JJ Sefton
Live, Laugh, Love
The (1894-1895) season was one of consolidation for United, who finished 6th as Sunderland and Aston Villa kept up their near monopoly of the League title. On November 12th United faced Aston Villa in extraordinary weather conditions at Perry Bar. Rain had been pouring down prior to kick off and swathes of the pitch were under water. It was bitingly cold and continued to rain throughout the game. “The bitterly cold wind and sleet pierced one, numbing muscle and brain”, Needham recalled. Both sets of players tried to persuade the referee, Mr Thomas, to cancel the game but he claimed he could find nothing in the rules to justify such a decision and the game went ahead.
During a dismal match the players were often absent from the pitch and United were down to seven men at one stage. Needham remembered that
“Men on both sides succumbed and were carried away to hot baths and stimulants. I left the field half an hour before the finish of time, and by doing so probably saved my life”
The Villa players suffered as well and “from time to time retired singly, either to change their attire or else to get a warm beverage, while on one occasion John Devey stepped onto the field wearing an overcoat”. Another Villa player, Charlie Athersmith, was seen holding an umbrella as he made his way down the wing. Fans constantly ran onto the pitch to bring hot drinks to the Villa players but the United team were ignored. Towards the end Bob Cain collapsed and Jimmy Yates and Hugh Morris got fed up and headed for the dressing room and Bill Foulke was knocked unconscious when he dived at Devey’s feet. When Thomas appeared in the United dressing room afterwards to inform Yates and Morris that he would be reporting them for leaving the field without permission he was met with a barrage of abuse. The League later said that the referee would have been “well advised to stop the game under the circumstances” but the 5-0 win for Villa stood.
Foulke was rested for a friendly against Linfield Athletic the following week and Arthur Wharton, the first black player in Britain, made his debut for United.
United further strengthened the side for the 1895-1896 season with the signing of right wing player Walter Bennett. Bennett, nicknamed ‘Cocky’, came from Mexborough in January 1896, where he had scored an incredible 87 of their 123 goals the previous season, and was a powerful winger and good hitter of the ball. Some were unimpressed however, and one local journalist wrote that “From what I know of Bennett, £10 seems a long price to pay”. Indeed, his health was poor to start with and his weight was a problem and it was some time before he lived up to his billing at Bramall Lane.
There were cosmetic changes at the Lane too. The most noticeable was the new 2,000 seater John Street stand but such was United’s success in the coming years that it was soon inadequate and was replaced in 1901. The other change was the introduction of the Sheffield Prize Band, a brass band brought in to entertain the fans at half time.
One of the ways that football clubs generated cash was to go on short tours in the middle of the football season and between Boxing Day and January 12th United played five games in Scotland. In one of these, on New Years Day, Billy Hendry was injured and his United career effectively finished.
Although it was huge blow to lose such a talented and popular player United moved quickly to replace him with Tommy Morren whose signing was a story in itself. He was fresh from winning the F.A. Amateur Cup with Middlesbrough the previous season and was heading south, to Reading, to join his Middlesbrough captain, Phil Bache. However, one of the officials at Middlesbrough was friends with United trainer George Waller, who had played for the Teesside club, and tipped him off that Morren’s train would be heading via Sheffield. When he arrived in Midland station he was met by Waller, who grabbed his suitcase and charged off for a waiting cab with the stunned centre half in pursuit. That afternoon Morren had a trial against Barnsley and was signed by United.
He was a tough centre half who was “always in the thick of the action”, but Needham recalled him as being “better in defence than in feeding his forwards”. He was only 5ft 5in and completed the famous half back line which a Birmingham paper described as “midgets” as they were all under 5ft 6in. Needham was the logical choice to replace Hendry as Captain.
United were gradually building a strong side and lost only twice at home all season. One of their outstanding results at the Lane was an 8-0 spanking of Bury on April 30th 1896 in which Hammond scored 4, William Egan scored 3 and Bob Cain got one of his three goals for the club. Away form was much less impressive however, despite a creditable draw against eventual Champions Aston Villa in which United turned up with just 10 men and Waller had to borrow a pair of boots from a Villa player to make up the numbers. As it happened he scored the equalizing goal. United didn’t win away until a 2-0 win over Derby County in March and finished 12th. United’s poor performances in the Cup continued also as they were knocked out in the second round by Everton while Wednesday went on to win it.
