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.
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
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:
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.
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.
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. 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
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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:
You must log in or register to see images
You must log in or register to see images
You must log in or register to see images
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.
, Cajkovski (65' & 70'), Mitic (74’
