1950-1960 Bentham United Another decade where there were certainly a number of contenders, Ingleboro, Bentham United and Caton United with two titles each and also Lower Holker who won the championship once and lost it twice on goal average. After significant ratiocination I plumped for Bentham United as my team of the decade. Year Team P W D L F A Pts 1950-51 Ingleboro 26 19 4 3 132 43 42 1951-52 Dry Dock United 26 23 2 1 48 1952-53 Ingleboro 22 17 2 3 106 42 36 1953-54 Bentham United 28 22 3 3 129 38 47 1954-55 Bentham United 23 20 1 2 144 23 41 1955-56 Lancaster Moor Hospital 1 22 17 0 5 71 40 34 1956-57 Lower Holker 22 18 1 3 83 34 37 1957-58 Caton United 1 24 19 3 2 127 36 41 1958-59 Caton United 22 16 2 4 134 39 34 1959-60 Lancaster Lads Club Old Boys 22 16 4 2 86 36 36 1 won on goal average from Lower Holker in both seasons In May 1953 it was reported in the Guardian that when Lancaster City visited Bootle an interested spectator was a Tottenham Hotspur scout who had come to run the rule over City s young outside left, Roy Cunliffe, only to find that Roy had gone with Jimmy Downham to Middlesborough for a trial with the North East club. Spurs had apparently been watching Roy on a regular basis up to the Christmas break This decade was the most difficult for me to choose one team and I almost went for joint winners but in the end selected Bentham United over Caton United. Caton had been the team of the previous decade but had then lost five of its most influential players for various reasons. Bill Hodgson had retired, Joe Easterby had turned down the Wanderers of Wolverhampton and Bolton and signed instead for Morecambe and Ted Fairclough, Albert Robinson and Dougie Procter had been enticed by Bill Waggett to play for Ingleboro. Both teams won the top division twice and also picked up 6 trophies each from the Senior Challenge Cup and the Senior Charity Cup. Bentham won the Senior Challenge Cup in four consecutive years from 1950-51 to 1953-54 and reached the final again in 1954-55 when they faced the Lancaster Lads Club Old Boys who had finished 3 rd in Division III. Jimmy Downham remembered that during the week leading up to the final he had met the Bentham captain, John Glaister, on more than one occasion on the streets of Lancaster and John had told him the Boys Club was on a hiding to nothing and of course Jim politely told him that nothing was certain in football. Bentham United had already won the Senior Charity Cup by beating Milnthorpe Corinthians 4-1 and retained the North Lancs League Division I title from 2 nd place
Lancaster Moor Hospital with Milnthorpe Corinthians back in 3 rd position so the game against a third division team seemed a formality. Two weeks prior to the final Bentham lost their unbeaten record on Good Friday when they travelled to Lune Valley rivals, Caton United, and lost 3-4 after winning all 15 games played in the league to this point with 110 goals scored and only 10 conceded. It seemed as though the Yorkshire club would once again suffer from a congested fixture list as they had also been involved in the Craven Cup and the Lancashire Junior Shield. The teams lined up on the Giant Axe as follows on Saturday April 30 th 1955: Bentham United: Lads Club Old Boys: Alan Fox; Ted Bolton, John Glaister (captain); Frank Wheildon, Bill Noble, Lockin; Jack Bowery, Frank Ashworth, Green, Bill Mashiter, Des Churchman Alan Thistlethwaite; Pete Hudson, Dave Townley; Gordon Jacobs, Les Robinson, Bob Baines; Russ Dunkeld, Walter Halbard, Roy Kaye, Jimmy Downham, Stan King When Jimmy Downham had started an Old Boys team again in 1953 he had poached four players from Dry Dock United; Russ Dunkeld, Les Robinson, Roy Kaye and Stan King, and they were all instrumental in the Lads Club toppling the allconquering Bentham side. According to Russ Dunkeld they were always confident of beating Bentham and Russ himself was one of the outstanding players on the day giving John Glaister a harassing time. Jimmy Downham and Stan King were an effective partnership on the left, Les Robinson soundly held centre forward Green. Inside forwards Frank Ashworth and Bill Mashiter were given little scope by the hard tackling Gordon Jacobs and Bob Baines and wingers Jack Bowery and Des Churchman were cleanly and effectively played by Pete Hudson and Dave Townley. The first goal came when the irrepressible