Glory, Glory Man Utd. Harry Harris
at a time when playersʼ couldnʼt even claim for industrial injuries, under the law of the land. Meredith chaired the first meeting of the playersʼ union as it is today on 2 December 1907, at the Imperial Hotel, Manchester, with players from the north west, mainly from United and City. He would attend PFA AGMs into the 1950s and he would greet everybody at the door.
“The 1909 season didnʼt start on time because of the actions of the players who, led by Meredith, wanted to be recognised by the Football Association and wished to join the TUC. The FA wanted to ban any player who was in the union. There was a picture of these players looking to try and train privately and they came up with the idea of being typecast as The Outcasts. The name stuck and gave them much media prominence. While the 1909 season was delayed, eventually the FA caved in and recognised the playersʼ union, which was a great victory for The Outcasts.
“In our Centenary year in 2007 we invited Bill Meredithʼs grandchildren to our celebration dinner. In our offices we have one of his caps, and one of his jerseys. He had the playersʼ union printed on the shirt, which also had a playersʼ union armband. In his last days, he called my predecessor at the PFA, Cliff Lloyd, to his home, and asked him to get for him an old battered suitcase from under his bed. When Cliff opened it up, it was packed full of international caps and medals. He told Cliff, ʼRemind all your members, that those caps did not look after me in my old age!ʼ“
It was a hard struggle to land the first title. Formed in 1878, originally as Newton Heath, the club was not considered good enough to join the inaugural Football League and had to wait until 1892 to join as a Division Two team. The start of the Manchester United story didnʼt really begin until John Henry Davies, a brewery owner, took control of Newton Heath in 1902. He cleared the clubʼs massive debts and changed their name and retained an interest in the club until his death.
This led to a change of name and, after several alternatives including Manchester Central and Manchester Celtic were rejected, Manchester United was born in April/May 1902. Manchester United made the significant appointment of Ernest Mangnall, a manager from Second Division rivals, Burnley, as successor to James West, in October 1903. Mangnall was appointed secretary in September 1903 but is widely acknowledged as being the clubʼs first manager.
Mangnall, the son of a joiner, was born in Bolton in 1866. He was educated at Bolton Grammar School where he played inside right for the school football team. Later he was selected for Lancashire County. A keen supporter of Bolton Wanderers, he eventually became a director of the club. He also served as the club secretary but had little success and the Trotters were relegated in the 1898 – 99 season. Mangnall joined Burnley as their secretary/manager but they were also relegated in the 1899 – 1900 season – hardly an auspicious start in management.
More serious than these failures, Mangnallʼs integrity was brought into question when Burnleyʼs goalkeeper, Jack Hillman, was found guilty of trying to bribe Nottingham Forest players to lose the last game of the season in order to avoid relegation into the Second Division. Hillman was found guilty and banned for a year.
At the end of the 1902 – 03 season James West and Harry Stafford of Manchester United were suspended by the Football Association for making illegal payments to players. Mangnall, who had failed to get Burnley promoted to the First Division, was appointed as Unitedʼs new manager. This decision shocked the fans as he had achieved little success at his former clubs. Nor did he have a reputation for getting his teams to play good football. As the authors of ʼThe Essential History of Manchester Unitedʼ point out: “Mangnall... preached a gospel of physical fitness and team spirit while maintaining that players should be given a ball only once a week”.
John Henry Davies, the new owner of Manchester United, was a rich businessman and was willing to provide Mangnall with the funds to build a good team. Mangnall made several new signings. Probably the most significant was Charlie Roberts, who cost a record fee of £600. Other important signings included Charlie Sagar, George Wall, John Peddie, John Picken, Thomas Blackstock and Alex Bell. His side, including new signings like goalkeeper Harry Moger and forward Charlie Sagar, finished third in the Second Division in 1903/04 and again in 1904/05.
Season 1905/06 was to prove one of the greatest in the early life of Manchester United. The half – back line of Dick Duckworth, Alec Bell and captain Charlie Roberts were instrumental in the side which reached the quarter – finals of the FA Cup, but more importantly finished as runners – up in the Second Division behind Bristol City. Twelve years after being relegated, United reclaimed their place in the top-flight. The club scored 90 goals in 38 games the top scorers being John Picken (20), John Peddie (18) and Charlie Sagar (16). Manchester Unitedʼs defence was also impressive and only let in 28 goals all season. Charlie Roberts played at centre half and he was flanked by two outstanding wing halves, Dick Duckworth and Alec Bell.
Manchester City, who were playing in the First Division, also did well that season. City needed to beat Aston Villa on the final day of the season to win the championship. Villa won the game 3 – 1 and City finished third, two points behind Newcastle United. After the game Alec Leake, the captain of Aston Villa, claimed that Meredith had offered him £10 to throw the game. Meredith was found guilty of this offence by the Football Association and was fined and suspended from playing football for a year. Manchester City refused to provide financial help for Meredith and so he decided to go public about what really was going on at the club: “What was the secret of the success of the Manchester City team? In my opinion, the fact that the club put aside the rule that no player should receive more than four pounds a week... The team delivered the goods, the club paid for the goods delivered and both sides were satisfied.” This statement created a sensation as the FA had imposed a £4 a week maximum wage on all clubs in 1901.
In 1904 Manchester City had been the main force, winning the FA Cup that season, but they had aroused suspicion from the FA and an investigation found that the club had breached strict rules on the maximum wage – offering their cup winners a massive £7 in bonuses for their success. Each member of the City board was banned from the game for five years, Tom Maley was suspended from football for life and the club was fined £250. Seventeen players were fined and suspended until January 1907. As a consequence City arranged an auction for their star players, inviting rival club directors to Manchesterʼs Queens Hotel to what can only be described as a fire sale. However many turned up realising they were too late, Mangnall had already bagged Welsh winger William Henry Meredith, for a mere £500, Herbert Burgess, Jimmy Bannister and Sandy Turnbull also crossed the city on free transfers. Once their bans were lifted, they were all free to play for Manchester United.
One of Mangnallʼs most controversial signings was John Peddie from Newcastle United. As Paul Joannou points out in his book, ʼThe Black ʼnʼ White Alphabetʼ, “Peddie... was often in trouble with the clubʼs hierarchy for a number of misdemeanours; refusing to play, being absent from training and ultimately being suspended sine die in 1900 (later lifted).”
Over a four-year period Peddie scored 73 goals in 125 matches. However, a local newspaper report pointed out that the fans had mixed views on his abilities: “Peddie is the most highly praised and roundly abused man on the clubʼs books. A player of moods... his nonchalant ways and easy-going methods are less inspiring than his shooting.”
The key signing, though, was winger Billy Meredith, the superstar of this generation, a tobacco – chewing miner from Chirk, Wrexham, footballʼs first superstar, the Ryan Giggs of his age, his career lasting for a remarkable 30 years – even Ryan has some way to go to match that. ʼOld Skinnyʼ, as he was nicknamed, had a trademark toothpick in his mouth while he played to aid concentration, and was found guilty of matchfixing during his time with Manchester City prior to joining the Reds in 1906, which he strenuously denied until the day he died. In his early playing days he chewed tobacco, until the cleaners refused to wash the spit off his shirts.
Born in 1874, Meredith began his career playing part – time for local teams while working at Black Colliery. In 1894 he signed for City as a professional, where he enjoyed a successful career for more than a decade until he was embroiled in a bribery scandal. Meredith, who had joined the Reds in 1906, was the inspiration behind Unitedʼs first major honour, the Football League Division One title – the first of Unitedʼs record 20 league title wins.
United