The emergence of footballing cultures by Gary James

Author:Gary James [James, Gary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, General, Popular Culture, Sports & Recreation, Football, Cultural & Social Aspects, Sociology
ISBN: 9781526114501
Google: DnG5DwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: 2019-07-16T05:14:22+00:00

10 A Newton Heath football card produced by the J. Baines company, c.1886.

Created on 27 April 1888 with a membership of twenty clubs, the Combination took the Football League as its inspiration but was much less formal than the League and allowed each of its member clubs to arrange their own fixtures and play as many games as they wished. The only stipulation was that they had to take part in at least eight games. The prospect of organised, regular competition was an important step and Newton Heath published their own fixture list, feeling confident of a strong season of fixtures. Their first Combination game was a 4–3 victory over Darwen on 22 September 1888, and they played a total of eleven matches, winning seven, drawing two and losing two. They were the only Manchester representatives in the Combination, but they found the competition frustrating at times even though many of the clubs, including former FA Cup winners Blackburn Olympic, were of a significant standard. Some, including Olympic, struggled to fulfil all their fixtures and resigned from the competition. It became evident that the free and easy method of arranging fixtures was not an improvement, and this led to the mass resignation of eleven clubs, including the Heathens, in April 1889. The Combination effectively collapsed, but it was still an important period in the development of football, and in terms of long-term analysis the Combination can be viewed as an event which helped to focus minds during a transformational period. The experience, and a growing status developed through competition, helped the Heathens’ ambitions to grow and they applied to join the Football League in 1889. As the League had determined, the bottom four clubs stood for re-election. Manchester played its part in the first re-election contest, held at the Douglas Hotel in Manchester. Nine clubs applied to join, while four sought re-election, with each existing League side voting for the four they wanted to see in the League. Those clubs seeking to join were allowed a maximum of five minutes to present their case, followed by the vote. It was not a successful day for Newton Heath, who received one vote out of the forty-eight cast and finished ninth. Despite their frustration, the Heathens worked with other rejected clubs and former members of the Combination to establish a new competition, the Football Alliance. Unlike the Combination this had a sound foundation and consisted of twelve northern and Midlands sides, although Darwen, Bootle and Newton Heath were the only Lancashire-area clubs. At the end of the first season the Heathens finished eighth, while Sheffield Wednesday were champions.

While the Heathens were pursuing a life in the Alliance other Manchester region clubs developed closer ties via another new competition. In March 1889 the Bury committee played a key role in the establishment of a Lancashire League with founder members including five clubs from the Manchester region (Bury, Heywood, Heywood Central, Hyde and West Manchester) and others from Blackpool, Earlstown (sic), Fleetwood Rangers, Higher Walton, Nelson, Oswaldtwistle Rovers, Blackburn Park Road, Rossendale and Southport Central.

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