Those Were The Games
Welcome to the Football League
Published by Eccles on October 1, 2009
Gillingham v Southampton – August 28th 1920
Twenty five years previously, in 1895, New Brompton Football Club was on the crest of a wave. In just two seasons it had established itself from a group of locals playing friendlies each week to a football club employing professional players, joining the newly formed Southern League and spectacularly winning promotion to its First Division at the first attempt (see Part 3).
But from then on progress had stalled. Certainly during Victorian and Edwardian times Brompton had had their moments in the FA Cup (see Parts 6 and 7) but Southern League success, which was the key to elevation to the Football League, had been elusive. New Brompton tended to hover in mid-table, or just below it. Their best finish was a modest sixth (out of sixteen) in 1902/03.
On the other hand only once up until the outbreak of the First World War did New Brompton finish bottom – in 1907/08, and that was somewhat tempered by the sensational FA Cup defeat of Football League First Division Sunderland, and then taking First Division Manchester City to a replay. New Brompton avoided relegation to the Southern League Second Division because seventh placed Tottenham Hotspur were elected into the Football League.
Brompton’s main problem in not being able to build long term was that many of their players were signed when nearing the end of their careers or were from the local military establishments (and therefore could be suddenly posted to out-flung parts of the Empire). That seriously came home to roost in the 1914/15 season. Despite appalling battles and casualties being taken in Northern France as what became the First World War raged, the football season continued to its conclusion. Gillingham (as New Brompton now were) found it at times very difficult to field a team. Players with a military background went off to fight, and others of military age volunteered (compulsory conscription not being introduced until 1916). To complete the season Gillingham registered 61 players, won only six of the 38 games played, established a club record of 17 games without a win and unsurprisingly finished bottom.
When organised football started again in August 1919 the Southern League First Division had been expanded from twenty to twenty-two clubs. West Ham United had joined the Football League and Croydon Common had dropped out, to be replaced by Brentford and a Welsh contingent of Swansea City, Newport County and Merthyr Town. Fans were hoping that the Gills would put the disastrous 1914/15 season behind them and make a fresh start. They didn’t. Despite a titanic sixth qualifying round FA Cup battle with Swansea Town (see Part 8 ) Gillingham had another bad Southern League season and finished 1919/20 bottom again, two points adrift of Merthyr Town. The fans were suitably unimpressed and started pointing the finger at long-serving chairman Edward Crawley and his Board.
The root of the fans’ concern was that the summer of 1920 looked to be bringing a sea change in the world of football. The Football League now consisted of 44 clubs grouped into two divisions of 22, and other than clubs in London itself was exclusively based in the North and the industrial Midlands. The league wanted to expand its influence into the South of England, and what better way to do that than to make a Third Division, and do it by adopting the First Division of the Southern League en bloc? And on Monday May 31st 1920 the 44 Football League clubs voted to do exactly that. Gillingham would become a Football League Club playing in the newly established Football League Division Three. Or would they?
The minutes of that Football League Annual General Meeting do not make it clear. They state that “the 22 Southern League First Division clubs will be adopted”, but do not individually name them. The minutes are much more concerned about establishing the rights and protections for the 44 existing clubs. They will be “Full Members” and have a vote each, while the newcomers will be “Associate Members” and will have four votes between them all. Only the Third Division champions will be promoted into the Second Division (and so become a Full Member). There were other constitutional clarifications, but importantly the name “Gillingham” did not appear anywhere.
This was potentially disastrous, because as Gillingham had finished bottom of the Southern League First Division after the final game on May 1st 1920 were they relegated at that point and replaced by Second Division Champions Mid Rhondda, who would now become a Football League club? Or at May 31st 1920 were Gillingham still considered to be in the Southern League First Division and therefore join the Football League? At what point did relegation actually take place?
It was a question that the Board dared not ask, but they needed an answer because three days later, on Thursday June 3rd they faced an Annual General Meeting. News of the formation of the Football League Third Division was obviously well known and speaker after speaker demanded to know whether the rumours that Gillingham were excluded due to Southern League relegation were true. The inept answers about “seeking clarification” and “we intend to telegram the League shortly” (faxes and e-mails being decades into the future) cut no ice. As one formidable shareholder put it “Mr Chairman, for twenty-five years our traditional opponents have been the likes of Watford, Crystal Palace and Millwall They are now Football League clubs. Will we be playing them again next season – or Margate?”
There was an attempt by the Board’s supporters to come to their aid by praising them for their coup in appointing Robert Brown as secretary-manager. Mr Brown had been Portsmouth’s secretary-manager for eight years, and had steered them to be the current Southern League champions. But Mr Brown had got into a dispute with the Pompey directors (probably about a pay rise) and had left. It was seen as a significant achievement by Gillingham to appoint someone of Mr Brown’s stature as secretary-manager, which the Board announced on May 12th.
Except that he hadn’t been. Although Mr Brown was acting as secretary-manager and signing players, the Board had to come clean at the AGM that he had only been appointed “pro tem.” Under pressure from shareholders they conceded “Mr Brown’s availability came to our notice following a chance meeting with a director. He has been appointed pro tem, and in the past three weeks has made a very valuable contribution to the club’s affairs. We hope to persuade him to stay.” In the event they couldn’t. A week later he was appointed as secretary-manager of Sheffield Wednesday, where he stayed until 1933 and led them to successive Football League Championships in 1929 and 1930.
