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Season 1893-94. Friendly Matches The Droylsden Dribblers In this, the first season in which Droylsden Football Club received something approaching comprehensive coverage in the
local press, the Market Street club took part in 29 friendly fixtures, winning 19, losing 6 and drawing 4, with the goal tally
working out at 77 goals for and 42 against. During the latter part of the season,
Droylsden were entered into the Stockport & District Shield competition, reaching the final stage where they finished as
runners-up. Unfortunately, the Stockport Shield Final was not reported in any edition of the local newspapers. All reports during
this 1893-94 season are taken from the Ashton Reporter or other local editions of the same newspaper, and all matches were
friendly fixtures. September 16th 1893. Droylsden v Hamer “At Droylsden, before a good muster of spectators. Hamer started the ball, and the game at once became
fast. A neat bit of passing between Ainscough, Nield and Stansfield sent the ball into the visitor’s goalmouth, but the
custodian conceded a corner, which was cleared. The Droylsden forwards again got down the field and Neil gave the ball to
Catterall, who shot over the bar. At half-time the score was nil. Ainscough restarted, and the visitors soon scored. From the kick
off the home forwards got nicely away, and had a nice chance of scoring, but the game was stopped through Stansfield being
injured. After this the home team worked hard, and Hallsworth equalised with a good shot, and the game ended in a draw of one goal
each.”
September 30th 1893. Droylsden v Bradford Molyneaux “Played at the Butchers’ Arms ground, before a good number of spectators. A few minutes from the start
Ainscough headed through the visitors goal from a well-placed corner kick by Hallsworth. Stansfield put the finishing touch to a
grand piece of passing, by scoring a second whilst Hallsworth got a third through just before half-time. Within 15 minutes of
restarting, four more goals had been placed to the credit of the home team. Then the visitors had a look in, and managed to score
their only goal, but in the end they had to submit to defeat. Final score Droylsden 10, Bradford 1. Droylsden team: Collier, Jackson, Barlow, Hallsworth, Ackerhill, Nield, Catterall, Flattely, Ainscough,
Brelsford and Stansfield.” On
October 7th Droylsden beat Gorton St. James 3-1 in an away fixture, where it was stated, “….the Droylsden lads are
a heavy lot, and know how to use their weight to advantage.” Whilst on October 21, Droylsden entertained Harpurhey at the Butchers’ Arms, the Droylsden lads
winning the match 6-1 with the following team: Rowe, Jackson, Ford, Hopkins, Hallsworth, Brelsford, Pearson, Grimshaw, Rathbone,
Ives and Stansfield. At the end of October, it was announced,
“The committee of the Droylsden Association Football Club, are
pleased that their exertions are meeting with such marked success. Up to the present they have only lost one match and have
recorded a goal average of 28 goals against 9. The team is a good one and deserving of support from the villagers.” At the beginning of December, Droylsden travelled to play local club Audenshaw in a match that was much looked forward to by both sets of supporters. A week later the reporter summed up the encounter as follows: “Droylsden’s dribblers were on the warpath
again last Saturday. The Droylsden team did a rare feat by beating the Audenshaw team by two goals to nil. They have proved
themselves a good junior team and hope to make their position good for next season, which is being looked forward to with great
interest by the supporters of the club. They have a grand set of backs and a capital goalkeeper, who renders good service.
Droylsden people are urged to roll up in their hundreds and see what a promising club they have in their village.” March 1894, Stockport & District Semi-Final. Droylsden v Stockport Swifts "The
teams met on the Reddish Football Ground, which was in fair condition, before a good number of spectators. Hallsworth won the
toss, and Crimes started for the Swifts at 3-15pm. The Swifts got nicely away, but were pulled up by Hume, who transferred play
well into the Swift's territory, where the Droylsden forwards tested the merits of Haslam, who was all there, and returned well.
