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Deutsch1914–15 Gillingham F.C. season
 | This article's lead section may be too long. (November 2024) |
| 1914–15 season | ||
|---|---|---|
| Chairman | Edward Crawley[1] | |
| Manager | Sam Gilligan | |
| Southern League Division One | 20th | |
| FA Cup | First round | |
| Top goalscorer | League: Sam Gilligan, Peter Glen (both 8) All: Sam Gilligan, Peter Glen (both 8) | |
| Highest home attendance | tbc | |
| Lowest home attendance | tbc | |
| | ||
During the 1914–15 English football season, Gillingham F.C. competed in the Southern League Division One. It was the 21st season in which the club competed in the Southern League and the 20th in Division One. The season took place despite the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914. Gillingham won twice in their first eight matches of the season but then began a run of games without a victory which lasted for nearly four months; in October and November they lost six consecutive games, including a heavy 8–1 defeat to Croydon Common. The team's performances improved in the second half of the season, with two victories in February and two more in April, but Gillingham finished the season in 20th and last place in the league table, their worst performance in 20 seasons in Division One.
Gillingham also competed in the FA Cup but lost in the first round. The team played 39 competitive matches, winning 6, drawing 8, and losing 25. Sam Gilligan, the team's player-manager, and Peter Glen tied as top goalscorer with eight goals each. Tom Leslie made the most appearances, playing in every game. The highest recorded attendance at the club's home ground, Priestfield Road, was 8,000 for the game against Swindon Town in October. Due to the escalation of the war and public opposition to sporting events continuing as normal, professional football in England closed down at the end of the season and Gillingham would not play another game for more than four years.
Background and pre-season
[edit]
Gillingham, founded in 1893 under the name New Brompton,[2] had played in the Southern League since the competition's formation in 1894, gaining promotion from Division Two at the first attempt in 1895 and remaining in Division One ever since, albeit with little success. The team had only finished in the top half of the league table once in the preceding nine seasons; in the 1913–14 season, Gillingham had finished in 13th place out of 20 teams in the division, their best performance for four years.
The professional football season went ahead as normal despite the fact that the First World War had broken out in July 1914.
Sam Gilligan was Gillingham's player-manager, a position he had held since July 1913.[1][3]
Charlie Hafekost, the team's leading goalscorer during the previous season,[4] left the club to join Liverpool. "Bee", a writer for the Liverpool Echo, described the signing as an "excellent capture",[5][6] but Hafekost would go on to play only one Football League match for Liverpool.[7] The club signed a new forward, Bill Hooper, who had made nearly 150 appearances in the Football League for Nottingham Forest.
Buoyed by an increased level of attendance at the club's home ground, Priestfield Road, during the 1913–14 season, Gillingham's board of directors secured a bank loan of £1,570 (equivalent to £190,000 in 2023)[8] to fund the building of a new grandstand.[1][9][10]
Southern League Division One
[edit]September–December
[edit]Gillingham's first game of the season was away to West Ham United; Hooper made his debut, as did another new forward, Matthew Lovett, but the latter player would only play one more game for the team. Peter Glen scored Gillingham's first goal of the season, but two goals from Syd Puddefoot gave West Ham a 2–1 victory. The next game, away to Brighton & Hove Albion, produced a similar outcome as Ernie Pinkney scored for Gillingham but their opponents scored twice to secure the win.
January–April
[edit]Gillingham's final game of the season was away to Plymouth Argyle.
