1907 - 1914, The Fourth Club - Connah's Quay and Shotton United

The Combination League that the new Connah's Quay and Shotton United had entered into was a higher standard altogether. It featured the reserve teams of Chester, Wrexham and Tranmere Rovers together with clubs from relatively large towns like Whitchurch, Denbigh and Bangor. Then there was the the matter of the new club's step up to participate in contesting the (Senior) Welsh Cup.

The new side was fuelled by a number of feeder teams. These were two teams of first reserves, Connah's Quay Victorians and Shotton Swifts, both formed in 1905 during the days of the Twenties and Hawarden Bridge, but which now assumed the roles of former clubs in division one of the Chester and District League. The third team was Connah's Quay Athletic, playing in division two of the Chester league.

To add to this wealth of reserve power there was Connah's Quay Juniors - a youth team that played in the Junior League, and a Connah's Quay Conservative Club, who played on a pitch near Farfield Hall and whose club house, the Albion Rooms, later became the Albion Club after the demise of the Conservative Club.

The structure was in place and the playing strength of Connah's Quay and Shotton United soon showed. A fine win against Whitchurch, with Hugh 'Bloomer' Roberts scoring a hat-trick lifted them to third position in the league behind Chester and Tranmere. This was in January 1908 and by April the club had reached the final of the Welsh Senior Cup.

The Cup Final, Connah's Quay and Shotton United v Chester, was on Easter Monday, 20th April 1908 at the neutral Wrexham ground. A crowd of 8000 were in attendance, not least because "the last hope of Wales keeping the cup lay in their youngest senior club." Sadly for the Quay, Chester won 1-3 and the cup crossed the border for the first time in its then 30 year history.

The new club had performed magnificently and any lingering disappointment was partly softened by Connah's Quay Victorians beating Rosset by 5-1 at Chester's Sealand Road ground and thereby securing the Soames Cup, won the previous season by the Hawarden Bridge club.

Another first for this 1907-8 season was that J E Griffiths, formerly captain of Hawarden Bridge but now playing for Connah's Quay and Shotton United had been awarded a Welsh Amateur International cap against England at Stockport.

The 1908-9 season began with attempts to start a new league in Flintshire. The problem was transport - some clubs were still relying on horse drawn vehicles and consequently late kick offs and cancellations were commonplace. The proposed solution was to create a new league of at least fifteen well established clubs all close to the LNWR railway so that they were "only an arms length away from each other". An invitation to join this league was sent to Connah's Quay Victorians, but the offer was declined and they continued in the Chester and District League.

For the combined first team the second season was proving to be a repeat of their first - doing well but without collecting and honours. By November, United were lying second in the table when they met Bangor, who despite being bottom of the league triumphed 0-3. A further blow fell when a league fixture was arranged at the Half Way on Christmas day against Saltney. All pre-match predictions were for a home win but United had several of their best players unavailable and Saltney were bolstered by the inclusion of "Snowy" Jones, the former Connah's Quay favourite. A huge crowd watched the match and although the Quay lost, reports were that the crowd "were all looking forward to the next encounter between the 'Fishermen' and the 'Salts'."

Therefore, by midway in January they had slipped to third position in the league. However, they were enjoying another extended run in the Welsh Cup. United were drawn at home in the fourth round of the cup to Mardy, an unknown quantity from the south. Advance notice arrived that the visitors would be arriving and staying overnight on Chester on the Friday, while a football excursion train of six to eight hundred Mardy supporters were expected at Connah's Quay station on Saturday morning at 6:30 am. An event of such magnitude was hitherto unknown in the sporting history of Connah's Quay.

At 6:30 am on a cold February morning the train duly arrived at Connah's Quay station and discharged its full load of passengers. Breakfast was their first thought and "those enterprising Quay caterers who had the foresight to make provision reaped a fine harvest." Many of the visitors then returned by local train to Chester for a few hours to see the sights (and get a decent pint? - ed.) whilst others hung around the docks waiting for the local hostelries to open.

By 1:30 PM all roads led to Golftyn and by kick off there were over 2000 singing spectators packed into the Half Way enclosure. The Mardy team were superior in physique to the home lads, and Bennet, the United winger found this out to his cost when he came into a sharp collision with the colossal bulk of Hugh Jones, the visitors' former international fullback. The severe shaking that Bennet received left him a passenger for the remainder of the match, but skill overcame strength and United won 2-0 thanks largely to the magnificent defence of Tuft and Hewitt. The combined side then met the eventual winners, Wrexham, in the semi-final at Chester. United lost but their gate receipts were a handsome £370.

