Ken Smith looks at the early years of Middlesbrough FC from its formation in 1876 up until the first world war.
As we now know, Middlesbrough FC (or as it was first named Middlesbrough Association) was discussed at a meeting of cricket club members at the suggestion of a certain Frederick Thompson on 20th October 1876 in a gymnasium behind the Albert Park Hotel in Linthorpe Road. Others known to be present were Fred Hardisty, Jackson Ewbank and Charles Booth who were to eventually become Boro players. A further meeting took place within a month at the Talbot Hotel and the first practice match was reputed to be held in Albert Park.
It was nothing like a practice match we would expect to see today, as some players wore their normal apparel, whilst others wore different colours of shirts. It was very haphazard as about 70 players were split into two teams in a 30 minute kickabout, but eventually some of the less enthusiastic players became spectators, but how many is not recorded. However I imagine it would be a nightmare for Tony Pulis to evaluate the merits of such a large number of players, but the aforementioned Fred Thompson seemed to be a prominent player.
Eventually a match was arranged against Tyne Association but there doesn’t seem to be a report of that match nor a match against the local rugby union side Tees Wanderers. However a further match against Tees Wanderers is recorded as the first official match. It was recorded as Middlesbrough FC versus Tees Wanderers played on 24th February 1877 at the old Archery ground in Albert Park and finished as a 1-1 draw. The formation of the team was 2-2-6 and Boro’s goal was scored by Jackson Ewbank, one of the attendees at the inaugural meeting. Middlesbrough FC only lost once during their first three years of existence, that being 0-1 away to Barnard Castle on 22nd December 1877.
So attractive had Middlesbrough FC become that attendances started to creep up to the 200 mark especially against local rivals such as Loftus and Eston that after a match between the first and second teams on 12th October 1878 it was decided to move to Grove Hill but that too couldn’t accommodate the larger attendances and within a year they would need to move again following a 3-0 home win against Loftus on 7th February 1880 in which Jackson Ewbank scored a hat-trick. Later that month after moving to Middlesbrough Cricket Ground Middlesbrough FC beat Tyne Association 4-1, but needed to spread their wings as far as Sheffield where they competed in the Sheffield Cup and one tie against Redcar in October 1880 attracted a record crowd of about 2,500.
All matches up to that time had been friendlies, so the Sheffield Cup became a good innovation as did the Cleveland Cup which Middlesbrough FC won in each of its first six seasons and in the first five it was Redcar they defeated in the final (twice after replays). The last of those against Redcar attracted a crowd of about 7,000 in a 8-1 replay win following a goalless draw at Darlington. The sixth success was in 1888 and a 3-0 win against Stockton at Darlington. The last season of the Cleveland Cup saw Middlesbrough’s biggest ever win – a first round 16-0 success against South Stockton, but I’m pleased to say a 0-1 defeat in the Semifinal to Redcar.
During that period Middlesbrough FC also participated in the FA Cup. Their first match was a 1-5 home defeat to the Derbyshire club of Staveley on 10th November 1883. In 1886 after 2-1 wins against Gainsborough Trinity and Grimsby Town they lost 1-2 in the 5th Round to Redcar on the 23rd January.
Incidentally Redcar played their home matches on Coatham Road Cricket Ground and had already beaten Sunderland there in the first round in two successive seasons but were subsequently beaten in the Quarter-finals on the 13th February 2-0 away to Small Heath Alliance (now Birmingham City).
Middlesbrough FC did however reach their first Quarterfinal in 1888, but having beaten the Sheffield team of Hallam 6-0, Whitburn 4-0 and South Bank 4-1 all at home in the qualifying rounds they were held to a 2-2 draw at Linthorpe Road and lost the away replay 2-4. However Sunderland were then disqualified after Middlesbrough complained about the professionalism of three Scottish players in the Sunderland team. So duly reinstated Middlesbrough beat Old Foresters at home 4-0 before losing 0-2 again at home to Crewe Alexandra.
