Lost Football Heroes of the First World War

28/01/2022  -  2.12

Jeff Williamson

I have been a football fan as far back as I can remember and started to watch Bolton Wanderers with my father around 1965. My mother and Aunt Elsie worked for the club from the early 1950s. In fact, the very first match they attended was the Bolton v Stoke FA Cup match in 1946. Nat Lofthouse and Stan Matthews were playing in that game. Infamously known as the Bolton disaster when 33 fans were killed.

They were both friends of Lofthouse and knew most of the players as well right into the 1970s before they retired. Hence, my love affair with the club. I began to research them in-depth around 2012, culminating in the book The Wonderful Wanderers 1874 to 1960 in 2015. I concentrated on everything they had been involved in from the Lancashire and Manchester Cup, FA Cup, and their exploits in Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. There was also the War Cup during the Second World War which Bolton won in 1945. After his death in 2011, I attended the auction of his memorabilia at Bonham’s in Chester, purchasing two of his trophies. Most of the items were purchased by Bolton Council, the proceeds exceeded over £100,000.

During this extensive research, I also became particularly interested in the players involved in the two world wars, including those who were killed. Some information is in the book relating to Bolton players. Of note at this time was Walter Sidebottom, signed as a 16-year-old from his hometown in Leeds in 1936-37. This was around the same time as Lofthouse was signed at a similar age. Little was known of Sidebottom, and I managed to trace his son living in the Bolton area and he kindly gave me the necessary information required to write the book article. Spoken of in high regard, his career was cut short as he enlisted with the Royal Navy. He was killed at sea in October 1943. He had been offered a position in the Rochdale area as a P.T.I. He was guesting for Rochdale at that time. He refused, stating his brothers had enlisted and he would not be able to live with himself staying at home. There was also Harry Goslin, the Bolton captain, who enlisted with the whole team. He was sadly killed in Italy in 1943 and had been awarded the Military Cross.

This combined with the players from the First War ignited my interest and enthusiasm for more. I became more and more obsessed with the Great War and the information on the numbers of players who enlisted under what could be termed then as peer pressure. Having said that they signed up willingly. It was the reluctance to postpone the league schedule that delayed this. I began research around the same time as I was completing the Bolton book and it soon became apparent to me that this was going to be difficult and time consuming. Thankfully, my background helped me greatly in delving into the past and historical research. I also collect old and out of print football and some military history books. They have come in very useful during compilation of evidence and statistics.

My intention was to have this put into book format and the publisher agreed straight away. I plugged away for over three years and compiled a list of over 450 players from English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish league teams. It appeared to me that this had not been done before, so I was very enthusiastic about the project. I had communicated with various people and some football clubs for certain information, even passing on information to them of players and images they were not aware.

The book was published in 2018, under some pressure from the publisher, though I felt myself that it could have been researched further. The 100-year end of the war was approaching and this more than likely the reason, which I kind of understand.

I have continued when possible job permitting, with my research and keep a draft copy which I continually update. I am forever finding out more and more and occasionally correct points that have been misinterpreted or previously reported. I have been in touch with clubs to inform them of players I have found, killed that they were not aware of. The draft is now a far more in-depth record of information and facts. It has, I would say, become an obsession.

These brave men not just the footballers gave their lives for us and should never be forgotten, as the saying states “A generation lost”. The footballers themselves were the lifeblood and infrastructure of the football clubs as they are today. Without them, forget the money, they would not exist. The fans did not come along to cheer the directors and owners. They came to see their idols. Never forget this. There is not a day goes past, since I began all this, that I do not think of at least one of them. I look at their images and wish I could communicate with them and thank them. Is that a stupid thing, no I think not? It keeps me in touch with reality. Like I say in the book they are all heroes to me.

Biography

Jeff Williamson is a former Police Officer with over 20 years as a Detective serving in the Lancashire Police Force. He has seen and done many things, so feels quite experienced in life. He retired in 2005 and since then has been an Investigator for an accident firm, travelling extensively throughout England, as well as becoming a football researcher and author. Jeff’s twitter handle is: @JefferzWilli