Russ Dunkeld picked up a pass from Gordon Jacobs and crossed for Roy Kaye to score before half time and 15 minutes after the restart a mix-up in the Bentham defence let in Stan King who slipped the ball past Alan Fox. Although the Old Boys goal was put under pressure and several chances were squandered, particularly by centre forward Green, the arrears were finally reduced when a fine free kick from Frank Wheildon was headed home by Green in the 85 th minute but the Lads Club held on to clinch the trophy with a fine 2-1 win. The Lancaster Guardian cameraman most likely thought the result was a foregone conclusion because he only wanted to catch the Bentham United team on camera and ignored the Lads Club team. Jimmy Downham typically placated the Lads Club players when they initially refused to pose for a snap when he was finally persuaded to approach them. Russ Dunkeld said that most of his team mates were happy to let the Bentham team be photographed and they would do their talking on the field. Less than a month after this game Bentham United applied for membership of the recently formed North West Combination saying that the decision was in the interests of higher class football for the district. At the club s annual meeting in the Town Hall a large number of interested supporters attended to state their views. Sweeping changes in administration were advocated and one important innovation
was the formation of a financial committee whose members would meet monthly to ensure that the club s finances were on a sound footing. The committee comprised: Milton Bradley, B Cowgill, G Thornborough, C Bibby, J Winn Jnr, F Murphy and D Hutchinson. Officers elected were: President C M Gorst, Secretary Edwin Harrison, Treasurer J Chapman, Chairman D Easterby, Committee: A Amatt, Les Reid, W Park, J Park, J West, G Lister, W Johnson and R Guy with power to co-opt. The measure of how good this Bentham United side had become was perfectly illustrated when in season 1955-56 they won three trophies, the league championship of the North West Combination, the North West Combination Challenge Cup and for the second time the prestigious Lancashire Junior Shield. They had previously won the Lancashire Junior Shield in season 1953-54 when still members of the North Lancs League and I think it was this victory that clinched the title of team of the decade in my mind. Members of Bentham United football team who won the Lancashire Junior Shield (second time in the club s post-war history), the league championship of the North West Combination and the N.W. Combination Challenge Cup. They celebrated their victory with a dinner at the Brown Cow Hotel, Bentham
Bentham United with the N.W. Combination League Championship Cup F. Wheildon, J. Lockin, W. Mashiter, J. Bowery, D. Bond, J. Davies, E. Bolton, E. Maunders (trainer) T. Chappell, J. Mewton, R. Holt, J. Glaister (captain), G. Green, D. Churchman, G. Chappell The North West Combination lasted for only nine short seasons and when it folded at the end of season 1961-62 there were only seven teams still competing, Vickers Sports Club (champions), Carnforth Rangers (2 nd ), Windermere (3 rd ), Ulverston Rangers (4 th ), Barrow A (5 th ), Milnthorpe Corinthians (6 th ) and Ambleside YMCA (7 th ). Bentham United s sad decline had started after their first season and they would never reach those heights of excellence again. In five short years and before season 1960-61 Bentham United dropped out of the North West Combination and Bentham Wanderers flew the flag for the village in the First Division of the North Lancs League before dropping the suffix Wanderers at the end of the season and continuing to play as simply Bentham. How sad it was to see this wonderful club fall so quickly from grace My conclusion is that it was first of all created to accommodate Lancaster City FC and Morecambe FC as a vehicle for their reserve teams when the North Lancs League refused to allow professionals into its ranks. Geographically the distances between the competing clubs put too much strain on their finances and it was almost doomed from the start. The great negative of this ill-fated and ill-conceived idea was that it weakened the North Lancs League to such an extent that in succeeding decades the standard of football never again reached the wonderful heights of the ten years following World War II.
