by Barry Smith
PART ONE - THE EARLY YEARS (1876-1939)
Due to the almost total lack of press coverage in the days before the 1900’s and leading up to the 1914-18 war, it has proved extremely difficult to research the early history of the club in any great detail.
For many years it was widely believed that Rocester FC was first formed in 1890, and indeed the club held a highly successful Centenary Tournament in 1990 to mark the occasion. However, since then further research has revealed that the origins of the club date back at least another fourteen years. The earliest reference found so far dates back to Saturday 16th December 1876, when an edition of the Staffordshire Advertiser newspaper briefly mentions a match played the previous Saturday at the Rocester ground between Tutbury Mill and Rocester, which "resulted in a draw in favour of Tutbury".
Friendly matches continued to be played against other teams from the surrounding area on an increasingly regular basis until the club's first competitive matches were played in the Ashbourne & District League some time during the early 1880s.
Match reports remained 'hit and miss' in the local press for many years, but no achievements of any note were reported until the 1897-98 season when the side won through to the final of the Uttoxeter Challenge Cup - sadly Rocester's first recorded final ended in disappointment against Uttoxeter, who scored a 2-0 win.
|
The earliest success for the club so far uncovered came on Saturday 19th April 1913, when Alton Athletic were beaten in the Final of the Ashbourne News Cup, which was played on the Paddock Ground in Ashbourne. Unfortunately no score is given in the report published in the Uttoxeter Advertiser, but the following extract paints a lovely picture of the excitement in the village at that time:
"The train arrived at Rocester Railway Station down the Ashbourne branch line at 7.20pm, with the glorious Ashbourne News Cup held aloft by the Rocester captain, (Lamburn.)
The carriages packed to the limits with Rocester supporters were met by throngs of cheering villagers.
Hoisted shoulder high, (the captain, Lamburn) and headed by Rocester Brass Band was carried through the streets to cheers and songs marking progress to Rocester Square.
Between the Red Lion Inn and Cross Keys a night of merry making ensued accompanied by Rocester Brass Band and the celebrating throng." |
|
Unruly Fans!
At a meeting of the Ashbourne & District League in November 1919, a complaint was made by Ellastone FC about the unruly behavior of the Rocester supporters.
Ellastone alleged that "...the referee lost control of the game, the Rocester spectators became very unruly and when the referee gave a penalty they broke onto the ground and kicked the ball off the spot. There was also some fighting."
Rocester won the game 4-3. |
With no recognised football taking place throughout the Great War (1914-1918), a meeting was held in the village infant school during September 1919 with the intention of reforming the club. It was quickly resolved that applications should be made to join the Ashbourne & District League and to enter both the Derbyshire Medals competition and the Ashbourne News Cup. Mr. G. Wood was appointed captain and Mr. F. Wood vice-captain.
Things began to move forward fairly quickly, and a pavilion that served the club until 1987 was soon built on the Mill Ground. On the field, both the finals of the Ashbourne News Cup and the Derbyshire Medals were reached although both games ended in defeat.
On the down side, Rocester didn't fulfil the final league fixture of the season away to newly crowned champions Alton Athletic and were severely reprimanded by the Ashbourne League officials who handed the club the following punishments: A 5 shillings (25p) fine for non-fulfilment of a fixture, forfeiture of the club's 10 shillings deposit, re-imbursement of 12 shillings and sixpence to Alton for referee's expenses, and £1 compensation to Alton for loss of gate receipts. Medals due to Rocester were ordered to be withheld by the Derbyshire F.A. until the fines were paid.
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
Derbyshire Medals Runner-Up 1919-20 (click to enlarge)
|
Nestle's United, and a club record victory was achieved during October 1920 when Abbots Bromley were walloped 16-0 - although a month or so later the result was expunged from the record books when bottom-of-the-table Bromley resigned from the league. |
|||||
|
A 2-1 victory away at Oakamoor United on 19th March 1921 as good as sealed the league title. Edward Wood and 'Chigley' Cliffe scored the decisive goals, and Rocester lined up with the following eleven: G.Wood; H.Wheelock; R.Wood; Richardson; E.Wood; Birch; Carpenter; W.Baker; C.Cliffe; Pegg; Cope.
