Changing Priorities; the FA Cup Today and Yesterday

This article by David Pendleton originally appeared in the programme for the league game against Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday December 6th 2008.

Your team is top of the Premier League, but with the FA Cup on the horizon several top players are rested from vital league matches. Today, it’s unthinkable, but that is exactly what Bradford City did for several seasons in the years leading up to the Great War.
On 1 January 1910 City were sitting proudly on top of the First Division. The Bantams had scored twenty-five goals in just ten matches. New Years Day brought Manchester United to Valley Parade. Star striker Bob Whittingham had been playing for some weeks with a niggling ankle injury, so with the upcoming FA Cup tie in mind he was rested. The 25,000 crowd (incidentally over twice the size of the attendance at Old Trafford) had little to cheer as the two sides played out a tame contest on a mud bound pitch. City went down by two goals and it marked the start of a run of four league games when City failed to score. The sudden loss of form coincided with several injuries to key players.
The first round FA Cup tie against Notts County was switched to Valley Parade after City paid County £1,000. Fifty men were employed to clear snow off the pitch and then protect it with 50 tons of straw. Despite the fact that admission prices had been doubled, excursion trains ran into Bradford from Carlisle, Morecambe and Sheffield. R. Gregson, one of the England selectors, was at the match to run his eye over Bond, Lintott and Whittingham.
A muddy pitch spoiled the match and it wasn’t until County’s Cantrell was sent off that City found form. They scored twice within ten minutes of the dismissal to take control of the tie. Dickie Bond (pictured) did his England prospects no harm by scoring one of City’s four goals.
The second round brought with it heavy snowfall. The pitch was cleared, but this time all the loose slush and sand was removed. It was said to be as flat as a billiard table, albeit almost devoid of grass. With prices at near normal levels 28,000 witnessed the tie with Blackburn Rovers. It was a tight affair, but the Rovers forwards always had the edge. Though Frank O’Rourke scored for City, the home forwards rarely found the space they needed and were well marshalled all afternoon. City lost 2-1 and O’Rourke suffered a knee injury that was to keep him out for three weeks.
City ended the season in seventh place, respectable by any standards, but the fact that they had led the pack at the turn of the year, and had been in such fine form, caused one or two grumbles. However, the policy of resting players from league matches caused little or no comment.
The following season City would once again sacrifice their league position for cup glory. That year was 1911, when City won the FA Cup. The league title was at one point within their grasp, but the cup took precedence. Today we would sacrifice a cup run for promotion from the fourth tier of English football, how times change!

Chesterfield

Fixtures against Chesterfield go back to City’s first ever season as a Football League club. The inaugural meeting between the clubs ended with a 6-2 thrashing for City.
Though City were never in any danger of having to apply for re-election during their first season in the Football League. The heavy home defeat caused disquiet on the terraces. The Bradford Daily Argus noted a ‘more than usually large exodus of those who felt inclined for the solace of the Belle Vue’.
The 2,000 boys at the Bradford End of the ground gave Chesterfield a sarcastic loud cheer when they ran out for the second half – those already in the Belle Vue probably made the right decision.
In the return fixture at Saltergate the sides played out a dull 1-1 draw. The latter set the scene for matches between the clubs as a succession of draws and low scoring games were the norm. That is until City won a thrilling match 4-3 at Saltergate in March 1907. Manager Peter O’Rourke was by then building the side that would take the second division title by storm the following season.
The forward line ran riot from the opening game of the 1907/08 season. Chesterfield were routed 8-1 at Valley Parade. Three goals in the first thirty minutes convinced even the most sceptical of City followers that something special was afoot for that season. Allerton born Wally Smith bagged four goals, George Handley a brace, Frank O’Rourke and Jimmy McDonald completed the scoring.
It was no one off, 7-1 against Stoke, 6-2 against Wolves, 5-0 against Leeds and Stockport. The aggregate score against poor old Gainsborough Trinity was 11-1.
City scored ninety goals en route to the Second Division Championship. Wally Smith and Frank O’Rourke rattled up forty-one league goals between them. George Handley weighed in with sixteen and Jimmy McDonald thirteen. It was an astonishing performance and one almost unparalleled in the club’s history.
Of the four attackers Wally Smith is almost forgotten today. Yet he scored 59 goals in 120 appearances. However, he struggled to find the net in the first division and was transferred to Leicester Fosse in January 1909. He later played for Hull City, but had to retire through injury in 1912.
Smith died at his Worksop home aged only thirty-four in 1917. Contemporary reports suggest that he may have been suffering from a serious internal injury throughout his career. He received it when shoulder charging Northampton Town goalkeeper Fred Cook. Whether it was ultimately responsible for his untimely death is unknown. However, with a goal in every other game Wally Smith deserves to be remembered. After all, not many footballers get the chance to shoot their hometown club into the top flight of English football.