by Barry Smith
PART TWO - THE RECORD BREAKERS (1946-1957)
Following the Second World war, a general meeting was held on 22nd October 1946 to reform the club. Mr. John Dawson was elected as the club president and membership of the Cheadle & District League was successfully attained.
A crowd of 76 paid total gate receipts of £1.17.6d (one pound, 17 shillings and sixpence) - admission to the ground cost 6d (2½ p in today’s money) to watch the first post-war match, which was against Tean on 2nd November 1946. A new football for the game cost £2.5.0d (£2.25p) and the referee’s expenses amounted to 7/3d (38p). The club's annual membership fee was 3/- (three shillings) and in the first season a profit of £69.5.6½d was recorded.
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For the 1947/48 and 1948/49 seasons Rocester competed in the newly reformed Uttoxeter League, but further changes occurred in 1949/50 when the committee voted to rejoin the Leek & Moorland League. A lack of success coupled with the longer travelling resulted in the decision being reversed after just one season and once again the club found itself competing in the Uttoxeter League.
This was possibly the most unsettled period in the club’s history, a fact which was highlighted after just seven matches of the 1951/52 campaign when, on 3rd December 1951 at a public meeting held at the Ashbourne Road School, the committee withdrew the team from the Uttoxeter League due to a “loss of interest”.
The club’s future was now under serious threat but surprisingly this break in activity served as a springboard for what was arguably the most successful era in Rocester football history.
A general meeting held at the Queens Arms Hotel on 16th June 1952 led to the club being reformed. The hotel became the club’s headquarters, and at a further meeting on 30th June it was decided to rejoin the Uttoxeter League. |
On The Wing During the early post-war period one of Rocester's regular supporters Mrs. Henshaw used to bring two pigeons to all the matches.
At half time she would tie a note to the leg of one pigeon and send it home to the male members of her family who were unable to attend the game, and she would do the same thing with the other pigeon at full time. The notes contained the half time and full time scores!
The same system was employed several years later by the Morley family on occasions when one of them was unable to attend. |
The revitalised club began the season in fine style scoring 40 goals in its first five league games, including a 14-2 win away to RAF Cheadle and 8-0 wins against Stramshall and Elkes Athletic. Later in the season 10-0 victories were recorded against RAF Cheadle and Bamfords Sports Club, and Stramshall were trounced 12-0. Despite these huge scores, Boltons S.C. squeezed Rocester into the runners-up spot, but the League Cup came back to the village following a 3-2 win over Freehay Rovers in the final. Brian Walker, Gerald Burtonwood and Roy ‘Ranje’ Bullock netted the goals in front of a 600 plus crowd.
A reserve team was formed for the 1953/54 season, but this simple step forward led to an incredible four-cornered struggle between the club, the Uttoxeter League, the Stafford Amateur League and the Staffordshire F.A. as to which leagues the two teams should play in. The eventual outcome was that the first team competed in Division Three of the Stafford Amateur League and the reserves joined the Uttoxeter League. However there was still some confusion because the Uttoxeter League considered the reserves to be the first team for the season, so it could be argued that Rocester fielded two first teams for a year!
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Breaking new ground in the Stafford League, the first XI broke record after record as they raced to the Division Three Championship at the first attempt.
The opening five league games saw the 'Black & Amber' set the pace with some huge victories: 11-1 v Universal ‘A’; 14-0 v Bamfords S.C. ‘A’; 9-0 v Stafford North End; 8-0 v British Road Services and 12-0 v Eccleshall Old Boys ‘A’.
Reg Groombridge (pictured right) hit eight of the 14 goals against Bamfords, while Brian Walker scored five against Universal and another four against Eccleshall. Other individual scoring records were set during the season with George Smith leading the way. He scored hat-tricks in five successive matches, and he also found the net in fourteen consecutive games between 5th December and 13th March! George finished the season as top scorer with 39 goals – an excellent total considering that he didn’t join until November and played in less than thirty games.
A club record was also set when 127 league goals were rattled in – an average of almost six per match.
Division Three included several ‘A’ or reserve teams of Division One clubs, but Rocester were allowed to enter both the Stafford Borough and the Stafford Pageant Cup along with all the Division One sides. This threw up an odd situation in January 1954 when Stone St. Dominics ‘A’ were beaten 5-1 in a league game, and then the following Saturday Rocester thrashed the Dominics’ first team 9-0 in the Third Round of the Borough Cup!
A crippling fixture list in April meant that nine games had to be crammed into just 25 days, and hopes of carrying off one or two cups were severely dashed. |
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Stafford Amateur League Division Three Table 1953-54
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Eccleshall Old Boys (first team) ended Rocester's interest in the Borough Cup at the semi-final stage, but the finals of both the Pageant Cup and the Uttoxeter Cup were reached. Unfortunately both games ended in defeat with the Pageant Cup going to Brocton under controversial circumstances and the Uttoxeter Challenge Cup going to Cheadle Town, who won the final 2-0.
The game against Brocton, which was played at Stafford Rangers, was ended some eight minutes early by the referee with Brocton leading 1-0. After both teams had left the pitch the arguments went on and eventually the referee was persuaded to play the unlapsed time. Sadly for Rocester, Brocton held on to their slender advantage.