The cup run took its toll on the club's league form though and they finished in mid-table. Indeed, their third season in the Combination League was much the same - a good cup run, reaching the quarter final with a thrilling 3-0 triumph over Bangor at the Half Way before once more losing to Wrexham in the final. The club had found itself too accomplished for the Chester leagues but found wanting in the senior competitions.

Still, the social life was good and the 1909-10 season was marked by the Connah's Quay and Shotton United male voice choir having their first annual dinner and social evening at the Half Way House Hotel. This year also saw the formation of the Flintshire Schools Games association. Included games were cricket, football, netball, rounders and swimming. At its foundation Colonel Hurlbutt of Farfield Hall (Connah's Quay) presented the association with a giant shield. The centre piece was solid silver on an ebony base and surround for smaller shields indicating each year's winners for the boys' senior football competition. The winners for the first three years were St. Ethelwold's Shotton and for 1912 and 1813 St. Mark's Connah's Quay. It was the main such trophy in Flintshire and of course, it was especially rewarding for Connah's Quay and Shotton football. However, after four years of magnificent effort there were no cups or league medals for Connah's Quay and Shotton United.

There were also certain problems which need attention at the Half way ground. The problems were grounded in the fact that United were not the owners and the ground was surrounded by rather low walls. Consequently many could see the matches free of charge and a great many others easily gained unlawful entrance to matches, to the mutual chagrin of both the club and the bona-fide fee paying supporters. As such, the club came to consider moving from the Half Way. The problem was solved by the owners, Chester Northgate Brewery Company, who agreed to pay the cost of materials for the construction of a wooden grandstand and adequate hoarding around the ground. W. H. Lloyd 'The Fron' stepped into the breach once more and offered to construct the grandstand and hoarding free of charge. The club accepted both offers and stayed on at the Half Way.

Having solved the problem of accommodation, but still frustrated at their lack of success in the Chester Combination League sought 'new pastures' by joining the Liverpool Combination League for the 1911-12 season. They had obviously forgotten about their disastrous 1904-5 season in the Wirral Senior League. A pre-season friendly was arranged at the Half Way ground against Skelmersdale, to be followed a week later by the usual annual fund raising sports festival. But both events were badly hit by a national rail strike. Attendance's were very low and little income was raised. It proved to be a bad omen for the coming season. Southport Villa were due to appear at the Half Way but they postponed the fixture as they had to play a cup tie. All that could be arranged was a friendly match with Bagillt which United won 6-0.

Prescot were therefore the first visitors of the new season and the new league as the bad luck continued. Although the home side triumphed by 2-1 the match was not a true test as Prescot played with ten men for most of the game. One of the Prescot players had suffered a bad fracture of his leg and was taken to a local doctor. The spectators there present made an impromptu collection and raised ten shillings for the injured man.

In early November, after United had lost 1-2 at home to South Liverpool, a local reporter described the match thus:

"From a football point of view the match can be characterised as nothing more or less than a disgraceful scene. It is in the interests of human beings that such a match will not be witnessed on the Half Way ground again in the annals of the club. Leaving the field of play, players were roughly dealt with and it behoves those in charge of the team to take strident measures to prevent a recurrence of last Saturday's episodes."

As beaten finalists, United were exempted until the third round of the Welsh Senior Cup. They were drawn away to Pontypridd and suffered their first ever defeat at the hands of opposition from south Wales in a 8-0 thrashing. Things had never been so bad.

Another shambles ensued when Earlstown were the visitors to the Half Way. They arrived very late, having missed their connecting train, fouls were common and the game was, at all times, unpleasantly contested. Victories were rare - Skelmersdale were beaten 4-2, they were "kicking against the hill" in the second half. Towards the end of the season Southport Villa visited to play their postponed fixture. United fielded a completely new eleven. They achieved a 2-2 draw but the attendance was poor. Several of the United side had been promoted from the junior sides and as the game wore on they became visibly distressed against the hard play of the visitors' older and more experienced players. This was then followed by the low point of the season when United were beaten 0-2 at the Half Way by Garstang Gas Works, then bottom of the Combination League.

The Liverpool League had been a complete disaster. The only good news to emerge was that Connah's Quay now had its first professional player. Thomas John Hewitt was born in Connah's Quay in 1889 and joined United for the start of the 1907-8 season. He was spotted by Wrexham and joined them for the 1908 season. In 1911-12, during United's abortive excursion into the Liverpool League, he gained three caps, against the home countries. His next move was to Chelsea for a fee of £350 and a further five caps followed.

The future of football in Connah's Quay was less certain. Nobody wanted another season like that of 1911-12, so a special meeting of all members was called at the town's Liberal Club (this was a three storey building at 333 High Street, built in 1883, sold by auction in 1914) and the meeting's agenda was simply: "To form a football club by next season."

