1949-50 SEASON

 

Mr Blezard was elected President for the season in recognition of his twenty-five years’ service as League Treasurer a position which was taken over by J. Rogerson. E. F. Wilkinson from Old Standians was elected Secretary and following the retirement of J. C. Edwards the Vice Chairman was to be M. M.G. Drummond. F. Pyatt retired as an Auditor and was replaced by J. C. Edwards. Messrs Fish and Edwards were thanked for their marvellous work done for the League over a very long period. A fund was set up to purchase a suitable gift for the two retirees.

 

Applications from Old Essians and Withington were accepted, and Salford NALGO was re-elected leaving Stockport College SU and Post Office Savings Bank having their League affiliations cancelled.

 

The FA organised a coaching scheme for amateur football and called upon the services of local professional footballers. The Committee encouraged clubs to join the scheme and arranged for clubs to form local groups with a suitable indoor facility for coaching. The first venue was at St Bede’s College, where the home club were joined by players from South Manchester, Withington and MEC with Charlie Mitten, Johnny Carey and Stan Pearson of Manchester United providing the coaching. The fee for the coaches was £1-10-6d per session.

 

D. Berry of Cheadle Heath Nomads and D. Makin of East Chorlton were again selected for NCAC duty for their respective counties.

 

Old Stoconians collected the Aggregate Trophy, Second Division and Reserve ‘B’ championships and added the runners-up spot in the Reserves Subsidiary Cup and Special Competition, by far the most successful club in the season.

 

The Special Competition Cup, which was now the Whitehead Cup recently presented to the League, was won by Cheadle Hulme, who also had a successful season by finishing joint runners-up with Cheadle Heath Nomads in the senior championship and also runners-up in the Rhodes Cup which was won by Bradford Parish.

 

East Chorlton won the senior championship and added the Subsidiary Cup to their trophy cabinet, and it looked as though they were beginning a challenge with Bradford Parish to see who could fill the vacancy left by South Salford as being the top club in the League.  

 

For the first time since its inauguration J.C. Edwards did not organise the Annual Dinner presentation the task falling into the safe hands of A.B. Craven assisted by Messrs Drummond and Waddington.

 

1950-51 SEASON

 

After many years of trying, a Third Division was formed in the new season and included six Third XIs entered from existing members and Refuge Amateurs and Cepea Amateurs with one team each and More Society retained their membership with one team.

 

42nd Division Signals TA were also elected but withdrew in February 1951. The Third Division was to be administered by a separate committee consisting of Messrs Body, Craven and Samsone together with five representatives from the competing teams. There would be no promotion from the new division into the Second Division.

 

Old Flixtonians were re-elected and Manchester Old Xaverians admitted to membership of the Second Division which included the relegated clubs, Chapelmoor and Old Ashtonians with Old Stoconians and Bramhall being promoted to the First Division.

 

T.R. Ellis was invited to be President and W. Westall resigned from the Committee and was replaced by W. Williamson.

 

Representative honours were awarded by Cheshire FA to D. Berry of Cheadle Heath Nomads and Lancashire FA to E. Waugh of Bradford Parish in NCAC games. Lancashire reached the Final of the competition, which they won with the help of D.J. Makin of East Chorlton.

 

The first League ties were awarded to players since 1946 having taken part in two Inter League games against the Midland Amateur Alliance and Lancashire Amateur League.

 

Lancashire FA held a trial game early in the season and included Tunstall of Old Urmstonians, Jones of Old Ashtonians and Waugh of Bradford Parish in their selections. Berry of Cheadle Heath Nomads was again in favour with the Cheshire FA selectors.

 

Defeats for East Chorlton and West Didsbury against Liverpool competition left Royton as the League’s only survivor in the Third Round of the Lancashire Amateur Cup. Royton progressed into the Semi-Final at the expense of Mill Hill St. Peters from Blackburn only to lose out to Collegiate Old Boys from Liverpool. Royton were to experience a disappointing season as they were beaten by East Chorlton in the Rhodes Cup Final which was watched by a crowd of a thousand.

 

A representative side drawn from Lancashire Grammar and Secondary Schools played a series of games in Holland at Easter and included the following young players registered with League clubs: -

 

N. Sheriff (Bradford Parish)

A. Hargreaves (Rusholme)

W. Newton (Old Ashtonians)

C. Clegg (Old Ashtonians)

 

The Special Cup Competition was withdrawn from the fixtures due to fixture backlog following bad weather.

