| War Years. 1940 to 1945
'We Can Have Football and Still Lick Hitler' An appeal to clubs to carry on playing was made by Droylsden Chairman, Mr. H Griffiths, at their annual meeting in August 1940: "It is more essential for football to be played now than ever before," he said. "There are over a million soldiers in the country and there are hundreds of munitions workers who need relaxation on a Saturday afternoon. Football will not impede the war effort, it will help it! We can have our football and still lick Hitler!" He continued, "We must help to keep up the morale of the country. We do not want people hanging about on street corners solely discussing the war. Let them have the referee and the selection committee to grumble about until next week comes round." Reviewing the previous season, Mr. Griffiths said, "It has been a record breaking year for the club. We are quite satisfied with our showing, but what is more important, the Cheshire League went out of its way to pay Droylsden compliments." He then continued, "We set out from the beginning of the competition to get first-class players, and we succeeded. The Football League clubs were very helpful to Droylsden in releasing players, and we are especially thankful for the assistance rendered by Manchester City." The club had signed over 40 players during the past season and of that number 17 were now in HM Forces. The Droylsden officials continued their 'carry-on-playing-at-all-costs' policy by returning to the Manchester League for the 1940-41 season. Many local clubs had been closed down by this time, and when the season opened the Manchester League table was made up of just nine clubs. As season 1941-42 approached, the Manchester League had received only six applications for membership and were beginning to wonder if it was worthwhile carrying on. However, after discussions with officials of the Manchester Amateur League, it was decided the two leagues would be merged for a trial period of one season, and would be run under the new title of the Manchester Joint League. At the end of the 1941-42 season however, the joining together of the two leagues was deemed to have been a failure and the Joint League was scrapped. Droylsden then remained as a member of the Manchester Amateur League until the end of the war. Shown below are the clubs who were members of those leagues in which Droylsden played during the war years.
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Those clubs who did continue during the war found the going tough. Interest in local football was 'lukewarm' to say the least and gates suffered accordingly. Droylsden were in such financial difficulties that some weeks they couldn't pay the players their travelling expenses to away matches. Droylsden's Home Guard formed a team to play against Droylsden in a friendly at the Butchers' Arms in an effort to help the club raise some much needed revenue. And apart from the money troubles, clubs had a hard time keeping a settled team together due to players receiving their call-up papers. In an away match at Urmston on Christmas Day 1940, the Droylsden team played the match with only eight players, whilst in a home fixture against the Manchester United 'A' team, the 'Reds' turned up with only four players. An appeal went out to the crowd for seven players to make up the team, and amongst those who quickly volunteered was a sailor who, having opted to play centre-forward, scored a goal for United. |