A man so famous in his time that he can legitimately be called Britain’s first football superstar was in Irlam 100 years ago this week to help raise money for soldiers fighting overseas.
Welsh international Billy Meredith won trophies with both Manchester United and Manchester City in his illustrious career, appearing over 300 times for each side.
After some 30 years at the top of his game, the outside right ended his footballing life with The Blues at the age of 47, making him the oldest player ever to step out for City.
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At the height of his fame in February 1916 he arrived at the Irlam Athletic football ground to the sight of an incredible 3,000 fans.
The match was played between the Cooperative Wholesale Society (CWS) and the Partington Iron and Steel Works.
All the money raised – some £60 (or £3,650 in today’s money) was shared between local Red Cross funds and the Manchester Infirmary hospital.
As the First World War dragged on and news of terrible slaughter on the Western Front hit the front pages of the newspapers, families people at home in England were doing their bit to help the troops fighting abroad by setting up Comfort Funds.
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This usually meant local people raising money to send them chocolate, cigarettes, cigars, newspapers and, more essentially, warm clothing especially socks and gloves.
Before kick-off, the Partington Brass Band marched along Liverpool Road in Irlam playing popular tunes of the day and even paraded around the pitch.
For a so called friendly match that was being played for charity there didn’t seem to be much left on the pitch in what sounds like a very competitive game.
Billy Meredith’s Welsh cap and shirt – now on show at Manchester’s National Football Museum
From the start of the match the tackles were flying in and both sides had chances to score, a chap called Young who was playing for the CWS is described as “feebly missing an open goal and shot into the hands of the goalkeeper.”
A player from the Partington Iron and Steel Works with the unusual name of Cornock had an early opportunity to open the scoring but hit the woodwork, a portent of things to come.
Muskett scored first for the Partington Iron and Steel Works when he pounced upon a dropped ball from the CWS goalkeeper, Scott, and slammed it into the net.
Further goals were scored by Cornock, Greene, Muskett and Lowes making the score at half time 5-0 to the Steel Works team.
The second half was pretty much a repeat of the same, with the ‘Soapworks’ side outclassed by their superior opponents.
The final score was 9-0 with Harrison, Lowe, Cornock and Barr rattling in another four goals.
The competitive nature of the match was proven when Cornock, who played for the Steel Works and Eccles Borough, fell and broke his left wrist after a rather robust challenge by one of the ‘Soapworks’ team players.
At the conclusion of the match a vote of thanks was given to Billy Meredith for his kindness in not only attending but donating a football for a raffle which was won by a Miss Elsie Davies who lived on Moss Lane, Irlam.
I wonder what happened to that football. It would be worth a fortune today with the given provenance, especially if Billy Meredith had autographed it!
Billy Meredith said it had been “a pleasure to attend the match and help assist such a worthy project” and that he would always be available to help out for such worthwhile purposes if required in the future.