Presentation of the trophy and medals took place in the village on 16th April when Rocester took on and beat a Rest of League XI 3-0 - a large crowd was present as the players of both sides were escorted onto the field beforehand by the Rocester Brass Band.
During the ensuing years the Uttoxeter League disbanded and Rocester rejoined the Ashbourne & District League. Once again the side was rarely good enough to challenge for honours, and when the Uttoxeter League reformed in the summer of 1929 the committee wasted little time in deciding to switch back. |
||||||
|
Sadly only five other clubs followed suit and the result was a league campaign consisting of just ten matches. Hollington Stars were thrashed 11-0 in the opening fixture and Rocester were champions by November having dominated the short programme.
With the league fixtures completed so soon, the League Cup was played on a mini-league basis with the top two contesting the final. Rocester easily won through to the final but Uttoxeter St. Mary’s provided something of a shock by winning the cup 6-4 at a venue described in the local press as “Mr. Chell’s field near Uttoxeter station”. |
Uttoxeter & District League
Table 1929-30
|
The side looked to have made progress in the
Uttoxeter Challenge Cup when two Jack Stubbs goals knocked out Hollington.
However, after the game Hollington complained that Rocester had fielded an
ineligible player, the Challenge Cup committee upheld their complaint which
meant that Hollington were re-instated into the competition and Rocester were
removed. The ineligible player? Jack Stubbs!
Rocester were presented with the championship
trophy on 19th April 1930 following a special challenge match against a Rest of
League XI that resulted in an 8-2 victory.
At the end of the season Uttoxeter Amateurs
folded and St. Mary’s joined the Burton League, leaving the Uttoxeter League
with only four teams and little option other than to disband again. The
committee had several options open to them but instead of rejoining the
Ashbourne League or following St. Mary’s to Burton they elected to move into the
Leek & Moorland League.
The first season in the new surroundings (1930-31) proved to be very successful. Some huge victories were chalked up including 13-1 v Cellarhead, 9-0 v Foxt Juniors and 9-1 v Churnet Works, but despite those results and only three defeats all season Rocester were pushed into second place behind Waterfall.
|
|
Although the league campaign ended in disappointment, the club enjoyed unprecedented success in the cup competitions.
The League Cup was won on the morning of 18th
April 1931 when Cauldon Church were beaten 3-2 in the final in Cheddleton.
Amazingly, in the afternoon the team continued their journey to Leek and beat
Wardle’s Sports Club 5-2 in a league match!
Undoubtedly the highlight of the season was winning the Uttoxeter Challenge Cup for the first time ever. This was a notable success as three of the area’s top sides had to be overcome in order to take the cup. Uttoxeter St. Mary’s and Waterfall, who had just pipped Rocester to the league title, were both beaten on the way to the final where Tutbury Town provided the opposition at Chell’s Field. Two goals by Harold Briddon, one by Jack Stubbs and an own goal gave Rocester a 4-2 victory – however Tutbury could count themselves a little unlucky having missed a penalty and twice hit the woodwork during the match. The third trophy annexed was the Ashbourne News Cup, although the final against Brassington went to a replay that was held over into the 1931-32 season before goals by Mr. Beardmore and Charlie Swanwick sealed a 2-1 win.
After an excellent first season in the Leek & Moorland League the club had high hopes of maintaining their push for honours throughout the 1930’s, but things didn’t turn out that way as fortunes suddenly began to decline. |
|
Pictured in late 1931, members of the club pose with the Leek & Moorland League Cup, the Uttoxeter Challenge Cup and the Ashbourne News Cup - all won in 1930-31. (Click to enlarge) Back - unknown; unknown; unknown; unknown; unknown. Middle - Dr. Smith (Chairman); C.Walker; G.Sheldon; C.Carpenter; R.Whitehouse; J.Briddon; Harold Briddon; E.Carpenter (Secretary). Front - unknown; unknown; Jack Stubbs; Jack Braddow; B.Fowers; Charlie Swanwick; George Shepherd; unknown. |
In 1932, having made early exits from all four cup competitions, Rocester went on to finish in a respectable third place in the table, but the side was beginning to break up and within a couple of years it was back in the Ashbourne League where they played until the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939.