Derby Boys - England's Finest Football Team

Jump to: navigation, search

Of the many football articles in the Bygone Derbyshire archive, the majority concern either professional sides or senior non-League teams. Here in one of our popular 'Stories Behind the Pictures' features, sports historian Peter Seddon varies the theme by paying homage to a team of youngsters - the Derby Boys side which in 1908 emerged national schoolboy champions.

On the face of it the photograph above could well be any boys football side from the early years of the game. But there are rather a lot of assembled officials. And the boy front centre is holding up a set of medals. Reserve players have been allowed into the gathering too, and below the medals stands a handsome shield. So perchance this particular image recorded something special for posterity.

Indeed it did. This is the Derby Boys representative side which in 1908 won the English Schools Football Association shield - and in doing so they were entitled to call themselves England's finest schoolboy football team.

Although schools football had grown rapidly soon after the 1863 'birth' of association football, it had taken some time for a national organising body to emerge. Indeed when Derby boys gained their cup victory in 1908 the English Schools Football Association was but four years old, having been formed late in 1904.

The first English Schools Shield competition was in 1904-05. Derby Boys entered a side but were eliminated by Manchester Boys. Undaunted, they tried again in the following two seasons, but again without success. Then in 1907-08 at only their fourth attempt they pulled off a magnificent victory - Derby Boys were the schoolboy champs of England.

On their progress to the last four they saw off St. Albans, Northampton, Luton and Manchester Boys. But in the semi-finals a hotly-tipped Sunderland side - finalists in the previous year - awaited them.

Sunderland had been granted home advantage, but the Wearsiders were taken unawares by the unknown quantity from Derbyshire - Derby Boys prevailed 2-1 to advance to the Final.

The Final Tie was contested at Walsall in May 1908 in front of 4,000 fans. The opposition was Oxford Boys. Again Derby emerged victorious by the same narrow margin of 2 goals to 1 - the coveted shield was theirs to bring home.

The victory proved a source of great pride to the administrators of schools football in Derby - none more so than Albert Mills. As Secretary of the Derby Schools' Football League he had been a driving force in the formation of the English Schools Football Association. And he was to serve that organisation in an important capacity, for in 1905 he was elected the first ESFA treasurer and remained in that position for fully 24 years until 1929.

Mills was determined not to let the Derby Boys victory pass without some sort of formal recognition from the town they so ably represented. To that end, on 4 July 1908, he issued a proclamation calling for a 'public meeting' to mark the achievement - a civic reception in all but name.

He announced that the Derbyshire Football Association had unanimously resolved to purchase caps to present to the boys to mark their victory. He also said that each boy would be presented with a photographic group portrait of the team and officials.

The reception duly took place on the evening of Monday 13 July 1908 at the Albert Hall in the Wardwick. Alderman Sir Thomas Roe made the presentations, including that of the promised photographic portrait - the one that appears here.

Although a full caption to the picture is likely to exist somewhere, only two of the subjects can at present be identified. Holding the ball at the rear right of the players' group is the team captain Fred Flanders - he features in a separate article at Flanders, Fred - A Rams Football Prodigy.

The second identified player is in the centre of the middle row - close scrutiny shows him to be wearing spectacles. He is Willie Methven, the son of the then Derby County manager Jimmy Methven, formerly a great stalwart for the Rams at right-back. Indeed Jimmy Methven had at that time not long been retired as a player.

Apart from being a very heartening photograph - all the boys so neat and full of pride - it is also a one-off. This is the only Derby Boys team to win the English Schools Shield in the one hundred plus years the competition has now been running. And the likelihood of Derby Boys winning the shield again is not considered high.

So let's hear a resounding 'three cheers' for Derby Boys 1908 - national schoolboy champs to be proud of.

[edit]

FEEDBACK

Did you enjoy this article? If so, why not comment on it? Perhaps you disagree with something in it, or you know something the writer doesn't and can add some extra facts. You may want to ask a question about this article. Making a contribution is easy - either click 'edit' to insert more information or 'discussion' and then 'add comment.' This is your site. Please feel free to use it to the full and share your memories, thoughts and knowledge about Derbyshire with others.

If there is no 'edit' link showing it means the article has either previously been published in the Derby Evening Telegraph, or it has been protected by the site administrator and cannot be edited.'

Other tags that are relevant to Derby Boys - England's Finest Football Team

Help us to improve Bygone Derbyshire by adding more tags to this article. Simply edit this page, find this area and add the words in a list separated by commas next to the *.

To find out more about tagging please click here.

Return to You_and_Yesterday