 

The expected rivalry between East Chorlton and Bradford Parish materialised during the season with East Chorlton winning the Aggregate Trophy from Parish, who won a play-off against East to decide the runners-up of the First Division. East beat Parish for the Reserve Division ‘A’ title, with East winning the Rhodes Cup.

 

Cheadle Heath Nomads won the First Division championship, Old Stretfordians the Second and Old Ashtonians the Reserve Division ‘B’ together with the Subsidiary Cup. The Third Division was won by Refuge Amateurs from Cepea and More Society won the Hellawell Shield from Cheadle Hulme.

 

1951-52 SEASON

 

Changes were made to Committee with the resignation of the Secretary E.F. Wilkinson, who was replaced by W. Williamson and G.A. Fish Secretary of the Players’ Accident Fund replaced by A. Craven. A.T. Cook, the Secretary of Bradford Parish accepted the invitation to be League President.

 

Old Essians and Heywood GSOB successfully applied for re-election and were joined by Cepea from the Third Division, who replaced Withington, who withdrew their membership.

 

The Third Division was extended to twelve teams with eight club third teams and a fourth team from Cheadle Hulme together with More Society, Bradford CC and Refuge Amateurs. Old Essians failed to fulfil their fixtures and were withdrawn from the League.

 

The Committee continued their fostering of connections with schools’ football by arranging games against Salford and Stretford Grammar Schools. An additional game was arranged against a Grammar School Select XI representing schools in the area.

 

Old Ashtonians proved to be the most successful club being Second Division and Reserve Division ‘B’ Champions resulting in the winning of the Aggregate Trophy and their Third XI were runners-up in the Hellawell Shield, which was won by the More Society, who also won the Third Division.

 

Cheadle Heath Nomads won the First Division with East Chorlton taking the Reserve Division ‘A’ title.

 

Old Stretfordians defeated East Chorlton in the Final of the Rhodes Cup, Monton won the Reserves Subsidiary Cup and Cheadle Hulme the Whitehead Cup.

 

1952-53 SEASON

 

It is worth recording the Chairman’s remarks to the 1952 AGM in which he said: -

 

“In my opinion the standard of play was steadily improving and reaching pre-war levels. We have been successful in our representative matches, and the sportsmanship was generally very good. It was a great principle of our League that we could still say that our players paid for their football and when conveyances were supplied, players should pay no less than the cost of public transport and when kit was supplied such expenditure reflected in player’s subscriptions”.

 

The President elect was T.W. Croft from the Bramhall club, whose brother had served on Committee pre-war. All other officers continued as did the remaining Management Committee members.

 

Mr Woollam continued to occupy his hard-won position on the Lancashire FA Amateur Cup Committee.

 

Heywood Town GSOB and Old Bedians were duly re-elected, Styal were welcomed back after an absence of fourteen years and More Society, as champions of the Third Division were elected giving a Second Division membership of fifteen teams.

 

A late application was received from Wigan and District Mining and Technical College, who were able to field two teams and were offered a place in the Second Division increasing the membership to sixteen. Acceptance was subject to assurances from the club that travelling expenses equivalent to third class public transport would be borne by the players.

 

The Third Division was to be split into two divisions with ten third teams and new applications accepted from, Broadbottom, Mantact and Manchester Architects.

 

In their first trial game, Lancashire FA invited Jowett of Old Stretfordians, Nabb of East Chorlton, Ridgeway of Old Urmstonians, Clegg of Heywood GSOB, Moseley and Neath of Old Ashtonians to participate. Tunstall of Old Urmstonians and Robson of Royton Amateurs were selected by Lancashire FA to be reserves in attendance and Hall and Halliley of Cheadle Heath Nomads were selected by Cheshire FA in NCAC games.

 

The Chairman presented to the League a President’s tankard which was to be inscribed with the names of all Presidents and to be for their sole use during their year in office.

 

It was recorded with regret the death of W. Rosamund of Old Bedians in a game against Cheadle Hulme following an accidental collision. All teams wore black armbands on the following Saturday and observed a minute’s silence in memory of the player.

