peart died in hospital after a short illness. While the Board advertised for his successor, the team faltered and only one point was taken in the next four games. After a lot of speculation, ex-player Frank Osborne was persuaded by chairman Charles Dean to take the job. Frank played for the club from 1921 to 1924, making 70 appearances and scoring 18 goals, In 1924 he transferred to Spurs and played for them until 1931 before retiring in 1933 after two years at Southampton. please log in to view this image He’d always kept in touch with club though and on retiring from football went to work for Charles Dean’s firm. He had joined the Fulham Board just after the war, in 1946. Frank’s first action was to appoint ex-player Eddie Perry as his assistant. Results didn’t improve though and with the team having slipped to 17th place, Frank was forced to make changes. Ted Hinton, Jimmy Jinks and Harry Ayres were all dropped and slowly the results improved. QPR were thumped 5-0 at the Cottage in October with a hat trick from Arthur Stevens and two from Bob Thomas. The next game was also at home, against West Brom, and 32,000 fans were stunned by a 2-1 defeat. That proved be the incentive needed though, and the team then went on an unbeaten run of 7 games. Much of the thanks to these good results was down to goalkeeper Doug Flack. Doug made his debut in the QPR game and two games later, in the one that started the run and against Chesterfield, he saved a last minute penalty with the team leading 1-0. In the next game, against Lincoln City, he repeated the feat with another last minute penalty save. Fulham won the game 2-1. Apart from the morale boost this gave the team, Doug’s saves earned two valuable points (remember 2 pts for a win in those days). A narrow defeat away to West Ham was followed by two wins and a draw. Although none of these games had been high scoring (5 of the 7 wins were by the odd goal), the points were enough to take Fulham into 4th place by the end of the year. Behind Southampton, West Bromwich Albion and Spurs. Another player who had contributed significantly inthis first half of the season was Bedford Jezzard. A story could written about Beddy alone; this short summary does not do him justice. please log in to view this image He made 306 appearances for Fulham and scored 154 goals, only 5 less than Ivor (Gordon Davies) the club record holder. Beddy was capped twice for England. After retiring prematurely as a player in 1956 he became youth team coach and subsequently the club’s manager. He did this job successfully for 5 years until a clash with Chairman Tommy Trinder. The affair involved the sale of Alan Mullery to Spurs (for a club record fee at the time, of £72,500 ). Trinder had negotiated the deal himself and the first Beddy (and the team) knew about it was at half time in a match against Liverpool. This was untenable to Beddy and he handed in his notice. A sad parting for a person who had given his all to Fulham Football Club for 16 years. There was a shock defeat in January in the 3rd round of the FA Cup to Third Division Walsall. There was no reaction to that surprise in the League however with the tam winning all three games that month and scoring 15 goals. The star was Arthur Rowley, the man brought in to replace Ronnie Rooke. He score 1 in the 2-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest, 4 in the win over Bury and 3 in the one over Plymouth Argyle. please log in to view this image Arthur came to the club from West Brom in an exchange deal involving Ernie Shepherd. Over his career Arthur scored 434 goals beating even the legendary Dixie Dean’s total. February and March were also good months with the team winning 4 and drawing 1 of their 7 games. A critical game in that period was the one away to West Brom. Conditions at the Hawthorns were appalling, with ice and snow on the pitch, neither of which helped Fulham goalkeeper Doug Flack who fumbled the ball in the 9th allowing Albion to take the lead. Fulham turne round 1-0 down but with the snow and wind in their faces they battled back. With 20 minutes left, Len Quested equalised from a pass by Arthur Stevens. More drama was to follow when, in the final minute, Arthur Rowley won the ball in mid field and ran towards the home goal. Brushing aside challenges from two defenders, he drove the ball past the Albion keeper Saunders for the winner. By Easter it was a three-horse race. Leaders Southampton had been dropping points but were still favourites with 57 pts. West Brom were second on 47 pts and Fulham third on 46 pts. Manager Frank Osborne demanded five points from the Easter programme and the team responded by taking maximum points in all three games; beating Luton 4-1 (home), Leicester 3-1 (away) an Luton 3-1 (away). The second Luton victory came at a cost however. Goalkeeper Doug Flack fractured his jaw diving at the feet of a Luton forward and although he finished the match, he was ruled out for the rest of the season. With Ted Hinton also injured, Frank call up fourth choice keeper, Larry Gage for the final three games of the season. A crowd of 45,00 came to the Cottage for the game against Brentford. All the stand seats had been sold and barriers had to be put up in Stevenage Road to funnel the spectators through the turnstiles. Hundreds of youngsters were allowed to site inside the railings around the cinder track. The visitors, with former Fulham players Dave Nelson, Viv Woodward and Peter Buchanan in the side, fought hard from the kick off and took the lead after half an hour through Billy Dare. Fulham equalised before half time when the Brentford keeper, harassed by Bob Thomas, could only knock the ball into the path of Arthur Rowley, who scored easily. The second half was played at the same fast pace and neither team was able to break the deadlock. Then, with a minute to go, Bob Thomas from a seemingly offside position headed a Joe Bacuzzi free kick past the helpless Brentford keeper. Brentford protested vehemently but the goal stood and the team had another two vital points. With those and the points at Easter, Fulham had clawed back all the points from Southampton. The following week Fulham went to White Hart lane to play Spurs, who at one point had been themselves challenging for the title but had slipped with a poor run after Christmas. Another huge crowd of over 50,000 saw the home team pound the Fulham goal for most of the first half and Spurs went in deservedly 1-0 up at half time. The second half was much of the same, with two goal line clearances from Joe Buccuzi, last ditch tackles from Harry Freeman, Pat Beasley, Len Quested and Jim Taylor, as well as acrobatics from Larry Gage keeping Spurs out. Then, six minute from time, Len Quested broke free on the right wing, saw his shot parried by the Spurs keeper Ditchburn, crossed the rebound to the unmarked Bob Thomas who headed the ball in for the equalizer. The same day Southampton slipped further, losing 1-0 to Chesterfield. That vital goal had surely won promotion for the team. Fulham were two pints ahead and with a superior goal difference.
