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When football resumed in 1919, Droylsden were re-formed and Mr. John Gillibrand was appointed as the new Droylsden secretary. By early August, Mr. Gillibrand had brought a long list of players to the club, including three goalkeepers, five full backs, seven half backs and twelve forwards. The Droylsden committee had re-secured the Butchers’ Arms ground and the new secretary informed the local press that he was looking forward to the new season. Droylsden put two teams in the field. The first team were entered in the First Division of the Ashton Amateur League, whilst the second eleven were to play in Division Two.

Droylsden kicked off the new season with a crushing 6-0 away win at Hurst U.M., and to show it was no fluke, the Droylsden lads followed that up with another away fixture at Hadfield, where they collected both points with a 5-0 victory. The Market Street club’s home form however, started with a splutter when they drew 1-1 with Bredbury United, though that was soon put to rights in the next home match when Edge Lane were beaten 3-0. Droylsden’s next game was away at Raynham Villa and on this occasion Villa’s disgruntled goalkeeper was called upon to pick the ball out of the net twelve times, whilst the home forwards never got near Droylsden’s goal all afternoon.

Two weeks later – after Droylsden had beaten New Moss Colliery 4-1 in an away fixture – it was stated in the local press, “Droylsden visit Audenshaw this coming Saturday, but if form is any criteria, all Audenshaw will get out of it is a good gate.” As it turned out, around 700 spectators saw the two teams play out a 2-2 draw, in what was reported to have been a fine game of football. Droylsden remained unbeaten until February 7 1920, when they lost an away match at Greenfield 2-3, the home side being Droylsden’s biggest rival for the league title.

The Ashton Amateur League had two cups to play for – the Ashton Challenge Cup, and the Beaverbrook Cup, and Droylsden had a good run in both competitions. By mid-April, the Droylsden team had reached the finals of both cups, and were still in the running for the league title. However, through being so heavily involved in cup matches, Droylsden had left themselves with a lot of ground to make up on Greenfield and Bredbury United, both of whom were locked in combat at the top of the table. On April 24, Droylsden played the first of their two cup finals at Hurst Cross, against Edge Lane, and with the match being a local derby, over 4,000 spectators were present to see Droylsden take the Beaverbrook Cup by winning the match 3 goals to nil.

The Market Street club were now left to chase the league leaders, and with just four games left – one home and three away – Droylsden looked to have blown their chances when they drew the home fixture 1-1 against New Moss Colliery. The Butchers’ Arms men, however, won the first of their last three away games at Hooley Hill 4-0, and were now lying just three points behind league leaders Greenfield, who had completed their fixtures. Beside their chase for the league title, Droylsden still had another cup final to sort out and on May 1, the Butchers’ Arms lads met Bredbury United in the final of the Ashton Challenge Cup at Snipe Park, where, in front of 3,000 spectators, Droylsden lifted the second of their seasons trophies by winning what was described as a ‘great cup final’ by five goals to two.

Droylsden were now left with two testing away games, and the local press questioned whether they had the stamina to produce the required results after such a demanding run in the cup competitions. The first of the two away games was at Hallbottom, and the Droylsden supporters followed their team there in droves. Droylsden were ‘brilliant’ that Wednesday evening, and plundered both points with a 7-1 victory. And so to the last game of the season where Droylsden, with the massive vocal support of their followers urging them on, crushed Hurst U.M. by a staggering 8 goals to 1. The Butchers’ Arms men had won the league title by a single point.

Pts

Droylsden

Greenfield

Bredbury Utd

110

111

Squad: Noble, Yates, Peach, Kennerly, Price, Wilson, Whitehead, Rowson, Sumner, Johnson, Ormrod, Brown, H Peach, Bannister, Pimblott, Caldicott, and Seaton.

“It’s the end to a perfect season,” said Droylsden captain, Whitehead. And so it was.

Season 1919-20. Ashton Amateur League