League match details
[edit]- Key
|
|
- Results[11]
| Date | Opponents | Result | Goalscorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 September 1914 | West Ham United (A) | 1–2 | Glen | 5000 |
| 5 September 1914 | Brighton & Hove Albion (A) | 1–2 | Pinkney | 3000 |
| 09 September 1914 | West Ham United (H) | 4–0 | Glen, Leslie (pen.), Lee, Hooper | 2500 |
| 12 September 1914 | Cardiff City (H) | 1–1 | Lee | 2500 |
| 19 September 1914 | Exeter City (A) | 0–2 | 4000 | |
| 26 September 1914 | Luton Town (H) | 2–4 | Leslie (pen.), Lee | 5000 |
| 03 October 1914 | Portsmouth (A) | 0–1 | 8000 | |
| 10 October 1914 | Swindon Town (H) | 4–0 | Gilligan (2), Leslie (pen.), Pinkney | 8000 |
| 17 October 1914 | Southend United (A) | 1–1 | Thomas | 5000 |
| 24 October 1914 | Queens Park Rangers (H) | 0–1 | 7000 | |
| 31 October 1914 | Millwall (A) | 0–3 | ||
| 07 November 1914 | Bristol Rovers (H) | 0–1 | 7000 | |
| 14 November 1914 | Croydon Common (A) | 1–8 | Pinkney | 4000 |
| 21 November 1914 | Reading (H) | 0–5 | 3000 | |
| 28 November 1914 | Southampton (A) | 1–2 | Mahon | 2000 |
| 05 December 1914 | Northampton Town (H) | 2–2 | Weavers, Leslie (pen.) | 2000 |
| 12 December 1914 | Watford (A) | 0–4 | 2500 | |
| 19 December 1914 | Plymouth Argyle (H) | 0–0 | 6500 | |
| 25 December 1914 | Norwich City (H) | 3–3 | Gilligan, Weightman, Glen | 2000 |
| 26 December 1914 | Norwich City (A) | 0–4 | 3000 | |
| 02 January 1915 | Brighton & Hove Albion (H) | 1–3 | Glen | 2500 |
| 16 January 1915 | Cardiff City (A) | 1–3 | Thomas | 4000 |
| 23 January 1915 | Exeter City (H) | 0–0 | 2000 | |
| 30 January 1915 | Luton Town (A) | 1–3 | Weightman | |
| 06 February 1915 | Portsmouth (H) | 3–1 | Weightman, Thomas, Gilligan | 2000 |
| 13 February 1915 | Swindon Town (A) | 1–5 | Weightman | |
| 20 February 1915 | Southend United (H) | 1–0 | Gilligan | 3000 |
| 27 February 1915 | Queens Park Rangers (A) | 0–3 | 3000 | |
| 06 March 1915 | Millwall (H) | 0–0 | 3000 | |
| 13 March 1915 | Bristol Rovers (A) | 1–2 | Gilligan | 3000 |
| 20 March 1915 | Croydon Common (H) | 2–2 | Glen, Pinkney | 3000 |
| 27 March 1915 | Reading (A) | 0–1 | ||
| 02 April 1915 | Crystal Palace (H) | 3–0 | Tatton (2), Weightman | 6000 |
| 03 April 1915 | Southampton (H) | 4–3 | Glen (2), Gilligan (2) | 3000 |
| 05 April 1915 | Crystal Palace (A) | 0–1 | ||
| 10 April 1915 | Northampton Town (A) | 0–4 | ||
| 17 April 1915 | Watford (H) | 2–3 | Leslie (pen.), Glen | 3000 |
| 24 April 1915 | Plymouth Argyle (A) | 2–3 | Weightman (2) | 5000 |
Partial league table
[edit]FA Cup
[edit]Gillingham entered the 1914–15 FA Cup at the first-round stage in January; their opponents were Rochdale of the Central League, who had had to win two qualifying matches to reach this stage of the competition. Rochdale scored two goals in the first half and won 2–0, eliminating Gillingham from the FA Cup.