But United were drawing close to the aim of challenging the duopoly of Sunderland and Aston Villa. The defence of Foulke, the full backs Cain and Witham, and half back line of Howell, Morren and Needham was as strong as any so at the end of the season United moved to strengthen the forward line and turned again to the north east. The man they signed was left winger Fred Priest from his home town club South Bank in April 1896. He was a popular player, partly down to his fair hair and sunny outlook, and partly down to his wing play, which mixed dogged determination with speed and skill. United further strengthened their forward line with the purchase of John Almond a clever striker who read the game well. He had previously turned out for Bishop Auckland and Darlington but he was unpopular with large sections of the crowd. This was largely down to the fact that he had recently inherited the vast sum of £12,000 from his father, a Yorkshire brewer, and as a result he was seen as a bit of a ‘rich boy’.
The 1896 – 1897 season was United’s best yet. The Blades got off to an unbeaten run which saw them undefeated in late October. On September 19th a strong Sunderland side which had won the League three times that decade was beaten 3-0 at the Lane with the goals coming from Almond, on his debut, and two from Hammond. When the run did come to an end, away against Preston, the goal was described as “disputed”. At home the Blades remained undefeated until December 5th when they were beaten by West Brom. However, such was the competition in the League that season that despite their excellent form, Liverpool, Villa and Bolton were above United in the table. Goals from Fred Priest and Rab Howell saw United beat Wednesday in front of 30,000 at Bramall Lane on Boxing Day. If this was impressive, the 7-0 drubbing of Blackburn Rovers was even more so, with Bennett scoring twice, Walls hitting a hat trick and Cain and Hammond getting one each. At the end of the month Blackburn got their revenge when they dumped the Blades out of the F.A. Cup.
In the second half of the season United’s home form prevented them from putting much pressure on the runaway League leaders, Villa. The Blades lost five games in the second half of the season but four of these were played at Bramall Lane. In all they lost one third of their home matches. But United’s defence had been the tightest in the League, conceding only 29 goals in the 30 games compared to 38 for Villa. In the end United finished second behind an unstoppable Aston Villa side who went on to complete the double. However, due to the League Secretary’s poor maths the table actually showed United as having finished third for some time.
In recent years football has seen one or two teams tend to dominate silverware and, as now, the success of Villa and Sunderland in the 1890’s had caused some concern. “All this pointed clearly to one thing”, Needham wrote,
“that the richest clubs, or the most speculative, must soon get the best players and attain an impregnable position. Had this process continued it would have been suicidal, and interest would soon have died out”
During a dismal match the players were often absent from the pitch and United were down to seven men at one stage. Needham remembered that
“Men on both sides succumbed and were carried away to hot baths and stimulants. I left the field half an hour before the finish of time, and by doing so probably saved my life”
The Villa players suffered as well and “from time to time retired singly, either to change their attire or else to get a warm beverage, while on one occasion John Devey stepped onto the field wearing an overcoat”. Another Villa player, Charlie Athersmith, was seen holding an umbrella as he made his way down the wing. Fans constantly ran onto the pitch to bring hot drinks to the Villa players but the United team were ignored. Towards the end Bob Cain collapsed and Jimmy Yates and Hugh Morris got fed up and headed for the dressing room and Bill Foulke was knocked unconscious when he dived at Devey’s feet. When Thomas appeared in the United dressing room afterwards to inform Yates and Morris that he would be reporting them for leaving the field without permission he was met with a barrage of abuse. The League later said that the referee would have been “well advised to stop the game under the circumstances” but the 5-0 win for Villa stood.
Foulke was rested for a friendly against Linfield Athletic the following week and Arthur Wharton, the first black player in Britain, made his debut for United.
United further strengthened the side for the 1895-1896 season with the signing of right wing player Walter Bennett. Bennett, nicknamed ‘Cocky’, came from Mexborough in January 1896, where he had scored an incredible 87 of their 123 goals the previous season, and was a powerful winger and good hitter of the ball. Some were unimpressed however, and one local journalist wrote that “From what I know of Bennett, £10 seems a long price to pay”. Indeed, his health was poor to start with and his weight was a problem and it was some time before he lived up to his billing at Bramall Lane.
There were cosmetic changes at the Lane too. The most noticeable was the new 2,000 seater John Street stand but such was United’s success in the coming years that it was soon inadequate and was replaced in 1901. The other change was the introduction of the Sheffield Prize Band, a brass band brought in to entertain the fans at half time.