Droylsden however, came again, and Stansfield scored with a good shot, which fairly beat Haslam. The Swifts then went away with a
rush, but the Droylsden defence was playing a good game. "The Swifts left wing
got close in, and after Rowe had saved twice, they equalised out of a scrimmage. From the restart both teams played well, and
Droylsden soon added another between Abel and Haughton. The Swifts tried hard to equalise, and just before the interval they were
awarded a penalty, from which Burgess easily scored. Half-time was called with the score two goals each. After a brief rest, Abel
restarted, and Droylsden got well down, but were repulsed by the Swifts backs, who were playing a sterling game. At this point
Hume, with a huge kick, almost scored from mid-field. The game after this slowed down a little, and Johnson scored with a good
shot from mid-field, which Haslam fumbled. The Swifts appeared to lose heart, whilst the villagers played with great dash, and
almost scored again through some tricky play on the part of Abel. "Time was shortly
afterwards called, leaving Droylsden the winners of a hard game. For the winners, all played a sterling game, and fairly earned
their victory. The Swifts played well for a time, but lost heart towards the finish. Droylsden proved a great surprise for the
Cheshire team and their supporters. The Swifts have beaten Droylsden three times this season, and on the strength of this
performance, Stockport were just a trifle cocksure. The re-arrangement of the Droylsden team proved a great success. They beat
their opponents at every point, and the losers were fairly cut up after the match, after having put in all they knew. They retired
from the field of play very crest-fallen indeed. After their teams brilliant victory, the Droylsden followers were in a high state
of jubilation." April 7th 1894. Stayley v Droylsden “The
Droylsden team journeyed to Stayley to play their return match. Not knowing where the Stayley ground was located, they wandered a
few miles out of their way after leaving the train, and the kick off did not take place until four o’clock, and it was decided
to play two 30 minutes. The home captain won the toss, and the Droylsden team had to face a strong sun. The game was very even,
and after about twenty minutes play one of the home half-backs put the ball into Rowe’s hands, but somehow it twisted out of his
hands and a goal was scored. The Droylsden team pressed severely in the second portion, but could not score. The home team seldom
got to the Droylsden goal, and Rowe had only one shot to stop. Time arrived with the score: Stayley one goal, Droylsden none.” Later in the month of April, the Droylsden secretary arranged a home fixture with the Audenshaw club, but as things worked out, the match was not played, which brought the following comment from the local press:
“A correspondent intimates that Audenshaw have not been fulfilling their engagements of late. Last week they left the committee of the Droylsden AFC in the lurch, which was a great disappointment as the return fixture between these two clubs was calculated to create a great amount of interest in the neighbourhood. Furthermore, the Audenshaw secretary had allowed the greater part of the week to pass before advising the Droylsden officials of the inability of his club to put in an appearance on the Droylsden enclosure, the result being that the printed posters advertising the match proved to be so much useless paper.
"The
excuse for the non-fulfilment was that the Audenshaw team had entered a medal competition. The village team straight away made
arrangements with Audenshaw United. However, owing to a piece of bungling, the Hurst Ramblers second string (who had only nine
men, but were furnished with substitutes) also turned up, so the Droylsden team were left with two clubs to account for. This they
proved themselves quite capable of doing, the results of the two matches being as follows: Droylsden 2 Hurst Ramblers 0, and
Droylsden 3 Audenshaw United 0. It will thus be seen that the eleven young players, who so ably upheld the prestige of the
Droylsden Dribblers, are not without strength and stamina. It is a rather large order for one set of players to tackle two clubs
in one afternoon, and the brace of victories are all the more creditable on that account alone.” At the end of the season, the Droylsden committee held a meeting and decided it was time to enter the club into an organised league, and eventually plumped for a Manchester league. On May 19, the Gorton & Openshaw Reporter covered Droylsden’s end of season celebrations thus:
“On Saturday last, the members and friends of Droylsden Football Club, were entertained to a
substantial dinner, kindly provided by Mr. Cropper of the Butchers’ Arms, which is the headquarters of the club. After enjoying
the good things provided, a social evening was spent in singing and speech making, the chief object of the speeches being the
future welfare of the club, which is going to be worked more favourably next season. During the evening, Mr. A Warrington, a
supporter of the club, presented the host with a beautifully framed picture of the team, who, after having had a very successful
season, finished up by winning second medals in the final for the Stockport & District Shield. An enjoyable evening was
brought to a close by giving a vote of thanks to Mr. Warrington for his services.” June
16 1894. “The supporters of the Droylsden Association Football Club will be pleased to hear that the club was
admitted to membership of the Manchester & District Alliance, at the annual meeting of the latter last week. Considering that
the club is only in what may be termed it’s infancy, and that the members of the team are all local lads, their admittance will
prove a great stimulus to the development of local talent. Last season they were very successful in their engagements, and the
prospects for the coming season are very promising.” |