When you look at the teams that formed the league their numbers fluctuated wildly as the financial pressures grew and even Bentham United who had officials that numbered in excess of twenty could not keep their treasury filled to placate the ravenous financial appetite of this league. Clubs 53-54 54-55 55-56 56-57 57-58 58-59 59-60 60-61 61-62 Seasons Netherfield Reserves In In In Top Top Out Out Out Out 5 Milnthorpe Corinthians In Top In In In In In In In 9 Ingleboro Top In In In In In In In Out 8 Lancaster Reserves In In In In In In Out Out Out 6 Galgate In Out Out Out Out Out Out Out Out 1 Morecambe Reserves In In In In Out Out Out Out Out 4 Barrow "A" In In In In In In In Top In 9 Bolton-le-Sands In In Out Out Out Out Out Out Out 2 Carnforth Rangers In In In In In In In In In 9 Vickers Sports Club Out In In In In Top Top In Top 8 Levens Out In In In In Out Out Out Out 4 Bentham United Out Out Top In In In In Out Out 5 Windermere Out Out In In In In In In In 7 Kendal United Out Out Out In In In In Out Out 4 Ambleside YMCA Out Out Out Out In In In In In 5 Dalton Town Out Out Out Out Out Out Out In Out 1 Ulverston Rangers Out Out Out Out Out Out Out Out In 1 Number in League 9 10 11 12 12 10 9 8 7 Ulverston Rangers, Dalton Town and Galgate only managed one year in the league and Bolton-le-Sands two. Milnthorpe Corinthians, Barrow A and Carnforth Rangers were the only clubs to survive the full nine years of its existence. Vickers Sports Club tendered their application to join the inaugural season of the new league too late for admission but joined in the second year. In June 1953 the annual meeting of the North Lancs League was highly charged and contentious when the subject of allowing unlimited professionalism and unlimited permit players was discussed. A. H. Woollett of Heysham FC proposed the banning of all permit players and accused clubs of paying back-handers to these players. Representatives of other clubs indignantly denied the accusation and the proposal was thrown out. John Morrow of Bolton-le-Sands suggested that the League Council had panicked because of the formation of the North West Combination. League president, Tom Tyson, explained that they had taken steps to find out the feelings of First Division clubs on the question of professionalism. Twelve of them had met the League Council and seven voted for unlimited professionalism in the 1 st Division and four voted for limited professionalism with Morecambe Grammar School Old Boys abstaining.
It wasn t disclosed how the individual clubs voted but I think it is fair to assume that the ones who voted for full professionalism were the six clubs who would play in the new league plus Bentham Wanderers who possibly voted along with their neighbours Bentham United and Ingleboro. For Professionalism For Limited Professionalism Abstained Ingleboro Dry Dock United Morecambe Grammar School Old Boys Bolton-le-Sands Caton United Bentham United Storeys of Lancaster Carnforth Rangers Civil Service Milnthorpe Corinthians Galgate Bentham Wanderers In hindsight this was indeed a ground-breaking moment for the North Lancs League and Tom Tyson was in an extremely difficult position. If they had voted for a Premier League which was mentioned, they would have had the problem of promotion and relegation from an amateur second division to a professional top division, in theory possible but in practice not workable. Officials of the North West Combination were: President R Gardner (also president of Lancaster City Football Club), Chairman George Brown (also chairman of Morecambe Football Club) Secretary Bob Duerden Treasurer W Harrison (also financial secretary of Lancaster City) The management committee comprised: Reverend A J G Anderson (Carnforth Rangers) E Clarke (Milnthorpe Corinthians) J Teasdale (Netherfield FC) Bob Raby (Morecambe FC) E Heywood (Galgate FC) Bill Waggett (Ingleboro FC) It seems that the pressure for this league was coming from professional Lancashire Combination clubs like Lancaster City, Morecambe and Netherfield and their memberships were very short-lived. The league management committee after consultation with the clubs fixed the minimum admission charge for games at 6d for adults with extra charges for stand accommodation.
From 1955-56 the inexorable rise of Caton United began as the three amigos Ted Fairclough, Albert Robinson and Dougie Procter returned from their Yorkshire sojourn to their Lancashire roots and bolstered by the diminutive and skilful Eric Acton and the flying Dougie Brown they finished in 3 rd, 3 rd, 1 st and 1 st positions in the top division of the North Lancs League over the ensuing four seasons. A great test for the Lune Valley club came in 1956-57 when they were drawn at home in the Lancashire Junior Shield against the holders, Bentham United, now of the supposedly stronger North West Combination and its champion team. In November 1956 the draw of the Lancashire Junior Shield sent Bentham United to Caton and I can vouch from personal experience being 14 years of age at the time and being one of a huge crowd excited by the prospect of bringing down the old enemy this game had been talked about from the day of the draw. I well remember Ted Fairclough running on to the field with the collar of his sparkling white shirt turned up and the feisty figure of Dougie Procter, relishing his confrontation with a man he always referred to as Glaister, close on his heels. The languid figure of Albert