At last League matches came into vogue in 1889 as Middlesbrough FC entered the Northern League. Middlesbrough FC decided to return to professional status and made a successful application to join Division 2 of the newly extended Football League for the 1899/1900 season. This was only possible by the issue of £1,000 worth of shares, canvassing from prominent local nobilities such as the local MP Sir Joseph Pease and Lord Zetland, and the backing of Sunderland and Newcastle United. There had been nine nominations and Boro along with Chesterfield and Loughborough were the three successful applicants.
To establish a competitive club in the Football League from a successful Northern League club was going to be tremendous task, and recruitment would need to be the key. Several Scottish players were among the 26 debutants in that first season supplementing the 13 players from the previous year. James McCracken was appointed captain and played in 33 of the 34 league matches, with only fellow winghalf Henry Allport making over 30 appearances.
Boro started their League campaign on the 2nd September 1899 with a 0-3 defeat at Lincoln City but won their first match three weeks later 1-0 at home to the other Lincolnshire club Grimsby Town. Boro’s home form wasn’t too bad, winning four out of an unbeaten run of seven matches. These included an 8-1 win against Burton Swifts and the first League hat-trick for a Boro player, Joe Murphy who had featured in the two FA Amateur Cup Final successes. Boro’s nemesis though was a scarcity of goal scorers and the season ended with a mere 39 goals scored and 69 conceded. They failed to record a single away win and finished in 14th position out of 18.
The following season saw only 5 players retained from the previous season with 20 new debutants. McCracken was gone and newcomer William Higgins appointed captain. Alex Wardrope, who had made his debut in the penultimate match of the previous season, was top scorer with eleven league goals in a much better season. Boro only lost twice at home, to Small Heath (Birmingham City) and Newton Heath (Man. Utd). They beat Gainsborough Trinity 9-2, won four away matches, and finished a creditable 6th. In the FA Cup they actually played nine times, five of them qualifying matches, and reached the 4th Round having beaten Newcastle United 3-1 and Kettering Town 5-0 before losing at home to West Bromwich Albion 0-1 before an estimated crowd of 20,000.
The 1901/02 team showed another 10 debutants out of the 20 who played that season, but what a season it proved to be! By the 9th November Boro were in 2nd place having won 7 matches and lost 3 of their first 10. Those wins included 5-0 and 6-0 home wins over Doncaster Rovers and Newton Heath respectively, and a 3-0 away win at Woolwich Arsenal. Their first draw was in the 11th match and an eight match unbeaten run had Boro leading the pack by December. Two defeats followed, but then another 15 match unbeaten run ensured promotion in second place and four points behind the eventual Champions West Bromwich Albion.
This 1901/02 season goes down as the second most prolific goalscoring season for matches played in the club’s history. As well as the matches previously mentioned Boro scored seven away to Barnsley and at home to Chesterfield, six at home to Stockport County, and five at home to Burton United, Glossop North End and Leicester Fosse. In one sequence of ten matches, Boro scored 37 goals and that included one goalless draw. Boro’s final statistics were as follows:-
Home: P17 - W15 - D1 - L1 - F58 - A 7 - Pts. 31
Away: P17 - W 8 - D4 - L5 - F32 - A17 - Pts. 20
In fact in points per game it exceeds the 1926/27 season – 1.5 as opposed to 1.476, and the goal difference of plus 66 is 4 better than 1926/27 and 19 better than the 1973/74 season under Jack Charlton although that season is the highest for points per game of 1.547. All these statistics were based on the old format of 2 points for a win.
On reflection then, the 1901/02 season might still be considered as the most remarkable in the history of the Boro when consideration is given to the turnover of players. Alex Wardrope scored another 10 goals, but newcomer Joe Cassidy scored 15, and Jack Brearley 22. Neither Wardrope nor Brearley were retained for Boro’s first season in the First Division, but Cassidy did play for the next two seasons.
The next season started a period of 22 years in the top flight covering a period of 18 seasons either side of the First World War, and I hope to pick out the best of those in the current off-season if time permits.
