Saturday 9 July 2016

Bogey team Stourbridge

The Glassboys beat the Brakes 4-1 this afternoon at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium. Brakes had a debutante 6ft 8 ins. keeper who is normally the No.2 at Stratford. A call was put into the Bardsmen last night.

However, I don't think it was really his fault. We put some good crosses into the box but the end product wasn't there. Stourbridge had a well-organised defence.

There was a decent crowd and the game was played at a fast, competitive pace. Joe Magunda put Brakes ahead and, as the announcer said, this was a collector's item.

The Glassboys then scored with a scorcher of a goal from the much-travelled Chris Lait, leading to a chant of 'One for Iceland' from the Stourbridge massive, and this was followed by a second goal which was a chip over the keeper. Stourbridge were now dominating the game, but the half was brought to a premature end by a nasty clash of heads.

It was Chris Lait who put the Glassboys 3-1 ahead around 68 minutes and then they had a tap in at the end of the game. Plenty of lessons to be learned which is the point of these fixtures.

I arrived quite late and there were no programmes left, although the announcer found one for me. For anyone interested, I reproduce my article below which takes the theme of the battle of the Somme.

Way Back Then

On the eve of the First World War in June 1914, Stourbridge Football Club held their annual meeting at the Vine Hotel, Stourbridge. Probably few of those present anticipated that the country would be at war within the next two months. Some of those in the room undoubtedly laid down their lives in the years ahead, perhaps at the terrible battle of the Somme which we are currently commemorating (it lasted for 141 days). We should never forget the courage and sacrifice of those young soldiers, many of them footballers. Indeed, a football was thrown over the parapet when the attack was launched on one section of the front.

However, the problem for the Glassboys in 1914 was that the team was doing well, but this was not reflected in the level of support. The committee’s report stated that ‘They could look with feelings of satisfaction as far as the success of the team was concerned, but they were face to face with the fact that even a winning team had not received adequate support.’

The financial situation was, however, very good. Gate receipts were £700. Using the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, this is £73,000 in today’s prices, which strikes me as a very good amount, so perhaps the committee was complaining too much. The club had also done very well out of transfers, including the transfer of Richards to Aston Villa. They only give a global figure for transfers of £57,000 at today’s prices, but it is likely that around £50,000 of this was accounted for by the Villa signing. The club was left with a balance of £7,389 at today’s prices.

In its issue of 7 July 1916, the Courier contained a stop press headed ‘The War’. It stated: ‘East of La Boiselle we captured German trench on thousand yard front, enemy suffering heavily south-west of Thiepval. Determined attack on our new lines completely crushed. This morning, east of Albert, we resumed vigorous offensive. Germans at same time launched heavy attacks on our new trenches in vicinity of the Anere and north of Fricourt. Violent fighting progressing. We gained several important tactical successes. Germans gained three hundred yards north of Thiepval.’ How many lives were lost of both sides gaining small portions of devastated land? Over 19,000 British soldiers died on the first day of fighting in the Somme.

In the following week’s issue of the Courier, it was reported that a Bishops Itchington man had returned to his village. He had been wounded a few months before and had made a good recovery. On this occasion he had been wounded in the ankle by shrapnel but was able to get about with the aid of a stick. He expected to be able to return to the Front at an early date. He must have already seen plenty of horrors and be aware that he might not be relatively fortunate next time. However, people just quietly did their duty, although in retrospect the strategy and tactics of the commanders have been questioned. When one sees the war graves today on television, they look so peaceful, although the sheer number of them is always a shock. At the going down of the sun, we shall remember them.

More on the Somme here from my friend historian Mark Harrison: Turning point