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Post by Budleigh on Feb 16, 2011 17:44:30 GMT
This programme is from the 1939/40 South Western League season, the home game against Newport County on the 6th of July 1940, being the first and only season United played before disbanding for the remainder of the duration of the war. This league consisted of eight teams each playing the other in four games, two home and two away. United were pipped at the post by Plymouth Argyle and ended up runners-up. Result: 4 - 3 (A.Clarke, Mitchesen, Hutchinson (pen), Ebdon) The team was made up of: A few pre-war first team players; Colin Markham, Bill Hellier, Bill Coley, and our friend Albert Hutchinson (see the History Room). Loans from other clubs including Dick ‘Digger’ Ebdon from Exeter City, a player who then played for United after the war making just five appearances and scoring his only goal on his ‘real’ debut (he is mentioned in the thread of the 1934 friendly game against the Worcs Regt. placed in the programme archive pages) and Albert Clarke from Blackburn Rovers who had previously played for United in the 1934/35 season and who died in 1944 whilst on active service. He actually makes an appearance in that 1934 reserve friendly against the Worcs Regt. just mentioned before moving to Birmingham. I believe that Mitcheson was probably Fred who was playing for Yeovil Town at the outbreak of war having previously been on the books of Argyle. He is known to have stayed in Devon after the war working for Devon Schools. Various local players were also involved so it would be interesting to put a little history to those names mentioned in the line-up of which there’s no biog here. I shall leave it to those knowledgable types to hopefully fill in the gaps…     Close-up of team line-ups    |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 16, 2011 18:10:04 GMT
What a wonderful programme. It might be the first year of the war but Torquay was still promoting itself as a holiday destination - get your official handbook from the publicity people at the Marine Spa.
Keep your dog on a leash - what's the club policy towards canines these days? Frequent services by bus - some of those routes (especially the 30, 35 and 55) are familiar from my youth). And - what's this? - an invitation to report "complaints of incivility" and "lack of attention" to the secretary.
Two forthcoming attractions - a game in the "Torbay Emergency League" (see the fixtures for a list of other participants) and a match between Homelands and a school from West London (was that something to do with evacuation?).
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Feb 16, 2011 23:00:53 GMT
This is absolutely fascinating Leigh. I was very disappointed that the 1939/40 and 1945/46 seasons were not featured in the Official Centenary History. I tried to get them added in but it was too late. You can find results and scorers at: www.tufchistory.co.ukSo much to mention here that I won't be able to fit it all in one post. I wonder how neutral the officials were? Laure Millsom was our goalie in our first ever League game in 1927. Bill Davey was mentioned in the two 1934 programmes Leigh has posted - I think he went on to be president of the South Devon League. Harold Kellow was at the club for donkeys' years and is mentioned here: torquayfansforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tufchistory&action=display&thread=7405The most interesting player in our line-up (other than our Albert of course) is Les Bennett who went on to become an all-time great at Tottenham. They even mention his spelll at Torquay here: archive.mehstg.com/fact_bennett_les.htm |
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Post by Jon on Feb 16, 2011 23:42:50 GMT
CRANG
Local amateur – filled in when Joslin was unavailable.
MARKHAM
Played for us either side of the War.
HUTCHINSON
TUFC legend well-documented on this forum!
CLARKE (Reg AKA Nobby)
Guest from Aldershot where he played for the last two seasons before the War. He had previously played over 300 games for Exeter. Seaton-born.
HELLIER
Played for us before the War and in the 1945/46 FA Cup.
COLEY
Played for us either side of the War.
BENNETT
Guest from Spurs where he was to become a legend. I’ve posted a link earlier in this thread.
MITCHESON
Guest from Ipswich who he signed for from Argyle in the summer of 39. His three League games for Ipswich were wiped from the record books.
CLARKE (Albert)
Guest from Blackburn who he had fired to the Second Division title in 1938/39 with 21 League goals. First signed for us from Frickley Colliery in 1934, was sold to Birmingham in 1935 and moved on to Blackburn in 1938.
EBDON
“Digger” scored regularly for us as a guest from Exeter (who closed down when the War broke out) in 1939/40, but was past his best by the time he signed for us properly in 1948. Was a regular for Exeter either side of the War. Born in Ottery St Mary.
NAYLOR
Guest amateur from Oxford University.
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Post by Budleigh on Feb 17, 2011 7:47:41 GMT
I've now added the score and scorers to the original post above.
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Feb 17, 2011 23:56:44 GMT
I've now added the score and scorers to the original post above. You can also add the attendance - 1,515. When this game was played we were still in "phony war" with not much happening. By the time we went to Newport for the return game eight weeks later, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium and France had fallen. We were in the middle of the Dunkirk evacuation and the German invasion seemed inevitable. Things didn't go much better on the pitch - Newport beat us 11-0! It's worth mentioning that Newport, one of the smaller clubs in 3 South but not as small as us, had won promotion to the Second Division for the first and only time in the summer of 1939. They went back down at the first attempt in 1947. We met Newport in the first round of the FA Cup in 1945/46 - which is strange because they, as a second division club, really should have had a bye to the third round. Because they had not played for five years, the FA decided that they were too weak to merit a bye - and to rub salt in the wounds awarded their bye to neighbours Cardiff! |
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Post by Jon on Feb 20, 2011 19:43:08 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2014 7:43:24 GMT
The thread about Albert Clarke has prompted another look at this marvellous programme from 1940.
Plenty of comments at the time but there's something I missed. It's on the question of buses. As a child, as I may have said before, I often wondered why there was a 28A route but no 28. Here may lie the answer: the 28 (later absorbed into the longer 12 route) ran between Newton Abbot and Torquay; the 28A would have been an offshoot serving the new houses at Shiphay.
Unless, of course, there's a bus enthusiast (or someone with a long memory) who can tell us otherwise.
Another look too at the board of directors. Perrys seem to emerge in the boardroom from time-to-time.
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