Greyhound race meet in progress on 9th June 1935.

An inter- varsity sports taking place in March 1929.

The above photo was taken in 1928.

 

Eric Liddell winning the British Empire vs. USA 1-mile relay at the International Athletics Meeting at The Bridge in July 1924.

This Thursday, 11th July, is the centenary of Eric Liddell winning his 400m Olympic Gold Medal in Paris.

Edited July 8, 20241 yr by erskblue

Alex Jackson in action v Bolton. 1930.

Alex Jackson and Hughes Gallacher.

A Wembley Wizard: Alex Jackson

www.mctears.co.uk

 

Alex Jackson (1905-1946) was a Scottish footballer born in Renton in May 1905. After starting his football career with local clubs, Jackson spent a brief spell playing in the American Soccer League, before returning to Britain.

Back in Britain, Jackson went on to play for clubs including Huddersfield and Chelsea. However, Jackson became best known for his performance as part of the Scottish national team, and after his first international cap aged 19, he would go on to make 17 appearances for the national side.

Most significantly, Jackson was not just one of the Wembley Wizards, but in fact scored a hat-trick to assist Scotland in their famous 5-1 win over England at Wembley in 1928. 

Despite his undeniable talent, Jackson was known for his personality as well as his sporting skills, and his move to London enabled the player to pursue the ‘tremendous possibilities’ of the city, becoming landlord of a Covent Garden pub and even establishing a weekly newspaper column. 

 

 

 

 

 

However, Jackson’s performance off pitch would soon effect his ability to play on. In fact, the player was suspended by Chelsea and transfer-listed after the Club learned that he had ordered drinks for the entirety of the Chelsea team on the eve of a match against Manchester City.

The subsequent standoff with Chelsea and the corresponding contractual red tape meant that ultimately, Jackson would finish his professional career with small clubs including Ashton National and Margate.

With the start of the Second World War, Jackson fought in the Eighth Army in North Africa, and later joined the Pioneer Corps after being injured in Libya.

With the end of WWII, Jackson stayed on in Africa and was assigned to the Suez Zone, where he tragically died in a traffic accident aged just 41. Jackson was buried in the Fay*d War Cemetery in Egypt. 

This medal was awarded to Alex Jackson for his role in the Robert Burns Statue fund trophy football match in 1926. This fundraising match took place annually at St James’ Park from 1925 and 1928, between teams of Home Scots and Anglo Scots.

Whilst the original aim of the fund was to erect a statue in Newcastle, the money raised was eventually donated to various causes including the Princess Mary maternity hospital. 

The home based Scots won the first three matches while the English based Scots won the last. Each player to participate was presented with a gold medal featuring a portrait of Robert Burns, such as this one, which was awarded to Alex Jackson following the match on 28 April 1926. 

 

Charles Booth map from 1889,showing Brompton Cemetery and a certain London Athletic Club Grounds!

          Eric Liddell winner of the 100 yards at the 1924 AAA Championships held at at The Bridge.

Eric Liddell winning the 1923 AAA 220 yards at The Bridge.

 

Edited August 11, 20241 yr by erskblue

 

On Saturday 19th August 1905. There was a ‘Probables Blues v Possibles Red’ Pre Season ‘Trial Match’.

 

Philip Phillips scored the only goal of the match. He never made a competitive first team appearance.

 

He played in the reserves for one season.1905-1906.

 

He was listed in the ‘Probables Blues’ Line Up as ‘St Andrew’ . Ironic as he was English!
 

All of this information is courtesy of www.stamfordbridge.com

 

A great site.

 

 

 

Edited August 20, 20241 yr by erskblue

8 hours ago, erskblue said:

 

On Saturday 19th August 1905. There was a ‘Probables Blues v Possibles Red’ Pre Season ‘Trial Match’.

 

Philip Phillips scored the only goal of the match. He never made a competitive first team appearance.

 

He played in the reserves for one season.1905-1906.