Robert Brown has gone down in history as Gillingham’s shortest serving manager, but in fact he was never manager at all. None the less the work he did while “pro tem” for a month was significant. He was instrumental in bringing a number of quality players to the club – in particular inside forward Tommy Hall, from Newcastle United. Tommy was the club’s first ever £1,000 signing. He played for six years, making 207 appearances and scoring 55 goals and in 1926, at the end of his career, became the club’s trainer.
Tommy Hall’s signing was in part a reaction to the lashing that Edward Crawley and his Board received at the 1920 AGM. They eventually resolved their dilemma with the secretary-manager’s post in early July by appointing John McMillan, who was the trainer at Birmingham City. But their embarrassment about who Gillingham would be playing in 1920/21 was only finally resolved by the publication of the Football League Third Division fixture list, which showed “Gillingham” in it. They were lucky. Mid Rhondda didn’t have the friends in Southern League/Football League circles that Gillingham had, and their geographical position meant that there was little appetite for the new Third Division clubs to travel there.
And so, one of the many embarrassing episodes in the club’s history came to an end and attention finally turned to the serious business – Gillingham’s first ever Football League game. It was at Priestfield, on Saturday August 28th 1920, against Southampton. A crowd of 11,500, one of Priestfield’s then biggest, turned up on a sunny late summer afternoon, and paid £600 receipts to see this piece of history. The local rail company had lain on two special trains to bring fans in from north and east Kent. Unusually for those times there was a good sprinkling of fans from Southampton who, as the local paper described “gave up a goodly cheer when their favourites appeared, but it was nothing to the mighty roar that greeted the black and white stripes.”
Our team was:
(2-3-5) Jack Branfield; Jock Robertson (Capt), Tom Sisson; Wally Battiste, Tom Baxter, Cuthbert Wigmore; Arnold Holt, Tommy Hall, Tom Gilbey, Archie Roe, Sid Gore
Only Jack Branfield and Jock Robertson survived from Gillingham’s Southern League days, and it would be interesting to see how this new look side would gel. The game opened quietly. On the quarter hour Tommy Hall set up Tom Gilbey, whose cross-shot tested Allen in the Saints’ goal, but Southampton were getting into their stride with some neat passing movements. The Gills’ defence was kept busy and Jock Robertson, Tom Baxter and Tom Sisson needed some crisp tackles to keep the home side clear of serious danger.
But Gillingham’s direct counter-attacking game caused Southampton problems. Wally Battiste (playing at right-half rather than his more usual right-wing spot) hit a long cross that found Archie Roe on the left, and there were strong appeals for hand-ball as Archie’s drive hit a defender. Rather than a penalty Gills got a corner, but from it Tom Baxter hammered in a piledriver that saw Allen make the save of the game.
The Gills were finishing the first half on top. Tommy Hall screwed a shot wide of the post when he might have done better, but he and Wally Battiste combined on the stroke of half-time to put Tom Gilbey through. Tom raced into the box, only to be brought down heavily by Saints’ right-back Parker. There was a huge roar for a penalty. But the referee was having none of it, and an entertaining first half closed goalless.
Gillingham had a huge scare two minutes after the start of the second half. A quick attack sliced their defence wide open and Southampton inside-forward Arthur Dominy (who later played for the Gills in 1928/29) had the goal at his mercy. He shot well, but Jack Branfield made a brilliant save to keep it out. From his throw out Gills swept forward on the counter attack. Tommy Hall headed the ball into Tom Gilbey’s path, Tom swept past his marking defender, and as Allen came off his line placed the ball wide of him and inside the Rainham End goalpost. Tom Gilbey had scored the Gills’ first ever Football League goal, and put them ahead after 47 minutes.
But they couldn’t hold the lead for more than eight minutes. Southampton upped their game, and levelled when centre forward Bill Rawlings’ run wasn’t dealt with. He slipped the ball to Arthur Dominy and this time the future Gills’ player beat Branfield to equalise. Saints now enjoyed their best spell and Dominy nearly put them in front with another one-on-one with Jack Branfield. Fortunately the Gills’ keeper rushed out to make himself as big as he could and the inside-right chipped the ball over the bar. Then Branfield had to pull out another top drawer save to deny Rawlings.
The Gillingham faithful were starting to get edgy as they saw the game slipping away from them and, as the local paper commented “urged their favourites forward for one final effort with a prolonged bout of lusty cheering.” The players responded. Tom Gilbey and Tommy Hall loosed off shots following good build-up play. Three times they hit defenders (with two more penalty shouts for hand-ball). Gills closest effort was from a dropping shot by Tommy Hall. It deceived Allen completely, bounced on the crossbar, and disappointingly rolled down the back of the net.
Then, with the crowd bemoaning Gills’ ill-luck, Saints were through again. Once more the ball was at Dominy’s feet, and once more Jack Branfield made a superb save to keep him out. On another day the future Gills man might have had a hat-trick, but he got just one goal, as Gillingham did, and the game finished all square at 1-1.
As it turned out this wasn’t a bad result for the Gills. Southampton finished as runners-up to champions Crystal Palace. In the following game, away to Reading, Gillingham won 2-1 and in the first six games of the season were only beaten once (a 3-0 defeat by Southampton at The Dell). Hopes were high for a decent showing. But then the recent habits started to return. A 6-1 hammering away to Merthyr Town, only one more away win all season and a run of twelve games without a win between November and January, all contrived to see Gillingham achieve an unwanted hat-trick – bottom of the table for the third consecutive season.
It meant that after the wholly embarrassing incident of not knowing whether they were in the Football League at all, one year on Gillingham (along with Brentford) had to go cap in hand for the first of their five re-election applications to remain there.
Eccles
Those Were The Games
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