(Part 2) Like many clubs, and more so players, superstition was rife. Papers reported that, “The Fulham players are stiffer than wax dummies and champagne bought by the Directors (despite rationing) is being stored in a neighbouring house until the result is certain”. The player’s insisted that lucky mascot Harry Ayres be chosen as twelfth man and that manager Frank Osborne didn’t attend the match. Strange as that might sound today, like a lot of managers then, Frank hadn’t actually seen many of the team’s games and they always seemed to do well in his absence. The last match of the season, against West Ham at the Cottage on 7th March 1949 was watched by another bumper crowd over 40,000. please log in to view this image The following day newspaper headlines read ................ please log in to view this image As the newspaper report said thousands of fans flooded on to the pitch at the end of the game. From the terraces, Frank Osborne watched Arthur Rowley being chaired off by ecstatic supporters and heard captain Pat Beasley attempt to shout a speech of thanks from the balcony of the Cottage. Later, Frank explained to reporters, “I’m seen as a bit of a Jonah by the side and said I was going to another game. Then I slipped through a side gate leading to the pitch and joined the crowd,” The tabloids of course said he had paid to get in and ran with the headline “Saw it all for 1/3d” Frank’s first action after the game was to send a telegram ( from Fulhamish 1869) of commiseration to Southampton’s manage, Bill Dodgin (remember him ?). In it’s 70th year and 3 years after joining the Football League Fulham were in the First Division and as League Champions. ......................................... please log in to view this image Back Row: Eddy Perry (asst. team manager), Harry Freeman, Len Quested, Doug Flack, Jim Taylor, Joe Bacuzzi, Pat Beasley (capt.), Frank Penn (trainer) Front Row; Ron Lewin, Arthur Stevens, Bob Thomas, Arthur Rowley, Sid Thomas, Jack McDonald, Dave Bewley Everyone at the club were champions of course, but two heroes of the hour, in two simple sentences after the game, summed up Fulham as the great Football Club as it is to this day. Syd Thomas said, “This is the finest club in the country. The players could not be treated better.” and manager Frank Osborne, in stressing that he didn‘t want personal credit “That was Jack Peart’s Team.” Fulham had been the top scorers in Division two with 77 goals; Bob Thomas was highest scorer on 23, followed by Arthur Rowley on 19 and Arthur Stevens on 12. The defence had played it’s part though. Only 32 goals had been conceded and only 14 at the Cottage, which stands as a club record post-war. The opposition had failed to score or managed to get one goal in 35 of the 42 matches and the only blip was when 3 goals were conceded in two consecutive matches shortly after Jack Peart’s death. A new club record of the fewest home defeats had been established - only one (the one against West Brom in October) and the fewest defeats in a season, of only nine, was equalled. This marvellous performance had been reflected in the attendances. The average home gate was 28,000. And on six occasions had been over 35,000. All of Fulham turned out for a Civic Parade ending at Fulham Town Hall please log in to view this image The Town Hall of course is only 250 yards or so from Stamford Bridge, the ground the club almost went to in 1896, choosing instead Craven Cottage. This Story started with that monumental decision and since then, although there had been some drama on the pitch, little had happened to the ground itself. At the end of 1933 electricity had been installed in the Cottage flat, board room, offices and dressing rooms at a cost of £70. Two years later, Archibald Leitch, who had built the original Cottage and Stevenage Road Stand, was invited to submit plans for a new stand on the west (river) side of the ground. The proposal was for an additional 6,000 fans, making 12,000 in total, to be under cover. The Board decided against the plans on the grounds of projected costs of £11,197. They also considered experimenting with floodlights but rejected that proposal as well since “it would be of no use to League clubs”. It would be nice to end the Story and say that Craven Cottage was developed in time for the club’s entry into the First Division but in fact it was another 22 years before that happened. ........................................................................................................................................... please log in to view this image
Nice one, Cottager. Incidentally, I've got a framed edition of that Ogden's cigarette card hanging on the wall of my front room, a leaving present from a job when I moved down to Bournemouth 14 years ago (along with an accompanying one for Bournemouth, or Bournemouth and Boscombe as they were known back then).
"Wonderful "Cottager. You are now entering my era,so I may be able to add some whimseys from my early days as a young shaver, hanging around the Cottage both on, and off, match days.
I had kind of come to end rosc, although I was thinking of re-visiting the "Henry Norris" and "Jimmy Hogan" sagas. And 'The Story' is entering the period where books like 'Tales from the Riverbank' cover the Club's history much better than I ever could - Part 3 of 'Tales from the Riverbank' from Ashwater Press, covering the late 1960s. is just out and would make a terrififc Christmas present for any Fulham fan. The first years in the First Division was just before my time though, so I don't know, we'll see.
"Cottager"you have got to,if you have not already, put these fine stories of our club into print, I am sure you would find an interested market,not only by FFC fans but supporters in general. Save me a copy.
I, like everybody have been enjoying this thread - and would echo the idea of having it printed - or a single downloadable document. Also, I think that the thread should be stickied. We are approaching the time when people on the board were beginning to go - my first trip must have been about 1965 - so it would be good to gather those memories when the time arises.
Well done Cottager! This has to be put together somehow. I guess the 60's would start to get some more input - My first visit 2nd October 1965: Fulham 3 West Ham 0. Still have the programme. C O Y W