Robinson with huge shorts and legs like matchsticks brought up the rear with his great friend, the smiling Eric Acton, alongside him. The Lancaster Guardian caught the mood of the time with an excellent report: Caton United caused a sensation when they defeated Bentham United (holders) by the impressive margin of four goals to one in their Lancashire Junior Shield encounter at Caton. It was a game full of interest, played at a fast pace and in a good sporting spirit. Evidently working to an agreed plan which they put into effect with excellent results Caton struck a form which certainly upset any preconceived ideas their opponents might have had about an easy victory. Caton United moved quickly into attack right from the kick off and struck an early blow when in the 4 th minute nimble-footed Eric Acton scored a vital goal to put the home supporters and his team mates in high spirits. For the next half hour the play swung from end to end with both goalkeepers being called into action and foiling many scoring attempts. Caton always looked the more dangerous and it was in keeping with their more sustained attacks that Eric Acton put them two up in the 30 th minute with a well-directed angular shot. When the interval came Caton were still in a commanding position with a two goal lead. The second half began in quick tempo and it was Caton who again showed superior skill for in the 48 th minute Eric Acton headed in a corner from Albert Robinson to complete a fine hat-trick. Bentham tried desperately to penetrate the Caton defence but it held firm and Lawrence Postlethwaite made several remarkable saves. After missing a number of scoring chances centre forward Ted Fairclough put Caton further ahead in the 70 th minute with a fifteen yard drive which left the Bentham goalkeeper helpless. Resting somewhat on their laurels Caton eased up their pressure and it was Bentham who were recompensed for their efforts in the 80 th minute when Birkenhead bustled the ball through for a rather tame goal following a corner kick. There was no doubt that the better team won and the Caton players received many congratulations from their opponents at the close of the match.
Lancaster Lads Club Old Boys after winning the Senior Challenge Cup 2-1 in 1954 by beating Bentham United in the final of the Senior Challenge Cup Pete Hudson, Les Robinson, Alan Thistlethwaite, Bob Baines, Gordon Jacobs, Dave Townley Russ Dunkeld, Walter Halbard, Roy Kaye, Jimmy Downham, Stan King Bentham United who lost 1-2 to Lancaster Lads Club Old Boys in a major upset in the 1954 final of the Senior Challenge Cup on the Giant Axe
Caton United 1957-58 winners of Division I, Senior Challenge Cup and Senior Charity Cup Tom Parkinson (committee), Bob Porthouse, Martin Fletcher, Joe Eddington, Bill Carruthers, Alan Shaw, Jack Akrigg, Ronnie Bargh, Albert Robinson, Frank Wilmott (committee) Dougie Brown, Eric Acton, Dougie Procter, Ted Fairclough, Harry Jock Kerr Dry Dock United 1951-52 Maurice Vickers, AN Other, Danny Wilson, George Pinder (captain), Les Robinson, Bob Baines (vice-captain) Jimmy Brown (chairman), Reg Lowery Jimmy Ashworth, Alan Mitchell, A. N. Other, Stan King, R Escombe (trainer)
Bentham United 1953-54 Ernie Maunders (trainer), Frank Wheildon, Ted Bolton, Alan Fox, Jack Bowery, George Downham, Bill Noble, Storey Batty (committee) Des Churchman, Tommy Chappell, Frank Ashworth, John Glaister (captain), Bill Mashiter, Bobby Holt, Johnny Worden Lower Holker 1956-57 R Porter, H Barker, A. Hill, J Slater, N Sidall, B Pearce, F Lomas, V Thompson Lloyd Saunders, Arthur Cowperthwaite, S Banks, A. Nelson, Dougie Burrell, H Rawsthorne, D Porter
Ingleboro 1951-52 Albert Robinson, Wilf Chappell, Bill Lucas, Dougie Procter, Bill Scotty Webb, Ted Fairclough J Thornton, Jimmy Ashworth, Tommy Chappell, George Chappell, Warburton Lancaster Lads Club Old Boys 1959-60 George Tarney (committee), Dick Bradley, Les Sallis, Jimmy Fagan, Bill Aspinall, Geoff Bell, Derek Richardson, Peter Bleasdale, Dick Brooks (committee) Bill Leece (committee), Terry Ainsworth, Alan Newton, Dave Bamber (captain), Walter Halbard, Jimmy Woods, Norman Mount (committee)
North Lancashire beat South Lancashire 2-1 in a benefit game at Christie Park, Morecambe on Good Friday 1957. The game was arranged by the Lansil Sports & Social Club to help 19 year old James Holmes, a Morecambe youth who had to have his right leg amputated in June 1956. James formerly played for Lansil Juniors in the North Lancashire League. A good crowd turned up and saw an interesting game between two teams representing local factories. The North Lancaster side had players representing Lansil, Standfast and Nelsons while South Lancaster s team consisted of players from Storeys, Williamsons and Waring & Gillows. These six well-known local companies employed the vast majority of the working people in the Lancaster area and of course many smaller businesses like Dilworth s and Dempsey s helped to bring the country back to something like full employment and people s standard of living was certainly improving now that rationing was but a distant memory A very familiar view of Market Square, Lancaster showing the underground toilets on the right beyond Bradleys shop and plenty of space for parking as the motor car had not yet become king. Apart from the toilets being demolished and traffic being more or less prohibited this view has changed very little and is almost the same 60 years later in 2014.
