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Season
1924-25. Manchester League Droylsden Officials' Shell-Shocked. Local Press August 1924. "Considerable interest has been displayed during the week in the practice matches in connection with Droylsden AFC at the Butchers' Arms ground. A number of new players have been tried and several have displayed great skill and promise with the sphere. Many of the old players have been re-signed, and the officials expect to be able to field a strong, reliable team in their opening match at Hadfield. "Whitehead will again appear in goal, and at practice has shown a continuation of his characteristic cleverness. Fowler and Barber, the well-known fullbacks, have been re-signed, and the halfback line - Potter, W Wood and Hooper - will be capable of giving a good account before the foe. In the forward line familiar figures will be seen. They will include Birtwistle, Lomas, Beddell, Ormerod and Taylor. Williams, a good all round player, has also been signed. Other players whom the committee hope to sign include Foy, a clever centre forward from Eccles, Ballantyne, a right half who played with Rhos last season, Leather, an outside right from Didsbury, and O'Brien, an inside right who has had experience with Hyde United." With a quick reference to the previous season, it will have been noted that Droylsden won the Gilcryst Cup on September 2nd of this present season - the final having been held over from 1923-24. On September 20th, Droylsden defended their newly acquired trophy in the first round of the 1924-25 Gilcryst cup competition, and lost 0-1 to Debdale. Therefore, Droylsden had won and then lost the same trophy all within a period of 18 days. In the Ashton Challenge Cup competition, the Droylsden lads played their first round match away to Ashton National, and led the Cheshire League club by 2-1 until, with the very last kick of the match, Ashton National equalised. The replay was looked forward to with much interest, and on the day of the replay 2,500 spectators piled into the ground in anticipation of seeing another close contest. But much to the dismay of everyone connected with the Butchers' Arms club, the Droylsden team completely fell apart and stunned their supporters by losing the match by a staggering TWELVE NIL. The Droylsden officials were unable to explain what had happened and left the ground shell-shocked. Droylsden fared much better in the league, and headed the table from the beginning of November until March 1st when, due to a run of defeats and below par performances, the title started to slip out of their grasp, and the team finished up with third place in the end of season table. In December, Droylsden had signed a fullback by the name of Reckless, though whether he lived up to his name we will never know. The club had another good run in the Manchester Junior Cup competition, reaching the quarterfinals where they were dispatched by New Mills 0-4. This 1924-25 season also saw two more players plucked from the Butchers' Arms outfit by Football League clubs. Right fullback Fowler was signed by Bradford City, and later in the season, Bury FC signed Spiby, who had joined Droylsden at the beginning of the season. |