 

The League had entered into an insurance cover to provide benefits for events of this nature, and a payment was made by the insurance company to the relatives of the deceased.

 

Further games were arranged against Stretford, Stand and Salford Grammar Schools and a Grammar School Select XI in accordance with established practices.

 

Presentation of League ties was to be extended to include club officers, who had given twenty-five years’ service to their club whilst members of the League.

 

The League Dinner held at Belle Vue was a financial success following a record attendance of three hundred and eighty-nine.

 

The Chairman’s comments at the AGM relative to the improving standards on the field of play were justified with Bradford Parish winning the Lancashire Amateur Cup in a thrilling final against Morecambe GSOB by three goals to one. Their goals were scored by Cornforth with two and Fordham. Parish had defeated Old Blackburnians, Liverpool Police, Monton Amateurs, Rusholme and East Chorlton in the Semi-Final, showing the strength of the League in this competition. In presenting the trophy the Chairman of the Lancashire FA Amateur Committee referred to the sporting battle and said it was amateur football at its best.

 

Cheadle Heath Nomads had a memorable season and challenged the ascendancy of Bradford Parish and East Chorlton by winning the Aggregate Trophy and retained the First Division championship making three championships in a row. They also won the Reserve Division ‘A’ championship added to which was the Rhodes Cup.

 

The Second Division was won by Old Standians, who also won the Reserve Division ‘B’ title.

 

The Third Division title was won by Broadbottom who finished the season unbeaten in the League, but they lost the Hellawell Shield Final to Mantact, both new teams to the League. The Whitehead Cup winners were Rusholme and Bradford Parish added the Reserves Subsidiary Cup to their other prestigious trophy.

 

1953-54 SEASON

 

E.A. Rhodes of Chapelmoor was elected President and M.M.G. Drummond resigned as Vice-Chairman, though he remained on the Management Committee, which also saw the inclusion of W. Williams from Stockport Georgians replacing E.F. Wilkinson, who had resigned.

 

Mr Woollam resigned from his position on the Lancashire FA Amateur Cup Committee and Walter Williamson agreed to take up the position otherwise all members were to continue.

 

Mr Blezard donated a trophy for the Third Division which Committee decided would be awarded to the Section ‘A’ winners with the Shield going to Section ‘B’. A League tie was presented to Ian Duncan of Old Stopfordians in recognition of twenty-five years’ service to that club.

 

More Society and Cepea Amateurs were re-elected, with Manchester Ship Canal Amateurs entering the Third Division, resulting in Section ‘A’ having six first XIs and four third XIs with Section ‘B’ two second XIs, eight third XIs and one fourth XI.

 

Games against local schools continued with the representative side being entertained by Stand Grammar and Stretford Grammar.

 

D. Berry of Cheadle Heath Nomads and B. Robinson of Bradford Parish represented their county FAs in the NCAC competition.

 

Cheadle Heath Nomads were unfortunately beaten in a Cheshire FA Amateur Cup Semi-Final Replay having been the most successful League team in this competition. Cheadle Heath was ably captained by Frank Whitefoot, who was the brother of Jeff, who made his debut for Manchester United at the age of sixteen.

 

East Chorlton reached the Fifth Round of the Lancashire FA Amateur Cup losing to Blackpool Rangers. Despite this set back, East had another successful season winning the Aggregate Trophy, First and Reserve Division ‘A’ championships and Whitehead Cup.

 

Cheadle Heath Nomads retained the Rhodes Cup with Bradford Parish winning the Reserves Subsidiary Cup and Manchester Ship Canal in their first season achieving the double of Third Division Section ‘A’ and Hellawell Shield.

 

The Third Division ‘B’ champions were Aldermere who were also runners-up in the Hellawell Shield.

 

Old Bedians won the Second Division title with Aldermere becoming the Reserve Division ‘B’ champions.

 

1954-55 SEASON

 

Manchester Ship Canal Amateurs, Mantact and Bredbury Amateurs applied for full membership of the League in the Second Division. Their applications were turned down at the AGM when members voted for the re-election of South Manchester and Cepea Amateurs.

 

Committee did not wish to increase the membership of the Second Division and looked upon the Third Division as a starting point for new clubs and third teams of existing members.

 

Manchester Ship Canal resigned their membership.