How familiar this scene would have been to another club who graced the North Lancs League with their football and players. John Dart Garnett, legendary manager of Milnthorpe Corinthians would have known this square like the back of his hand and no doubt organised many dart competitions in the public houses that surround it. After all that s how his nickname was derived. Milnthorpe Market Square pictured in 1950 When Ingleboro Football Club was talked about in this decade the name of Bill Waggett was always mentioned as the man who bank-rolled this club to many successes. Ingleton in the late 1950 s
For some the Fifties were a golden age, public figures were automatically respected, authority was deferred to inside as well as outside the home and we were undeniably better off as material prosperity swept away the last vestiges of austerity. At the start of the decade television was still radio s poor relation but by 1959 the faces of television personalities were as familiar to many viewers as those of their own families or their favourite football players. Television was still very much an after-work activity. There was little in the way of daytime TV and programmes ended on the stroke of eleven o clock. There was also the strange and deceptive interlude known as the toddler s truce. Between six and seven o clock no programmes were broadcast making little children believe that the night s entertainment was over and so it was reasoned they would willingly go to bed. This prime-time collusion between the BBC and the nation s young mothers prevailed until 1957 and while it lasted the truce was as closely guarded a secret as the non-existence of Father Christmas. The Grove Family was the BBC s first soap and Dixon of Dock Green was first shown on July 7 th 1955. Another popular show was What s My Line where contestants defied the panel to guess what they did for a living. What s My Line panellists from left to right were David Nixon, Lady Isabel Barnett, Barbara Kelly and Gilbert Harding Television audiences who were accustomed to good manners on screen were appalled and yet riveted by Harding s rudeness. The 1940 s was the decade when I fell in love with football and this was the club and the team that won my loyalty in 1949-50 as champions of the Second Division playing the style of football known as push & run under manager Arthur Rowe. Arthur was born in 1906 and was the first manager to lead Tottenham Hotspur football club to the First Division Championship title in 1951. He also 'invented' the successful "onetwo" method of play. Rowe was born in Tottenham and began his career at Northfleet
before joining Spurs as a schoolboy in 1921. He then became a professional with the club in 1929. He was a Tottenham player for 8 seasons, in which time he played 201 games and earned his one and only cap for the England National team. He was forced to retire in 1939 due to a cartilage injury. Arthur had players like Ted Ditchburn, the master goalkeeper, Ronnie Burgess, Len Duquemin (the Duke), Eddie Baily as well as Alf Ramsey and Bill Nicholson. Rowe had coached in Europe and he brought the best of continental thinking to a Tottenham team that was just reaching maturity. Many of the players were the products of the Northfleet nursery, the Kent club that Spurs sent their young prospects to in order to finish their football education. Rowe s theory was based on short passes and three-man triangles and it was dubbed push & run, a term that Arthur disliked. In November 1950 Newcastle came to White Hart Lane and conceded seven and the report of the game said, It is hard to imagine a more brilliant exposition of the game. This was vintage champagne, something to savour and remember. When the mechanism clicks at speed with every pass placed to the last refined inch there is simply no defence against it. That is why I support Spurs. Tottenham Hotspur League Champions 1950-51 for the first time Middle Row (L-R): On Ground (L-R): Arthur Rowe (manager), A. Ramsey, C. Withers, S. McClellan, D. Uphill, Cecil Poynton (trainer), Dr A.E. Tughan, H.E. Taylor (director), C. Brittan, L. Duquemin, T. Ditchburn, F. Dewhurst-Hornsby (director), H. Clarke, L. Bennett, R. Jarvis (secretary) F. Wale (director), Right Honourable Lord Morrison (president), W. Nicholson, F.J. Bearman (chairman), R. Burgess, G. Wagstaffe-Simmons (vice-chairman), W.J. Heryet (director) L. Medley, A. Willis, E. Baily, W. Walters