Having made their mark in Division Three, the Stafford League management committee felt that Rocester would provide better competition in Division One, and so the club were promoted two divisions straight into the top flight prior to the 1954-55 season. |
The question of how Rocester would fare in the
top section was soon answered as the opening two fixtures pitted them
against Penkridge – the current league
champions. The first meeting, which was played in Rocester, ended in a closely fought 1-1 draw,
so the return trip to Penkridge a week later appeared to be a very daunting task
indeed as
they had not lost a home match in three years. However, the Rocester lads
travelled in a confident mood and a superb performance earned a fine 5-0 win
with Brian Walker (2), Frank Bailey (2), and Frank Hitchen netting the goals.
More big wins soon followed as
old rivals Bamfords S.C. were demolished 9-3; Universal
8-2 and Stafford Lotus 11-3. Things didn’t go entirely to plan though when
bottom of the table Bamfords caused quite a stir by winning 3-1 at Rocester in
December. However that proved to be no more than a temporary setback and the
championship was clinched in April following a 1-0 win at Wheaton Aston.
A notable ‘treble’ was soon
completed when wins over Eccleshall (3-2) and Universal (3-1) sealed both the
Stafford Borough and Stafford Pageant Cups. It was very nearly four trophies for the season
had
old foes Cellarhead not prevented a clean sweep when they took the Uttoxeter Cup
4-3 after extra time. The final, watched by an estimated 1200 crowd at
Bamfords, was marred by Brian Walker breaking his leg, leaving only ten players
to try and win the cup – there being no substitutes in those days.
One competition the club
never seemed to do very well in was the Staffordshire Junior Cup, but by way of
a change the team reached the semi-final of the Northern Zone before falling to
Wereton Queens Park after a replay. The first game, played at Bamfords, ended
in a 3-3 draw and was attended by over 2000 spectators.
A ‘treble’ was certainly a
hard act to follow, but the 1955-56 season brought unprecedented success to the
village when four pieces of silverware were annexed.
The Stafford League campaign
again yielded some huge wins with a 14-0 success over Eccleshall and a 12-0
thrashing of Stone St. Dominics standing out. Jack Harvey equalled the club’s
individual scoring record in the game against Eccleshall when he netted eight
times, helping him also set a club record for goals scored in a season with an
impressive total of 62.
Penkridge were just one point
behind Rocester when the teams met in the penultimate league match of the
season, and Harvey had to miss this vital clash because he was playing for
Gresley Rovers in a Birmingham League match. His goal scoring abilities were
hardly missed on this occasion though as Frank Hitchen (3), Brian and Peter
Walker (1 each) and Maurice Jones found the net to ensure a 6-2 win and a third
successive championship.
The Pageant Cup was retained and the Borough Cup was shared with Boltons S.C. after the two sides had drawn 0-0 after extra time at Stafford Rangers. Away wins over Cheadle Town (3-2) and Abbots Bromley (6-0) saw the team reach the last four of the Uttoxeter Cup. The semi-final against Uttoxeter Amateurs was attended by over 1000 people at Oldfields on Easter Monday. They watched a close game but Peter Walker and Joe Carpenter from the penalty spot scored the goals in a 2-1 win and the final was reached for the third year running. As in the Borough Cup, Boltons S.C. provided the opposition and the two sides again proved difficult to separate, but after a 1-1 draw at Oldfields Rocester eventually secured the coveted trophy for the first time since 1931 with a 2-0 replay win – Brian Walker and Billy Harvey getting the all-important strikes.
Further success looked to be on the horizon when the side made a promising start to the 1956-57 season. In the first dozen matches the team scored seven goals four times, nine twice, and eleven without reply away at Dunston.
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One of those high scoring games was ended a few minutes early due to unusual circumstances. Rocester were leading Bagnalls 9-1 when the Bagnalls goalkeeper, who had played a blinder despite his side’s heavy defeat, was knocked out by a shot from Eric Ault!
League form remained excellent and only two defeats were suffered all season, but surprisingly that wasn’t quite good enough to capture the title as Stone St. Michaels managed to finish on the same points total.
League rules required the two teams to play off for the championship and
Stone, who Rocester had defeated 9-0 earlier in the season, snatched a dramatic
2-1 win with the deciding goal coming in near darkness during extra time.
Bamfords ended Rocester's interests in both the Pageant and Borough Cup competitions, but another good run in the Uttoxeter Cup earned the club a fourth consecutive appearance in the final. As in the previous final Boltons S.C. were the opponents, but this time they had their revenge by winning a close game 2-1.
The side also enjoyed a fine run in the Staffordshire Junior Cup, disposing of Stone Town 7-1 and then Cheadle Town 4-3 in a game watched, according to the report in the Uttoxeter Advertiser, by a near 3000 crowd.
In the Third Round Rocester were drawn away to Port Vale ‘A’ - the holders of the cup at that time. Several busloads of supporters travelled to the game on a freezing February afternoon only to find the pitch covered in snow when they arrived. Undeterred they all borrowed brooms and shovels to clear surface, but despite their efforts the game still had to be postponed because the pitch hadn’t been marked out!
The game eventually took place a week later at Rocester and was watched by a large and vociferous crowd of around 800 spectators, who witnessed a memorable 2-1 win. That set up a home semi-final against Wolstanton United, but on this occasion the visitors from the Potteries proved to be too strong, running out 3-1 winners with another 800 crowd in attendance.
After so much success in the Stafford Amateur League, the club applied and were accepted into the Staffordshire County League (North), and the 1957-58 season marked the beginning of a 27-year association with that league. |
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Team Captain Noel Hooper proudly displays the Stafford Borough Cup (left) and the Stafford Amateur League Championship Trophy - both won in 1954-55 and retained in 1955-56. The Borough Cup returned to Rocester in 1986 and 1988 as the Staffordshire F.A. Vase! |