Boro had done remarkably well to get promotion to the First Division in such a short period, but could they become a force in English football? To start with there would have to be a large clear out of the existing playing staff before the signing of their targets, and with that in mind, no fewer than 18 players were put on the transfer list at fees ranging from £10 to £75. Boro made bids varying from £100 to £150 for several of their targets but were often outbid. Nevertheless Boro did spend a combined total of £400 on five players including two strikers – Jack Brearley and Joe Cassidy. Boro actually won both of their opening two matches 1-0 away to Blackburn Rovers and at home to Everton. In fact they won 5 and lost only 3 of their first 9 matches which saw them in 6th position. Then came a run of 6 defeats and 2 draws in the next 8 games and a position of 15th. They eventually finished 13th but never in danger of relegation.
However the most everlasting memory of the season the was the emergence of Reginald Garnet ‘Tiny Tim’ Williamson as Boro’s regular goalkeeper who, after making his debut in the penultimate game of the previous season, didn’t make his third appearance until 3rd January. Williamson was given the nickname of ‘Tiny’ because at 5 foot 10 inches he was considered as a giant of a man at that time. As we all now know Williamson made a club record of 603 league and cup appearances for the Boro and would probably have reached 750 if the First World War hadn’t intervened. He won 7 England caps and I’m proud to say that like myself he was an Old Coathamian having attended Sir William Turner’s School, but unlike me played for Redcar Crusaders, the team I used to cycle to watch when I was a schoolboy.
The following season Boro moved to Ayresome Park and an estimated crowd of 30,000 saw the opening fixture against Sunderland. Joe Cassidy had given Boro a 1-0 half time lead, but unfortunately eventually lost 2-3. Despite failing to win an away game that season (9 draws, 8 defeats) and losing twice to both Sunderland and Newcastle United, Boro finished a creditable 10th and did manage away wins in the FA Cup at Millwall and Preston North End which meant a Quarterfinal tie away to Manchester City. Boro drew that match 0-0 and, having already beaten City 6-0 in the league in October, I imagine expectations were probably high that they would reach their first Semifinal. But before an estimated record breaking crowd of 33,000 typically Boro lost the replay 1-3. The galling thing was that City went on to win the FA Cup that year by beating Bolton Wanderers 1-0 at the old Crystal Palace ground.
The 1904/05 season didn’t start well. By February Boro had only won 4 matches and were 17th out of the 18 clubs and relegation looked almost certain. Then Boro caused controversy by paying the first £1,000 fee for Alf Common. Boro had unsuccessfully tried to buy Common from Sheffield United two years previously for £400, but eventually Sunderland offered £510 and their bid proved successful. Now of course Boro were desperate and their £1,000 bid was not only successful but outraged the footballing fraternity. Questions were even asked in Parliament about the ‘immortality’ of a football club trying to buy survival – one comment being that the honourable thing to do was to accept relegation gracefully. Alf Common made his debut on the 25th February away to Sheffield United and converted the penalty that gave Boro their first away win of the season 1-0. A run of 4 wins in 5 matches with Common scoring a further 3 times saw Boro eventually safe with 26 points in 15th place. Along with Henry Astley and Harold Atherton, Alf Common was joint top scorer for Boro with a mere 4 goals each, but I hasten to suggest that Common’s 4 were the most valuable.
Jack Robson was replaced as manager by Alex Mackie before the start of the 1905/06 season. He only lasted one season, but what a controversial year that was! Boro were in deep relegation trouble for almost the entire season. Their away record again was appalling with no wins and only 7 draws from 19 matches in the Division now extended to 20 clubs. Having suffered heavy defeats to Liverpool 1-5 and 1-6 plus a 0-7 drubbing on Boxing Day away to Birmingham City, relegation again looked a certainty with Boro having been second from bottom since Christmas. The main problem had been a porous defence, but the manager had decided that attack was the best form of defence and made an offer for Derby County’s superstar England international forward Steve Bloomer. Alf Common’s transfer had caused so much controversy that the FA warned that action might be taken in the future if such high transfer fees were forthcoming. Indeed the FA gave a guideline of £350 being the maximum it would expect. What that action might be was not revealed, but mindful of sanctions or whatever, Boro went ahead with the purchase of Bloomer at an agreed fee of £750. However by including the purchase of Jack Ratcliffe in the package at £350 and Bloomer at £400, the two clubs thought they might circumvent the ‘guidelines’. In fact Ratcliffe was merely a Derby reserve having only made some 16 appearances in 4 seasons. Although there seemed to be some ‘massaging’ of the transfer fees, the deals went ahead.