 

Ian Duncan the Secretary of Old Stopfordians was elected President. All other officers and members of Committee were re-elected. The Players’ Accident Fund was now administered by W. Williams and benefits were now payable at a rate of 25/- for twelve weeks. Clubs paid a premium of 21/- per team. The fund carried a balance of £131-0-10d.

 

The League Chairman’s service to the League and the Lancashire FA were recognised with the award of a gold medal.

 

All last season’s clubs continued their membership with the addition of Wythenshawe Amateurs who were accepted into the Third Division with one team. Mantact and Manchester Architects now fielded two teams.

 

In view of the increasing numbers of teams in the League it was proposed by Committee and accepted by the members that in the 1955-56 season the teams in the Second and Third Divisions should be brought together and split between two divisions, providing three divisions with first XIs and each division having a Reserve Division, there being promotion and relegation between the three first XI divisions.

 

The Third Division was to be incorporated into the competition proper from 1955-56.

 

In addition, a new division would be created to accommodate third XIs.

 

Salford NALGO resigned from the League during the season.

 

B. Robinson of Bradford Parish and J.W. Shurden of Rusholme were selected to play for Lancashire FA in the NCAC. Robinson captained the side.

 

East Chorlton made club history by reaching the Lancashire FA Amateur Cup Final defeating Maghull, the previous round’s victors over Bradford Parish. Eddie Joyce continued his fine form by netting on four occasions to register a 5-0 victory.

 

The Final was played at Maine Road against Blackpool Rangers and produced a drab 0-0 scoreline.

 

The re-play at Chorley was a more open affair with East behind by two goals edging in front but their opponents drew level at 3-3 and the game went to extra time with East scoring the vital goal to win the game, becoming the third club from the League to hold this prestigious trophy.

 

Wythenshawe Amateurs had reason to celebrate their first season in the League by achieving the double of Third Division Section ‘A’ champions and Hellawell Shield winners. In addition, their seventeen-year-old player, Joe Corry was chosen to represent the Federation of English Lads’ Clubs against Northern Ireland.

 

East Chorlton added the First Division championship to their tally together with the Whitehead Cup beating Aldermere in the Final.

 

Aldermere had their best season since 1938-39 in winning the Aggregate Trophy, Second Division and Reserve Division ‘B’ championships in addition to Whitehead Cup beaten finalists.

 

Rusholme showed their improvement being runners-up in the Aggregate Trophy, First Division and Reserve Division ‘A’ championships. To prove they were a force to be reckoned with they won the Rhodes Cup.

 

The Second XI of Bradford Parish won the Reserve Division ‘A’ and the Reserves Subsidiary Cup with their Third XI being runners-up in the Third Division ‘A’. Manchester Architects’ Second XI won the Third Division ‘B’ and their first team were runners-up in the Hellawell Shield.

 

1955-56 SEASON

 

H.R. Croft was elected President creating a record for the Croft family and League as his brother was President in 1952-53. The brothers served the Bramhall club for many years as well as being members of the League Committee. M.M.G. Drummond and C.H. Garrett resigned from Committee and were replaced by F. Cooper and J.H. Dunne.

 

The new rule relative to entry into the Third Division and subsequent promotion was agreed upon at the AGM and all new members of the League would be classed as associate members and have no voting powers for three years.

 

Divisions One and Two consisted of fourteen teams with each club fielding a reserve team in Divisions ‘A’ and ‘B’.

 

The Third Division had eleven members with only nine in Division ’C’ as Refuge Amateurs and Beswick Amateurs could field only one team.

 

Applications were accepted from the following new clubs: East Didsbury, Prestwich Margaretians, Tootal Amateurs and Manchester Ship Canal, who returned in view of the rule changes.

 

Old Urmstonians was re-elected and Heywood GSOB relegated from the Second Division. The Third XIs Division provided competition for ten teams. These changes produced a record total of eighty-eight teams in the League.

 

Views on the question of Sunday football were asked of the Committee, which clarified the position of the FA in not recognising Sunday football, a position the League supported, but the clubs were informed that the Committee would not take any action against a registered player of the League who did participate in Sunday football.

