COVER PICTURES 7

Community football

You will discover a football team on the front cover of St Albans' Own East End Volume 1. Not a team you will have heard of probably but it was very much part of the very early East End of St Albans.  Before the Park and before St Peter's Farm disappeared into quiet obscurity before becoming houses along Hatfield Road.

Before World War One Fleetville's first recreation ground was on Twelve Acres Field, in
Sutton Road opposite Nicholson's coat factory.  Here a team based around Albion Road lined
up for their pre-match picture.

We can assume that these were mainly residents in or near Stanhope Road and Granville Road, 
given their team name of Stanville FC.  It is likely they would be playing an early match in or near
Clarence Park.

Football as a player game as opposed to a spectator sport, grew up along the partly completed streets which made up those new developments around the new railway station: Granville Road, Stanhope Road, and very quickly Albion Road and Cavendish Road.  Young men-folk who had moved in were eager to become members of a patriotic team consisting of heads of household from their own road.  Or maybe be one nearby.  Later, public houses ran their own teams as the new Fleetville and Camp communities spread.  

The Adult Schools in overlooking the former prison had its own team, and no doubt The Crown Hotel did likewise.  Later, schools fielded their own teams of course, but it was those early street and pub teams which are still remembered through the postcard photos of the period, playing Saturday afternoon games with teams from other parts of the city, or local derby games from nearby.

A team from Marconi Instruments turned out one Saturday to play rivals from Ballito "down
the road".  Although the team members are not named, towel man/manager took credit for the
anticipated result!

Although this team and their mascot is not identified the location is intriguing.  The ground
is slightly sloped and seems to be not far from a newly built housing estate, which may in later
years creep down towards the players.

It was not always clear where the early matches were played, although there were many plots of land where houses were still to be built.  The park wasn't used for formal matches during the first few years of its life, although the district's first recreation ground was no doubt busy.  This was not the present ground, known also as Fleetville Park, but Twelve Acre Field between today's Campfield Road and the railway.  It was also reported that the field between Beaumont Avenue and Hatfield Road was made use of – undoubtedly without the owner's formal permission – as there had been complaints about the farmer not being able to use his own land for growing crops.

And don't think these games were informal knockabouts.  If we look in the sports columns of the Herts Advertisers of the time, you will find results under local, district and county leagues much as we still can today.  Team managers, team players, subs, referees and line runners would all have been residents of nearby streets; early teams from near the station where many were employees of the Midland Railway or the prison staff.  As the early factories set up and grew teams competed within the sports clubs of other firms across the town.  

There is a print from the Carlton Club, and this one is rare in having all
team members named. 1945/6.

We might guess where many of these 1910/11 players lived, for their team name was Glenfield FC; 
Glenferrie and Sandfield Road maybe?  It is this photograph which is reproduced on 
Volume 1 of St Albans' Own East End.

This photo taken outside the former Adult School between Stanhope and Granville roads,
proudly announces they are Benevolent Cup winners of the Mid-Herts League in
1924/5.  Towel man/manager was Charles Tuck whose house and business was in
Hatfield Road just beyond Sutton Road.

And one source of football interest wasn't a factory at all.  It was a shop, Bishop's Stores, whose owner also ran a boys' club, the Carlton Club which could field multiple youth teams.  Several images from the Carlton have come my way from former team members.  What is still missing, however, is firm information on the man behind this enterprise, who we assume was a Mr Bishop; yes?

His shop was at 113 Hatfield Road from before World War 2 until 1952.