Cup match details
[edit]- Key
|
|
- Results[11]
| Date | Round | Opponents | Result | Goalscorers | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 January 1915 | First | Rochdale (A) | 0–2 | 6,000 |
Players
[edit]
During the season, 22 players took the field at least once for Gillingham.[11] Tom Leslie made the most appearances, playing in all 39 of the team's matches. Jack Mahon missed only two games and Gilligan, Andrew Mosley, and John Tatton all made more than 30 appearances.[11] Three players made only a single appearance, including the goalkeeper F. Hall, who made his debut in the 8–1 defeat to Croydon Common and never played for Gillingham again. Eleven players scored at least one goal for the team during the season. Gilligan and Glen tied as the team's top scorer with eight goals each.
| Player | Position | Southern League Division One | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Albert Bailey | GK | 35 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| Jack Branfield | GK | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| B. Burgess | FB | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Charles Fotheringham | FW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| William Frost | FB | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sam Gilligan | FW | 32 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 8 |
| Peter Glen | FW | 25 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 8 |
| George Gray | HB | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| F. Hall | GK | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bill Hooper | FW | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 |
| Arthur Johnson | HB | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| Abel Lee | HB | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 3 |
| Tom Leslie | FB | 38 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 5 |
| Matthew Lovett | FW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Jack Mahon | HB | 36 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 1 |
| Andrew Mosley | FB | 34 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| Ernie Pinkney | FW | 28 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 4 |
| John Tatton | FW | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 2 |
| Bill Thomas | FW | 18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 |
| Sidney Weavers | FW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| Don Weightman | FW | 22 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 7 |
| W. Wimsett | FW | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
FW = Forward, HB = Half-back, GK = Goalkeeper, FB = Full-back
Aftermath
[edit]Owing to the escalation of the war and growing public sentiment that continuing sporting events as normal was not appropriate, the Southern League, along with all other major football competitions in England, closed down in 1915 and did not resume for four years. Temporary regional leagues, featuring amateur players only, took place in the intervening years, but Gillingham did not take part.[12][13][14] Mosley, one of Gillingham's regular starters during the 1914–15 season, was killed in action during the war.[15] Most of the team's other pre-war players, including the player-manager Gilligan, did not return to the club after the hostilities; when Gillingham played their first game for more than four years in August 1919, there were only two players in the team who had represented the club before the war.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Triggs 1999, p. 25.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 1983, p. 110.
- ^ Argus Junior (19 July 1913). "Football notes and notions". Sports Argus. p. 1. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b Brown 2003, p. 31.
- ^ Bee (7 May 1914). "Hafekost for Liverpool". Liverpool Echo. p. 7. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Liverpool's new player". Manchester Courier. 8 May 1914. p. 3. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 16 September 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Joyce 2004, p. 110.
- ^ UK Retail Price Index inflation figures are based on data from Clark, Gregory (2017). "The Annual RPI and Average Earnings for Britain, 1209 to Present (New Series)". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
- ^ Elligate 2009, p. 106.
- ^ Conway 1980, p. 19.
- ^ a b c d Brown 2003, p. 32.
- ^ Davies 2003, p. 89.
- ^ Soar & Tyler 1983, pp. 186, 187.
- ^ Hughes, Graham (January 2011). "Division One 1914–15". When Saturday Comes. Archived from the original on 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
- ^ "Andrew Mosley". Nottinghamshire County Council. Archived from the original on 5 October 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
Works cited
[edit]- Brown, Tony (2003). The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. Soccerdata. ISBN 978-1-8994-6820-1.
- Conway, Tony (1980). The "Gills". Meresborough Books. ISBN 978-0-9052-7026-5.
- Davies, Hunter (2003). Boots, Balls and Haircuts: An Illustrated History of Football from Then to Now. Cassell. ISBN 978-1-84403-032-3.
- Elligate, David (2009). Gillingham FC On This Day. Pitch Publishing. ISBN 978-1-9054-1145-0.
- Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 – 1939. Soccerdata. ISBN 978-1-89946-867-6.
- Soar, Phil; Tyler, Martin (1983). Encyclopedia of British Football. CollinsWillow. ISBN 978-0-0021-8049-8.
- Triggs, Roger (1999). Images of England: Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing. ISBN 978-0-75241-567-3.