On This Day: Heaviest Defeat

[Noggin]

One factor was that some schools switched focus away from football to rugby during and after the Great War. Their reasoning was that rugby stopped immediately on the outbreak of war, whereas professional football continued for a while. Therefore rugby was seen as having higher moral standards and the public schools and grammar schools switched codes. I know that was the case at my own school, which did not restart football until the 1990's, long after I had left.

I don't know if this happened locally, presumably what is now Earls would be most likely to be affected.

[Laurel Lane Lamper]

Mike Bayly’s new book includes an interesting account of the late 1800s transition at the War Memorial Ground from cricket and rugby to cricket and football .

No football was played at Halesowen Grammar (Earls) in 1960s.
Rugby and hockey were the winter sports.

[drummyb]

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

I have no idea how or why I did that!!!

[andy]

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

I have no idea how or why I did that!!!
It's a gift

It's a gift
(/quote)

It's a gift

[andy]

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

I have no idea how or why I did that!!!
It's a gift

It's a gift
(/quote)

It's a gift

It's a gift

[BBNOW100]

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.

This is a really great point. As others have said, rugby was definitely the prevailing school sport in the area before the Second World War. It would definitely be interesting, then, to take a deeper look into where Halesowen recruited their players from. The 1920s had seen a number of Halesowen players go on to sign for League clubs, but in the 1930s that 'nursery' system dried up entirely. Why exactly that was the case, however, remains to be seen, but demographic changes very well may have had something to do with it.

[Laurel Lane Lamper]

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

and the league table to go with it

[Poll]

That's an even worse start to the season than when we went 3-0 down to Workington in the first 20 mins a few years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHEcTRuYWoU for the Yeltz TV "highlights" of that match to keep you amused while we wait for the restart

[Laurel Lane Lamper]

We've fared well as regards starts to the season. I've got 0-6 against Kiddy and 2-5 to Boston & Lockheed otherwise not too heavy defeats

[DJ]

All new-season hope took just 94 seconds to evaporate in the first game at Salisbury City on 19th August 2000 in a portent of the dreadful season to come. Although that game only ended in a 2-1 defeat, the Yeltz went on to finish bottom of the 2000/01 Southern League Premier League table to record their first relegation almost anyone could remember (the first since 1956/57).
Match Report:

New look Halesowen unveiled ex-Swansea City defender Jon Ford as another signing but fell behind after just 94 seconds of the new season when leading marksman Paul Sales was left free to fire past Andy Quy from 8 yards following Kevin Braybrook’s freekick.

And as stinkers go, it didn’t come much worse than the long final away trip of that season to Fisher Athletic in late April 2001 for a 0-0 draw between two already relegated sides:
Match Report:

Halesowen’s season-long lack of fire power came back to haunt them as they failed to turn long spells of pressure into goals at rain-soaked Fisher. However, for all Halesowen’s lack of punch, Fisher fared even worse and gave emergency goalkeeper Scott Turbutt an easy afternoon’s work in the Halesowen goal.

A dismal first half left the sparse crowd in no doubt why both sides are already condemned to relegation.

For all their efforts Halesowen remain bottom of the table and must be crying out for a younger version of one of their legendary goal-scoring heroes from the past.