On This Day: Heaviest Defeat

[BBNOW100]

For those of you not on Facebook, I have copied my recent post on Yeltz Nostalgia here:

ON THIS DAY: 12th November 1938. Halesowen's worst ever defeat.

The 1938/39 season was a tough one for the Yeltz. In fact, the whole decade had been one of stagnation. Struggling in the Birmingham Combination, the team had not finished in the top half of the table since the 1931/32 campaign. After the relative success of the 1920s, the pool of playing talent dried up, and financial trouble was not far behind. Over-reliance on player transfer fees during the previous decade had left the club in a precarious situation. Crowd numbers began to dwindle and supporters worried about lack of administrative transparency. These concerns were not eased when stalwart secretary Percy Rose retired in 1937 after 39 years of service. The 1937/38 season saw Halesowen concede 137 goals and the financial issues continued to linger. The club was in a state of disarray.

This is the backdrop of the Yeltz’ largest ever defeat. Having been only narrowly defeated at home against title challengers Birmingham ‘A’ the previous week, Halesowen probably felt confident they could hold their own at Darlaston. Yet, within four minutes, they fell behind to a close-range shot from Darlaston’s inside-left, Allcock. A few good saves from Yeltz goalkeeper T. A. Williams was not enough to stop the barrage. Allcock scored a second after 25 minutes before inside-right Harris capitalized on a defensive error to make the score 3-0. Before the half, Allcock completed his hat-trick and centre forward Wills made it five for Darlaston.

Halesowen fans probably thought things couldn't get worse in the second half. They were wrong. Allcock scored his fourth and Darlaston’s sixth, followed in quick succession by another effort from Harris. Yet, the star of the show was Wills who, having already scored in the first half, netted five consecutive goals to make the score 12-0. A minute from time, Darlaston were awarded a penalty. Davies, a half-back eager to get in on the goals, converted from the spot to complete the scoring. Full time, Darlaston 13-0 Halesowen.

It would be wrong to say this game changed the course of the Yeltz’ season or had any lasting consequences. While the result must have been humiliating for the players, they quickly bounced back the following week to beat Atherstone 5-2. What’s more, it was not the only heavy defeat Halesowen encountered that year: 9-0 away at Wolverhampton Wanderers ‘A’; 6-0 away at Aston Villa ‘A’; 5-1 away at Bromsgrove Rovers, to name but a few. To say this one game changed anything significantly would be to miss the point. Nevertheless, it does highlight some of the wider issues the club faced in the late 1930s. Faced with mounting issues both on and off the pitch, it would be unfair to judge these Yeltzmen too harshly.

Halesowen: T. A. Williams; Dutton, Bradley; Woodhouse, Beasly, Wheldon; Markham, Wardley, Hall, Penn, Jones.
If you know the first names of or have any information about any of these players, please let us know.

[drummyb]

Andy, how much were chips back then??

[Westyeltz]

For those of you not on Facebook, I have copied my recent post on Yeltz Nostalgia here:

ON THIS DAY: 12th November 1938. Halesowen's worst ever defeat.

Halesowen: T. A. Williams; Dutton, Bradley; Woodhouse, Beasly, Wheldon; Markham, Wardley, Hall, Penn, Jones.
If you know the first names of or have any information about any of these players, please let us know.

Harry Dutton, Andy Bradley, John Woodhouse, Mark Penn , Stan Jones?? Probably not, but it whiles away lockdown

[andy]

Andy, how much were chips back then??

One groat.

[drummyb]

On a more serious note, given the time of year, 12 months later we declared war on Germany. Kind of puts it in perspective.

And on an inside, there was no forum. Just a load of blokes moaning face to face in a pub!

[drummyb]

On a more serious note, given the time of year, 12 months later we declared war on Germany. Kind of puts it in perspective.

And on an aside, there was no forum. Just a load of blokes moaning face to face in a pub!

[Westyeltz]

On a more serious note, given the time of year, 12 months later we declared war on Germany. Kind of puts it in perspective.

And on an aside, there was no forum. Just a load of blokes moaning face to face in a pub!

You said that already already!

If you don't mind, incompetence in the IT department is my domain

[YeltzDoc]

Drummy, you seem to have touch of the Westy's...

If I can steal something else from L3's post, if we're looking for perspective, the fixture card for 39/40 season makes pretty bleak reading.

124841558_10159718705908797_1449744428925603974_n.jpg

[Laurel Lane Lamper]

Last season’s with PANDEMIC across it is needed

[AwayDayYeltz]

Fantastic post. I really enjoyed reading that, thanks for posting.

I've no idea why, and I may be wide of the mark, but I always get the impression that our squad, back in those days, would have been all Halesowen lads. So when I read the line; 'After the relative success of the 1920s, the pool of playing talent dried up', makes me think that the talent wasn't coming through Richmond (Windsor - the best school!) or Earls boys schools?

I'm sure that's not the case, but that's how I view how football, at our level, worked in those days. So what was the demographic of players in those times?

I was very surprised to read we would have paid fees for players in the 1920's.