Fartown Supporters: 1921-1946 (1946) by Fred B. Hoyle & William Stoker

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“FARTOWN SUPPORTERS”

1921—1946

A brief History of the Huddersfield C. & A. C. Supporters’ Club " with Interesting Information, Facts, Records and Photographs

concerning the Huddersfield Cricket & Athletic Club.

COMPILED BY

FRED B. HOYLE and WILFRED STOKER

in association with

W. ARMITAGE, J. A. BROOK and A. N. GAULTON.

Published by THE HUDDERSFIELD C. & A. C. SUPPORTERS’ CLUB to commemorate the Silver Jubilee Anniversary of the

formation of the Supporters’ Club.

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il FOREWORD.

It was decided some

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Year.

1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935

1936

1937 19388 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946

President & Chairman

H. H. Hardy H. Hardy Wright Wright

Supporters’ Club Officers for Years 1921-1946.

Brown Brown

‘. B. Hoyle

F. B. Hoyle J. O’Brien J. O’Brien A. Stephenson A. Stephenson H. W. Noble

H. W. Noble I

H. Littlewood H. Littlewood W. Armitage

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HUDDERSFIELD

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The Huddersfield Cricket and Athletic Club

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Mr. Herbert Hardy occupied the chair and was supported by the other Officers and Committee elected pro tem at the pre- vious meeting earlier referred to. The minutes of this latter meeting were read and the Chairman then asked for confirmation of same, particularly in regard to the resolution re the formation of a Supporters’ Club. A proposer and seconder were forthcoming

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2—The objects of the Club are to secure and support suit- able members to serve on the various Committees of the H.C. and A.C. and also to use its influence in the general interests of the premier club.

3—All members of the H.C. and A.C. to be eligible for Supporters’ Club membership.

4—-The minimum Annual Subscription shall be 1s. per member.

5—The Club shall be governed by the following officers : Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, and a Committee of 12 (5 to form a quorum), all to be elected annually.

6—Any member or members of the Supporters’ Club secur- ing election on any Committee of the H.C. and A.C. shall not, by reason of such election, cease to be a mem- ber or to hold any office in the Supporters’ Club.

7—The Annual Meeting may be held in the month of May or June.

8—Seven days’ notice, in writing, shall be given to the - Secretary for nominations for the Supporters’ Club Com- mittee.

9—The Committee shall have power to fill any vacancy arising on the Committee during any year of office and to deal with any other matter not provided for in these

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The question was raised as to whether the policy of the Supporters’ Club was to nominate and vote for candidates drawn only from the ranks of the Supporters’ Club. After discussion

it was agreed that a broader attitude be adopted and that any

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Representatives from the Huddersfield and District Rugby League referred to the difficulty of securing suitable grounds. If this serious obstacle could be overcome many new clubs would take up the game. They further stated that members of the Sup- porters’ Club would be gladly welcomed at Committee meetings of a junior club in their own district and if agreeable to serve would be co-opted on such a Committee.

Messrs. S. Abbey, A. B. Canby and H. Lodge in turn addressed the meeting. The two members of the Football Com- mittee stated they were in full sympathy with the recommendations earlier referred to and would do everything possible to field a strong 2nd team which, in the coming season would take part in the newly formed Yorkshire Senior Competition.

CRICKET AFFAIRS

The question as to the desirability of a recommendation being sent to the H.C. and A.C. calling for an effort to enter a higher cricket league before next cricket season was discussed from many points and the matter was deferred. Mr. Canby, answering questions relative to the known official objection to collections being made at Fartown for good cricket performances during a match, stated that talent money had been increased to meet this difficulty. He, personally, had no objections to collec- tions at Fartown, and the matter could be brought before the General Committee for their consideration. I

Tickets for the cricket professional’s (A. Mortimer) benefit met with a good sale at the close of the meeting. The membership of the Supporters’ Club had now reached the 260 mark.