One of the ways that football clubs generated cash was to go on short tours in the middle of the football season and between Boxing Day and January 12th United played five games in Scotland. In one of these, on New Years Day, Billy Hendry was injured and his United career effectively finished.
Although it was huge blow to lose such a talented and popular player United moved quickly to replace him with Tommy Morren whose signing was a story in itself. He was fresh from winning the F.A. Amateur Cup with Middlesbrough the previous season and was heading south, to Reading, to join his Middlesbrough captain, Phil Bache. However, one of the officials at Middlesbrough was friends with United trainer George Waller, who had played for the Teesside club, and tipped him off that Morren’s train would be heading via Sheffield. When he arrived in Midland station he was met by Waller, who grabbed his suitcase and charged off for a waiting cab with the stunned centre half in pursuit. That afternoon Morren had a trial against Barnsley and was signed by United.
He was a tough centre half who was “always in the thick of the action”, but Needham recalled him as being “better in defence than in feeding his forwards”. He was only 5ft 5in and completed the famous half back line which a Birmingham paper described as “midgets” as they were all under 5ft 6in. Needham was the logical choice to replace Hendry as Captain.
United were gradually building a strong side and lost only twice at home all season. One of their outstanding results at the Lane was an 8-0 spanking of Bury on April 30th 1896 in which Hammond scored 4, William Egan scored 3 and Bob Cain got one of his three goals for the club. Away form was much less impressive however, despite a creditable draw against eventual Champions Aston Villa in which United turned up with just 10 men and Waller had to borrow a pair of boots from a Villa player to make up the numbers. As it happened he scored the equalizing goal. United didn’t win away until a 2-0 win over Derby County in March and finished 12th. United’s poor performances in the Cup continued also as they were knocked out in the second round by Everton while Wednesday went on to win it.
But United were drawing close to the aim of challenging the duopoly of Sunderland and Aston Villa. The defence of Foulke, the full backs Cain and Witham, and half back line of Howell, Morren and Needham was as strong as any so at the end of the season United moved to strengthen the forward line and turned again to the north east. The man they signed was left winger Fred Priest from his home town club South Bank in April 1896. He was a popular player, partly down to his fair hair and sunny outlook, and partly down to his wing play, which mixed dogged determination with speed and skill. United further strengthened their forward line with the purchase of John Almond a clever striker who read the game well. He had previously turned out for Bishop Auckland and Darlington but he was unpopular with large sections of the crowd. This was largely down to the fact that he had recently inherited the vast sum of £12,000 from his father, a Yorkshire brewer, and as a result he was seen as a bit of a ‘rich boy’.
The 1896 – 1897 season was United’s best yet. The Blades got off to an unbeaten run which saw them undefeated in late October. On September 19th a strong Sunderland side which had won the League three times that decade was beaten 3-0 at the Lane with the goals coming from Almond, on his debut, and two from Hammond. When the run did come to an end, away against Preston, the goal was described as “disputed”. At home the Blades remained undefeated until December 5th when they were beaten by West Brom. However, such was the competition in the League that season that despite their excellent form, Liverpool, Villa and Bolton were above United in the table. Goals from Fred Priest and Rab Howell saw United beat Wednesday in front of 30,000 at Bramall Lane on Boxing Day. If this was impressive, the 7-0 drubbing of Blackburn Rovers was even more so, with Bennett scoring twice, Walls hitting a hat trick and Cain and Hammond getting one each. At the end of the month Blackburn got their revenge when they dumped the Blades out of the F.A. Cup.
In the second half of the season United’s home form prevented them from putting much pressure on the runaway League leaders, Villa. The Blades lost five games in the second half of the season but four of these were played at Bramall Lane. In all they lost one third of their home matches. But United’s defence had been the tightest in the League, conceding only 29 goals in the 30 games compared to 38 for Villa. In the end United finished second behind an unstoppable Aston Villa side who went on to complete the double. However, due to the League Secretary’s poor maths the table actually showed United as having finished third for some time.
In recent years football has seen one or two teams tend to dominate silverware and, as now, the success of Villa and Sunderland in the 1890’s had caused some concern. “All this pointed clearly to one thing”, Needham wrote,
“that the richest clubs, or the most speculative, must soon get the best players and attain an impregnable position. Had this process continued it would have been suicidal, and interest would soon have died out”