 

He was listed in the ‘Probables Blues’ Line Up as ‘St Andrew’ . Ironic as he was English!
 

All of this information is courtesy of www.stamfordbridge.com

 

A great site.

 

 

 

Hi Ersk

I tried to get on that site, first it sailing it was insecure, now it sends me to the club site instead?

3 hours ago, The Rising Sun said:

Hi Ersk

I tried to get on that site, first it sailing it was insecure, now it sends me to the club site instead?

The Rising Sun.No idea why mate. I’ve never had any problems with this site. And I am possibly the least technical I.T. person in the world .

A game in October 1905 v Chesterfield at The Bridge.

Information on a Probables (Blues) v Possibles (Reds). A Trial game at the Bridge. Thursday 24th August 1905.

Blues. Foulke, Mackie, McEwan,Key, Slater, Robertson (Jacky),Moran, Copeland, Robertson (James),Winridge, Kirwan.

Reds, Byrne, Watson.Miller,AN Other (Amateur), Wolff, Craigie, Winger (Amateur), A. Winger (Amateur), O ‘Hara, St Andrew (Amateur),Bill Bailey (Amateur)

Blues won 7-0. James Robertson got three. David Copeland got 2 and Jimmy Windridge and Albert Slater a goal each.

Info courtesy of www.stamordbridge.com

Edited September 10, 20241 yr by erskblue

Team photo prior to the 1913-1914 season.

Back row (left-right): Foord, Whitley, Logan, Molyneux, Bridgeman, Bettridge, Denoon, McLeod, Turnbull.

Middle row: Wright (trainer), Walker, Easery (assistant trainer), Hunter, Steer, Taylor, Sharp, Macfarlane, Ford, Andrews, Brown (assistant trainer), Clark (groundsman).

Front row: Douglas, W.Brown, Calderhead, Marshall, Downing, Freeman, Fairgray, Harrow, H.Livesey. Seated on ground: Whittingham and J.Brown. (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Above a Mon 9th Sept 1912 game v Liverpool . A 5pm kick off. 

 

Sheffield Utd on 14th Sept 1912. We won 4-2.

Edited September 13, 20241 yr by erskblue

Edited September 30, 20241 yr by erskblue

General view 1919.

RAF Sports August 1919.

 

1922. Gives a good view of the terracing. Just my humble opinion.

1911.

 

Edited October 3, 20241 yr by erskblue

Caption states this picture was taken in 1912.

 

 

1912: New signing Nils Middleboe,  (Image: Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images).

NILS MIDDELBOE: THE BUCCANEERING DANISH BANKER WHO BECAME CHELSEA’S FIRST FOREIGN STAR

15/02/2019 by AIDAN WILLIAMS.   www.thesefootballtimes.org 0

 

For a player who, in his own uncompromising words, was “by no means mad about football”, Nils Middelboe was perhaps the most prominent continental footballer of his time. In an era when the Home Nations were still the masters of the game.

The  “Great Dane”, as he would become known, marked himself out as an extremely talented defender, with a knack for reading the game and carrying the ball out of defence that was well ahead of his time.

He played football the way he lived his life: with a sense of freedom, a smattering of style and panache, and a disdain for the restrictions of the established norms.

He shunned tactical limitations to impose his freestyle chic wherever he played, while standing against the tide of professionalism as a stoutly amateur player throughout his impressive career.

Still revered as a hero in Denmark, Middelboe was an imposing but skilled giant of a half-back who would forge his reputation in the Olympic arena before subsequently making his mark on the English game.

Football had been introduced to Denmark by British sailors and its popularity had rapidly spread across a country that, in terms of the upper classes, to which Middelboe belonged, was strongly Anglophile.

Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (KB), the foremost club of the time, was founded by English-educated Danes to become one of the earliest clubs on the continent.

Middelboe made his senior debut for KB at the age of 16, in 1903, where he played alongside his two older brothers.

Together they helped drive KB to five titles, a success which would also bring international recognition for Middelboe.