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It was decided that a formal application be made to the H.C. and A.C. General Committee for the Supporters’ Club to be granted the privilege of holding its meetings in future in a room in the Pavilion. It was announced that, as the result of the recent Supporters’ Club recommendation, the Football Commit- tee had deputed Messrs. R. J. Goodwin, P. Hardy, and F. R. Settle to the management of the 2nd team. In readiness for the first match in the Y.S. Competition, v. Wakefield at Fartown, the following ways of popularising the fixture were suggested

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HEADQUARTERS — FARTOWN ! ! !

On September 16th, 1921, the Supporters’ Club held a meeting, for the first time since its inception, in the Fartown Pavilion.

On behalf of the General Committee of the H.C. and A.C., Mr. W.H. Hirst (Secretary), replying to a request from the Sup- porters’ Club, stated a room for Supporters’ Club meetings would be available from now onward.

This practical encouragement from Headquarters was received with great satisfaction and warmly acknowledged in due course

CLUB BADGES

There was a big demand for the Supporters’ Club

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which was never touched upon. Further, had he stayed, he would have gathered some splendid ‘‘copy’’ from Mr. Wagstaff’s very topical and intensely interesting lecture in which ‘‘Fartown”’ players, past and present, prominently figured. At the close, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded the Lecturer and Chairman to which Mr. Thomas suitably replied. The occasion, from every point of view, was a great success.

With the object of giving Fartown followers an opportunity of becoming better acquainted with the rules, 100 Northern Union Rugby Football Guide books were ordered. These met with a ready sale, and a further quantity were ordered.

About this time the Supporters’ Committee introduced the question of catering for refreshments (teas, minerals, etc.) at Fartown. Discussion also took place as to the possibility of using the large room under the Cricket Stand as a Social Club for Fartown members.. It was finally decided to bring the two above named matters before the H.C. and A.C. General Committee for their consideration.

The booking of a ‘‘chara’’ to take the Supporters’ Com- mittee and friends to the forthcoming Leeds v. Huddersfield Cup-tie at Headingley was the forerunner of many such events on a more pretentious scale, to be undertaken by the Supporters’ Club

As readers of this ‘‘History’’ may have surmised, most of the data, records of meetings and events in the early days of the H.C. and A.C. Supporters’ Club have been in the shape of extracts taken from the lst minute book. Now, in making a brief summary of the position of the Club in the autumn of 1921 it can be

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appreciated from that time until the food situation forced us to limit our work in the early stages of the War. ‘Members of the Supporters’ Club, have in past years given thousands of

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In the year 1928 it was resolved that the Supporters’ Club take the lead in proposing the extension of the Members’ Stand at Fartown. After many meetings and obtaining rough estimates of the cost, the matter was placed before the H.C. and A.C. General Committee. In August of this year the above Committee approved of the Supporters’ Club proposal re extension of Stand, but asked that the raising of the necessary funds should be largely a Sup- porters’ Club responsibility. Thus in September, 1928, a circular letter appealing for subscriptions towards the above object was sent out to all members of the H.C. and A.C.

The Supporters’ Club gave the lead with a donation of £50 and a further £250 followed which added to the donations received by H.C. and A.C. enabled the Club to go ahead with the actual job. Eventually, not only was the Members’ Stand enlarged, but new and up-to-date dressing rooms for two teams were provided under the new portion of the Stand.

1929—The Supporters’ Club strongly recommended the Football Committee to try a ‘‘7-a-side’’ Competition at Fartown. That the suggestion was not acted upon was not the fault of the Football Committee. Enquiries very few Rugby League Clubs at that time were sufficiently inerested to send a team to Fartown, and so the idea had to be abandoned for the time being. How, in more recent years, interest in ‘‘7s’’? became aroused and how in many of these Tournaments at Fartown and elsewhere, the ‘‘Claret and Gold’’ colours have won the day under the master hand and mind of Alex Fiddes, the Scottish 7s wizard, makes pleasurable history to Fartown’s present day followers.