Here it was agreed that the time had come for serious rethinking. Membership of the Liverpool County Competition had been a disaster. Local people were not attracted, very few Liverpool supporters had arrived in the Quay, there were no 'derby' matches, income was seriously down, young players were not being attracted and many older players were now in decline - Bloomer was playing his testimonial year.

On the other hand, a return to the Chester and District League was not a viable option. This league had let other clubs down. Bagillt, for example, had won the league twelve months previously but had yet to receive either the cup or any medals. This year Bagillt were again in the cup final but every member of the opposing team was ineligible to play - "the league management allows men to run from club to club."

Bearing all this in mind the Connah's Quay and Shotton United club remained resolute but with a completely new structure. A new committee was elected - Mr. Garland as secretary and application was made to join the North Wales Alliance League (also known as the Wrexham Alliance, as most of its constituent clubs were from that area). Finally, a practice trial match was arranged as so many players had left the club. This took place on 23 August 1912 and a new first XI was selected for the first match of the season at Flint.

The game was placarded as "A derby match of friendly local rivalry". However, even at this very early stage of the season, where Flint had won 2-0, "friendly rivalry had descended into contentiousness of an extreme order." The next match found the United side in the preliminary round of the English FA Cup pitted against New Brightons Harrowby Eleven at the Tower ground. This too was lost, by 1-4 and it was agreed that after these two defeats "would mean necessary immediate changes in the United eleven." This was successful as wins followed, 6-0 against Great Central Locos, Wrexham and then 2-0 against Rhosllanerchrugog (Wrexham).

Christmas Day 1912 saw United at home to Flint. As a conciliatory gesture the home club shared the gate receipts with their local visitors. But disappointment followed on Boxing Day when, instead of playing host to another lucrative Derby versus Buckley, the club received a telegram with the sad news that the Buckley club had been disbanded.

By March 1913 United were midway in a league of sixteen clubs with Johnstown, Rhos and Gwersyllt making up the top three. Matters took an upturn when Gwersyllt were defeated 3-0 at the Half Way and there was little doubt by now that following its overhaul on and off the field the club had successfully emerged from the dark days of the Liverpool League.

The 1913-14 season therefore started off with high hopes, especially as United had a star striker - A. Sheargold, formerly of Chester and Wolves. It was while he had been at Chester that Sheargold initiated and encouraged another local football club that appeared in the first division of the Chester and District League in season 1913-14. This was the Shotton Brotherhood that was selected from the ranks of the thriving Connah's Quay and Shotton Christian Brotherhood. Meanwhile, Connah's Quay Conservative Club and Shotton Swifts were still playing in Division Two of that league.

Sheargold soon showed his worth, scoring the only goal in United's victory over Llandudno. Then, in the away match at Wallasey in the preliminary round of the English FA Cup, yet another Wirral mishap occurred. United lost the match 0-2 but registered a complaint against the size of the pitch. A Commissioner of the E.F.A. held an enquiry at Birkenhead and judged that the Wallasey pitch was indeed too small and ordered a replay at the Half Way ground. United won 1-0, and Sheargold was the scorer.

Suddenly a new star was emerging at the Half Way in the form of young E. Hughes, who scored a remarkable nine goals in two consecutive matches! There followed an unpleasant encounter with Gwersyllt at the Half Way. The game was characterised by the unsporting play of the Gwersyllt backs, who would not stay back but wandered deliberately into the home half, thus causing the home forwards' movements to be offside. It ended up with opposing players squabbling and pushing one another. A number of spectators then encroached onto the pitch and two policemen were needed to control the situation. The match resulted in a sour 0-0 draw.

United marched on to wins against Esclusham, Summerhill and Grand Central Locomotives, before losing 2-5 to Johnstown, the league leaders. There were no cup victories to celebrate this season but they were second in the league, back on track and eagerly anticipating the start of the 1914-15 season. But by August 1914 the country was at war with Germany. The reservists were immediately mobilised and in response to Kitchener's call "Your Country Needs You!" over half a million young men had besieged the recruiting centres in a single month.

The various footballing associations then all met and cancelled competitive football fixtures for the following 1914-15 season. Little did they realise that the war that was going to be over "by Christmas" would last another five footballing seasons and countless thousands of young men who would never again play the 'beautiful game'. The first era of Connah's Quay football had come to an abrupt and unexpected end.

 

The above passages are reproduced from "Connah's Quay's Footballing History (up to 1914)", exhaustively researched by Vic Williams and available in a limited edition paperback price £2 including postage from the author. All proceeds are donated to Deeside Community Hospital.

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