This was an age when British football sat some way ahead of its continental counterparts. However, if there was one nation that could pose something of a challenge to the established order of the time, it was Denmark.

The 1908 Olympic Games in London would bring Middelboe’s skills to the attention of the English audience for the first time, as he inspired his Denmark team to a silver medal.

His goal in the opening match against France was the first ever scored by an official national team in Olympic football, as well as his country’s first ever international goal.

Denmark were made to settle for the silver medal, losing 2-0 to an England team representing all of Great Britain, but they had made their mark.

Noteworthy 9-0 and 17-1 thrashings on the way to the final emphasised just how impressively football had developed in Denmark, and in Middelboe they had a bona fide star.

His excellence wasn’t merely limited to the football field either. He was a national record holder at 800m, as well as a national champion in the triple jump and the sprint relay, in addition to being a dab hand with a tennis racket too.

Before his career had run its course, he would add refereeing to his list of notable achievements too

.

Nils Middleboe in the centre of the picture. 1912 Olympic Games.

Back again at the Olympic Games, in Stockholm in 1912, this time as captain, he would have to settle for silver, behind Great Britain once more.

Showing his versatility, he would alternate between defence and a more forward-thinking role in midfield, where his elegance on the ball helped Denmark past Norway and the Netherlands on the way to the final rematch with the British.

In a career interrupted by the First World War, Middelboe would play 15 times for his country in all, scoring seven goals; a remarkable return considering his primarily defensive role.

His Olympic endeavours brought him far wider-reaching attention and a year after that second silver medal, Middelboe signed for Chelsea, becoming the first foreign player to represent the London club.

Such was his reputation, even in an age when foreigners were assumed to be well below the standard of home-grown players, Middelboe was handed the Chelsea captaincy upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge in a significant show of faith from his teammates.

He had initially signed for Newcastle but made the move south, to Chelsea, without ever donning the black and white shirt of the Magpies.

In spite of signing for a professional team, Middelboe was a decidedly amateur player.

Football was never an all-consuming passion for him and indeed he would never earn a penny from his lengthy career.

He was a gentleman amateur in a working man’s game.

Despite the potential riches on offer, he earned his living as a banker during his stay in London, while also being a qualified lawyer.

He may have been the team captain but Middelboe’s off-field career took precedence to such an extent that the vast majority of his Chelsea appearances came at home.

His job meant that he couldn’t travel with the rest of the team on Friday afternoons for their weekend away fixtures.

It was not only that he had to be at work; he also wanted it that way.

The way he saw things, as a devout amateur, playing for money would have detracted from the feeling of freedom and satisfaction that football provided him.

But for this stance, he would have undoubtedly played more times for Chelsea – than the 46 games spread over five seasons – either side of the First World War.

Fittingly, in his later days, he would have one final fling with the Denmark national team, in the Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920, although by this time, Denmark’s prominent position in world football had waned.

He would go on to play for the famous amateur club Corinthians before later becoming a director of Clapton Orient.

He subsequently moved into coaching with his first club, KB, winning the title again in 1940, as well as working with the national team.

A lifelong devotee of the idea of freedom on the football field, he railed against overbearing coaches who stifled players’ creativity.

While working as an interpreter for Edward Magner, the English coach of the Denmark team in 1939, Middelboe supposedly watered down Magner’s tactical instructions which would see the team stuck in the rigid WM formation of the time. “To systemise is to sterilise,” he wrote in his book Common Sense about Football.

This sense of freedom was ably demonstrated not only in the stylish and sophisticated way he played the game throughout his career, but also in the way he lived his life.

A trailblazer who became a hero in his homeland and a pioneer in a foreign land, Nils Middelboe played in a manner far ahead of his time, while firmly sticking to the amateur ideals of a disappearing age.

Football was, in effect, an unpaid side-line for Middelboe, making his achievements, and the lasting, loving esteem in which he is held in both Denmark and at Chelsea, all the more remarkable.

By Aidan Williams 

 

Edited November 1, 20241 yr by erskblue