5 September 1914: Boycott professional football to get players to fight the Germans, says the ex-vicar of Oulton in the Rothwell local paper
Rothwell Courier and Times. 1914/09/05. Rothwell and District. Rothwell. Get it:
.Excerpt
A former Oulton clergyman – Rev E.H. Dykes, who was a noted footballer in his day – has no doubt about the duty of the nation at this time. He says that “if young Englishmen are led to prefer the honours of the football field to those of the battlefield, in order that they may stay at home and put money into the coffers of their respective clubs, then professional football will show itself accursed, and will forever stink in the nostrils of every honest and unsophisticated man and boy.” This is a question for the public, and if they refrain from supporting professional football just now, there will be no need for players to stay at home and earn shekels for club committees.
To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.
Abbreviations:
- ER: East Riding
- GM: Greater Manchester
- NR: North Riding
- NY: North Yorkshire
- SY: South Yorkshire
- WR: West Riding
- WY: West Yorkshire
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Via Howard Benson (Benson N.d.).
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Original
A former Oulton clergyman – Rev. E.H. Dykes, who was a noted footballer in his day – has no doubt about the duty of the nation at this time. He says that “if young Englishmen are led to prefer the honours of the football field to those of the battlefield, in order that they may stay at home and put money into the coffers of their respective clubs, then professional football will show itself accursed, and will forever stink in the nostrils of every honest and unsophisticated man and boy.” This is a question for the public, and if they refrain from supporting professional football just now, there will be no need for players to stay at home and earn shekels for club committees.
125 words.
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