 

Following the winding-up of the old Third Division the sum of £25-0-0d was used to purchase a new trophy for Division ‘C’. The existing Third Division ‘A’ trophy became the new Third Division championship cup, the Third Division ‘B’ shield became the Third XIs championship trophy, and the Hellawell Shield became a trophy for the winners of a knockout competition for the third XIs division.

 

The Whitehead Cup was to be played between the top three teams in Divisions One and Two and the top two from Division Three as at the end of February. The proceeds of the competition amounting to £14-0-0d were donated to the Manchester and Salford Lads Club Federation. Games against schools continued during the season.

 

Refuge Amateurs were expelled from the League in March due to non-fulfilment of fixtures and poor administration.

 

Whilst League players were selected for county trial games none made the transition to the NCAC games. Brian Wakefield appeared in goals for Old Stretfordians, when he was not appearing for Oxford University during term time. He gained two ‘Blues’ at Oxford with a third in 1956 as captain of the team.

 

There was disappointment in the Lancashire FA Amateur Cup as the only club to reach the last eight were South Manchester, at that time in the Second Division, whose run came to an end. All the League’s big guns went out in early rounds including the holders East Chorlton, who were the first team to defeat Bradford Parish unbeaten in the previous fifteen games in the First Division. East announced they were not going to relinquish their title easily by defeating their opponents 5-0 and going on to win fourteen consecutive games, which was not enough as Parish finished ahead of East Chorlton with a four-point cushion.

 

With their reserve team winning the Reserve Division 'A', Parish won the Aggregate Trophy for the first time adding the Whitehead Cup and their third team achieved the double winning the Third XIs Division and Hellawell Shield, making 1955-56 a season to remember for Bradford Parish.

 

East Chorlton’s only success came in the Rhodes Cup Final, in front of a thousand spectators, when they defeated League newcomers and Third Division representatives East Didsbury, which club proved their quality by winning the Third Division title and adding the Reserve Division‘C’ championship to their collection.

 

Wythenshawe Amateurs finished runners-up in both title races though there was consolation for them in winning the Reserves Subsidiary Cup competition. The Second Division and Reserve Division‘B’ were won by Old Ashtonians.

 

1956-57 SEASON

 

The President for the season was R.H. Mitcheson, whose long pre-war playing career with South Manchester was well rewarded with League and county recognition and during this period he spent seventeen years on the League Management Committee and at the time of his appointment was sharing his wealth of experience with his local club Styal.

 

There were no changes on Committee and all officers retained their positions apart from the resignation of F. Cooper during the season and his replacement by H. Hitchcock of Old Stopfordians.

 

There were no new members joining the League, the only changes being the promotion and relegation between all divisions.

 

Bredbury Amateurs and Beswick Amateurs were re-elected after finishing bottom of the Third Division. The new rules allowed for the promotion and relegation of first XIs between the First, Second and Third Divisions and irrespective of the positions of the club’s reserve teams, the second XIs relied on their first XIs league positions for promotion or relegation.

 

The Third XIs Division increased membership by one. Manchester Ship Canal withdrew their second XI due to player shortage.

 

The Whitehead Cup competition was to be played, as in previous years by the three teams which had the highest percentage of points on the 28th February, from the First and Second Divisions and two from the Third. This would be on a knockout basis.

 

Games against local schools continued with Stretford Grammar, Stand Grammar and Urmston Grammar being regular opponents. Walter Wray and Mr. Twittey from East Chorlton were thanked by Committee for their efforts in arranging these fixtures.

 

Alan Cornforth from Bradford Parish played for the Lancashire FA in NCAC matches, with the team reaching the Semi-Final. McAllister of East Chorlton, Wild of Royton and Batty of Prestwich Margaretians played in county trial games.

 

The League Committee were continuing to receive objections from the LAL to play their fixture on Boxing Day and this year they were unable to find opposition from outside the League to play a game on this day and as a result invited the First Division champions, Bradford Parish. The challenge was accepted with the League calling on the services of Cornforth, who scored a goal and Douglas, thus weakening the Parish team and resulting in a victory for the League. This was the first season since 1921, apart from the war years that a game between the two Leagues was not arranged.

 

A new League gavel, which is used at all meetings to this day, was presented to committee by the retiring president, H.R. Croft.

 

East Chorlton entered the English FA Amateur Cup competition and won through two Preliminary Rounds but found Runcorn Athletic too strong and exited the competition before qualifying for the First Round Proper.