In March of this year (1929), another very well attended lecture was given by Mr. G. F. Hutchins of Oldham (one of the Tour Managers of the Rugby League Team of 1928). Mr. John Wilson, Rugby League Secretary, also took part in the proceed- ings. Lantern slides of the Tour and match incidents were greatly enjoyed. Mr. Hutchins was given a hearty vote of thanks at the close.

About this time, Supporters’ Club trips were a very popular item. Huddersfield supporters were welcome guests on many Rugby League grounds on which occasions the ‘‘claret and gold’’ were fulfilling ‘‘away”’ fixtures. One excursion to Hull Kingston and another to York were very well patronised. In connection with the last named trip, an amusing incident is worth recording. The special train was scheduled to stop at Bradley on the outward journey in order to accommodate several Fartown supporters who lived at that end of the town. Among the intending passengers was a lad, who, as the result of an alleged dream, foretold that the train would go straight through Bradley station, leaving the party stranded. Sure enough, it did, as the result of an oversight

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HUDDERSFIELD C. & A. C. SUPPORTERS’ CLUB. OFFICIALS 1928.

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HUDDERSFIELD

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HUDDERSFIELD NORTHERN UNION F.C.

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HUDDERSFIELD NORTHERN UNION F.C.,

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HUDDERSFIELD RUGBY LEAGUE F.C.,

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HUDDERSFIELD C. & A. CLUB. FOOTBALL TEAM. SEASON 1932-33 Winners of the Rugby League Challenge Cup. Presented py H.R.H. The Prince of

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HUDDERSFIELD C. & A. CLUB. FOOTBALL TEAM,

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CIVIC RECEPTION TO HUDDERSFIELD C. & A.C. FOOTBALL TEAM, MAY 18TH, 1946.

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of a railway

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Drives had for many years been a source of pleasure and profit to the Club, but the promotion of ‘‘Big’’ Drives in town adversely affected our attendances. I

The Yorkshire Challenge Cup F inal, Leeds v. Wakefield, was played at Fartown this year, and we provided the Stewards for the. stand

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No. 2 Section

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week before the great day. We were again favoured by the weather and had the added pleasure of seeing London gaily decor- ated for King George V. Silver Jubilee celebrations, the only ‘ fly in the ointment ’ being the defeat of our favourites.

1936.—In the early part of this year we broke ‘ new ground ’ by the purchase of 360 carpet squares to offer on loan to the patrons of the stand for use as seating mats, the charge being 1d. per match, and this innovation was soon a great success. Unfor- tunately, we lost several dozen of these mats during the first few weeks of the venture, the bulk of the losses being sustained at a cup-tie, a number of patrons must have thought that the charge of Id. covered a sale instead of hire. We did hear that they were excellent for covering the floor of a motor car. Only once did we

see one of these mats about to disappear through the gate. When

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\ gramme, SUSTAINING, RE-AWAKENING, AND CREATING —interest in Rugby League Football and the Fartown Club in particular. The first two points are covered by a continuation of our work of the past 25 years, but something different is called for to create interest, to arouse the interest of school boys and girls, and those adults without knowledge of Rugby Football. It is no easy matter in these days of many counter attractions, and the publicity which other sports receive both by Press and Radio compared to that given to our game. I

On Saturday, May

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BOWLING.

This section of the Club has, for a great number of years, been very popular, and at the present time has over 300 members (40 of them over the age of 65). There are two greens, one 45 yds. + 84 yds. with 12 inch crown, and the other 50 yds. + 40 yds.

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was strengthened and the foundations laid for the glorious tear which carried Huddersfield to the pinnacle of fame in the years 1911 to 1920. During this period no fewer than 16 Cups were won out of a possible 21, playing football of superlative quality, setting a standard that succeeding Huddersfield teams have always tried to emulate. The ‘‘honours’’ record of the Club being as

follows.

Yorkshire Rugby Union Challenge Cup

Winners 1890

Rugby League Challenge Cup

Winners 1913

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15. 16. LF,

18.

oo

(j) 10th November, 1906. (k) 18th December, 1926. (1) 18th November, 1933. (m)

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St

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15. 16.

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Name App. Anderson J,


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