Steve Bloomer made an instant hit with the Boro. They won their last 4 home games – Stoke City 5-0, Sunderland 2-1, Manchester City 6-1 and Arsenal 2-0. A 1-1 draw at Blackburn on the final day of the season ensured Boro escaped relegation on goal average over Nottingham Forest. Bloomer scored 6 goals in his 9 matches, whilst Common scored 8 in that same period finally finishing with 19 in his 36 matches. However Boro had also bought Billy Brawn for £600 from Aston Villa and the FA held an investigation to find out how a club like Middlesbrough with a record loss of £1,635 from the previous season could afford these transfer fees. Eventually the FA after perusing the club’s books several times thereafter, concluded that Boro were in such a financial mess having made so many illegal payments, that FA auditors became regular watchdogs of the club’s accounts. In the end the Boro Chairman, Lt.Col. Thomas Gibson-Poole paid off the club’s debts from his personal accounts. Disillusioned with football management Mackie resigned and became landlord of the ‘Star and Garter Hotel’ on Marton Road.
Steve Bloomer served Boro well for the rest of the decade, scoring 59 goals in 125 appearances, until rejoining Derby County in 1910. Before joining Boro he had scored 238 goals in 375 appearances for Derby County, and after rejoining them a further 53 goals in 98 appearances – a colossal total of 350 goals in 598 appearances. He also scored 28 times for England in 23 appearances – probably the leading goalscorer of that era. In the 1906/07 he scored 18 times, and with Common contributing 12 goals plus another 12 from Fred Wilcox, Boro finished a comfortable 11th in the 1906/07 season although they didn’t record a win in the first eight matches and languished bottom of the table before the Christmas Day derby match with Sunderland which Boro won 2-1. Thereafter despite heavy defeats at Everton 1-5 and Newcastle 0-4, a 7 win sequence in 9 matches including a 5-3 home win over Woolwich Arsenal when Bloomer scored four, instigated a fine recovery.
1907/08 provided Boro with their highest league position at the time. An average start of 4 wins, 2 draws and 4 defeats had Boro midtable, but then a spell of only 2 wins in the next 10 matches which included a 0-6 defeat at Aston Villa probably had the alarm bells ringing in 18th position. However from January onwards Boro registered 9 wins and 2 draws in their next 14 matches to eventually finish 6th with 41 points and only two points behind runners-up Aston Villa, although Champions Manchester United finished with 52 points.
The 1908/09 season saw Boro make another bad start, for after beating Bradford City at home in their first match, Boro failed to win any of their next 8 matches. Bad starts seemed to have become a worrying trait for Boro, but for the third season running the second half of the season provided a recovery this time with a 9th place finish. There were some notable victories, though with home wins against Nottm Forest 4-0, Manchester United 5-0, Leicester Fosse 6-2 and Bristol City 4-0. However for the second consecutive season Boro lost away to Notts County in the First Round of the FA Cup.
The 1909/10 season saw the introduction of George Elliott, another in the great list of Boro strikers. However it was another relegation threatened season with Boro actually bottom of the table at the end of February. This time though Boro hadn’t started too badly, for despite losing their opening match at home to Sheffield United 0-2, they won 5-1 away to Sheffield Wednesday four days later and then thrashed Arsenal 5-2 at home. But that was as good as it got for most of the season. A 3-7 home defeat to Bradford City on Christmas Day was followed by a 1-4 reverse against the same opponents two days later. When Boro lost 0-5 at home to Bury on the 12th February they were bottom. They did recover to finish 17th but Jack Hall was the only player to score double figures with 12 goals, Steve Bloomer returned to Derby County after scoring 9, Alf Common’s contribution a mere 4 from 26 appearances and a young George Elliott also scored 4 from his 15 starts.
