The war to end all wars

Today is 99 years since the beginning of the First World War, and so it seems right to mention the connection between our project and one of the most important events of the twentieth century.

When war was declared, Exeter City had finished their tour of South America, and were on board the Alcantara on their way back to England.  Due to the hostilities, the ship was fired upon twice as it approached British waters, but only by our own forces. While originally headed for Southampton, it was redirected to Liverpool once it entered the English Channel.

At the beginning of the conflict, several sportsmen, including footballers, were called up to join the forces as they were also members of the army reserves or territorials. However for most, the belief that the war would be ‘over by Christmas’, allowed them to go about their daily lives, starting pre-season training and starting the 1914/15 season as usual. However as the conflict continued with huge casualties, footballers and their supporters came under more and more criticism for not joining up.  The FA offered full cooperation to the War Office, and over the season more and more measures came into place allowing the world of football to support the war effort – footballers began military training on weekdays before travelling to matches at weekends, grounds were made available for use by the War Office and money was raised at games to support relief funds. By the end of the season however, football was in crisis and many players had joined up. League games were then cancelled until after the war.

While it has been reported that Exeter City player Gus Harding died in the war, this is actually not true. Of the players who went on the South American tour, it seems all survived the conflict, although Fred Marshall and Billy Goodwin never played again due to the injuries they had sustained.  Despite the criticism that footballers received for not joining-up early in the conflict, they had much more at stake than many other professionals.  While an injured office clerk could return to work after the war, an injury for a footballer meant retirement.

If you’re interested in more information about footballers and the First World War, a book by Andrew Riddoch and John Kemp “When the Whistle Blows” has been very useful for my contextual research. It mentions Exeter City’s Fred Goodwin and Fred Whittaker, who joined the 17th Middlesex or the ‘Footballers Battalion’.

Less than a year to go…

Last Sunday, the 21st July, marked the 99th anniversary of Exeter City’s historic match again the first Brazilian team.  Not to spoil the stories which will be revealed by our exhibition, or by the many other exciting commemoration events planned to take place in 2014 to celebrate the centenary year, I thought I would tell a brief version of the story so you all know what the fuss is about…

Exeter City was arguably formed in 1904, when players from Exeter United and St Sidwell’s combined forces.  Football had been growing in popularity throughout Britain, although rugby was probably still the more popular sport in Exeter.  In 1908, the team decided to go professional and joined the Southern League.  In 1910 they ditched their green and white kit, believing the colours to be unlucky, and adopted the red and white vertical striped shirts that we know today.

Exeter City FC squad 1913-14 season

In these early years of the twentieth century, there were the beginnings of a trend for teams to go on an tour during the summer months. Swindon Town and Tottenham Hotspur had embarked on tours to South America, playing against teams in Argentina and Uruguay.  However a professional British team had not yet been persuaded to play games in Brazil, so when Exeter’s ship docked into Rio de Janeiro in July 1914, negotiations began immediately to see if they would be willing to add some extra games to their trip which was primarily intended to tour Argentina.  Clearly, Exeter City agreed, although they would only play in Rio de Janeiro, and would not go out of their way to visit the other major football centre of Brazil – Sao Paolo.

While the Grecians continued with their scheduled travel plans, organisers in Rio decided to invite players from Sao Paolo to join them for a match in Rio.  It seemed like the perfect opportunity to experience playing against a ‘great professional team’, and also practise playing together as a combined team were set to visit Argentina themselves in September of that year. The ‘Brasileiros’ team faced Exeter City at Fluminese football club’s ground on 21st July 1914, a grand finish to the tour, although a disappointing loss for Exeter.

21st July 1914: Exeter City vs. Brasileiros XI, Rio de Janeiro

During the team’s return journey, war broke out in Europe, signalling the beginning of what became known as The Great War.  Their ship was shot at twice, although this turned out to be friendly-fire.  On returning to England, the 1914-15 football season went ahead, but received great criticism as many believed that all young fit men should be fighting for the country.  The league was suspended from 1915, and many footballers joined up for military service, even though in many cases injury in the line of duty ended their professional careers.

So.. a fascinating story isn’t it? If you want to know more you’ll have to wait for the exhibition!!