The following season showed a reverse trend to previous seasons. Boro were in the top 3 by November and always in the top half of the table until the end of March and had even recorded two away victories – 2-1 at Manchester United and 2-0 at Arsenal. Admittedly they were the only away wins recorded that season interspersed amongst heavy defeats at Aston Villa 0-5, Blackburn Rovers 1-5 and Tottenham 2-6. But Boro took only one point from their last 8 matches and finished 16th.
The following season 1911/12 Boro actually headed the table after 9 matches having scored 19 goals in accruing 13 points. They were still second before the Christmas Day home match with Everton. However with George Elliott taking on the mantle of chief goalscorer they were always competitive. Boro only lost twice at Ayresome Park that season – Arsenal 0-2 and Aston Villa 1-2 in consecutive matches having been unbeaten at home for 13 matches which included 8 wins. Boro finished with 40 points from their 38 matches, George Elliott scored 17 league goals and Samuel Cail 13 in his penultimate season.
The 1912/13 season was a pretty consistent one for Boro – never higher than 12th, but never lower than 16th where in fact they actually finished. It could probably be described as a nondescript season although George Elliott scored 25 goals in all matches and Jackie Carr, having made his debut two years previously, scored 19 including a hat-trick in a FA Cup win against Millwall.
The 1913/14 season started disastrously with Boro second from bottom by the end of November with only one win in the first 11 matches, and yet it finished with Boro finishing in 3rd spot on 43 points, one point behind Aston Villa although 8 behind eventual Champions Blackburn Rovers. It is the highest position Boro have ever finished in the top tier, and included an astonishing final 20 matches which included 14 wins and only 5 defeats. Having suffered a 0-6 reverse at Blackburn in September, Boro got their revenge against the Champions elect with an Elliott hat-trick in a 3-0 win in January. Boro’s only once failed to score at home (a goalless draw against Oldham Athletic) and their final total of 77 goals included 13 in their final 3 matches (home wins over Tottenham 6-0 and Liverpool 4-0 followed by a 3-1 away win at runners-up Villa). George Elliott scored 31 league goals in his 32 appearances, and Walter Tinsley 19 in his first season.
The last season before the First World War started with hopes high that Boro might continue their good form and perhaps win their first First Division title. A defeat in the first match away to Sheffield Wednesday was followed by 3 wins, but then followed a sequence of one win plus 7 draws in the next 8 matches. An unbeaten run of 11 matches sounds okay, but as 7 had been draws Boro were only 6th by mid November. When they failed to win any of their next 5 matches hopes had faded and Boro finished the season in 12th position. Two particularly notable home matches occurred that season. On 13th February Boro defeated Tottenham 7-5 at home in which Walter Tinsley scored a hat-trick. On the 3rd April Boro led Oldham Athletic 4-1 when the visitors fullback Billy Cook was sent off after 55 minutes but refused to leave the field and the referee abandoned the match. However the result was confirmed and became the first Football League match in England where that happened. In fact Oldham finished runners-up to Everton and only one point behind. George Elliott went on to become Boro’s second leading goal scorer with 203 goals in 344 appearances and won 3 England International caps.
To conclude, have you ever wondered when the animosity between Boro and Sunderland started? The Mackems along with Newcastle had supported Boro’s application to join the Football League in 1899 so relations between the two clubs was probably quite cordial until the end of the 1927/28 season when Boro lost their last game of the season 0-3 at home to Sunderland. Had Boro obtained a draw, Sunderland would have been relegated instead of Boro. At least relegation had been settled on the field of play, not so in the following tale.
Now consider why Tottenham fans hate Arsenal. It was decided for the resumption of football in 1919/20 that the First Division would be increased from 20 clubs to 22. Derby County and Preston North End had finished in the top two positions in the Second Division and were to be promoted. Chelsea in 19th position and Tottenham in 20th position in the First Division were expected to retain their First Division status in the enlarged division. However at the League’s AGM, Spurs were not re-elected and Arsenal who had finished only 5th in the 1914/15 Second Division season were elected in their place and have remained in the top tier ever since.