 

A number of Lancashire County cricketers were enjoying themselves playing football in the winter months including Jack Dyson of Manchester City, Roy Greaves of Bolton Wanderers and Roy Collins who received regular rave reviews for his performances in goal at More Society.

 

Clubs made complaints to Committee on the state of grounds used by their opponents many of which were owned by local councils. These pitches were used almost daily and soon deteriorated into a weekly quagmire.

 

Many of the League’s teams used council facilities and East Chorlton one of the League’s most successful clubs used Hough End, which was not the best of advertisements to promote the League.

 

In the 1950s and before, clubs had to provide their own changing facilities, and the huts generally were in a poor state of repair and water had to be collected in buckets and zinc baths at the Princess Road end of the ground necessitating walks of half a mile for some teams.

                                               

Bradford Parish did not enjoy as good a season as last year with their only successes coming through the efforts of their Third XI, which won the Hellawell Shield and were runners-up in the Third Division championship and their Second XI were runners-up in Reserve Division 'A'.

 

It was the turn of East Chorlton to win the silverware with the Aggregate Trophy, First Division without losing a game, Reserve Division ‘A’ and Reserves Subsidiary Cup to make up for the previous season’s failures.

 

Wythenshawe Amateurs reversed last season’s league positions with East Didsbury by winning the Second Division from East Didsbury and Wythenshawe’s Second XI added the Reserve Division‘B’ to enable the club to finish runners-up in the Aggregate Trophy.

 

East Didsbury were also Whitehead Cup runners-up to Old Stoconians, who enjoyed their best season since 1950 by winning the Whitehead Cup and finishing runners-up to East Chorlton in the First Division. Heywood GSOB enjoyed their first success since joining the League in 1947 by winning the Third Division championship after a play-off with Manchester Architects.

 

Old Urmstonians were the Reserve Division‘C’ winners, with Old Ashtonians the Third XIs champions.

 

Stockport Georgians won the Rhodes Cup to give them their first trophy since 1932 beating Aldermere the winners of the competition on three previous occasions. Wythenshawe Amateurs and East Didsbury achieved the distinction of promotion in successive seasons from the Third Division through to the First, a feat that was unlikely to be equalled in the future.

 

1957-58 SEASON

 

Arthur Coleman Secretary of the Aldermere club was elected President for the season. Arthur played for Aldermere for one season in 1925 and moved to MEC, but injury cut short his playing career in 1929 taking on administrative duties until 1945, when he returned to Aldermere and became their Secretary, a position he had held up to 1957 apart from the 1949-54 period. The Aldermere club were starting their fifty-first season, forty-six of which had been spent in the League and had Bill Knott their longest serving supporter still on the line after watching his first game in 1919.

 

Beswick Amateurs and Manchester Ship Canal were re-elected and as there were no new applications Manchester Architects and Heywood GSOB were promoted to the Second Division with Wythenshawe Amateurs and East Didsbury going up to the First.

 

Relegated were Oldham HSOB and More Society from the First Division with Bramhall and Styal going into the Third. By the start of the season Beswick Amateurs had withdrawn from the League.

 

The continuing problems with the LAL on the question of their acceptance of the Boxing Day fixture resulted in another challenge match between the champions and a League representative side with East Chorlton taking the honours, Eddie Joyce scoring the winning goals.

 

The February 1958 Management Committee meeting started with members standing in silence in memory of the Manchester United footballers and sporting journalists who lost their lives as a result of the Munich air disaster.

 

The only player to receive county recognition was A. Driver of West Didsbury, who was selected as reserve in attendance for Lancashire FA. It was recorded that Denis Hall of West Didsbury played his four hundredth game early in the season and the club also had reason to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary.

 

The FA Amateur Cup failed to provide East Chorlton with glory as they were beaten in the First Round. In November 1957 Rusholme inflicted the first defeat East Chorlton had experienced since December 1955. Rusholme met Bradford Parish the following week and crashed 6-2.

 

Styal football and cricket club had the use of an excellent ground thanks to the Greg family, who were well known in the area as the owners of Quarry Bank Mill. The family presented the grounds to trustees for perpetual use by the two sporting clubs, who had raised a considerable sum to start building a new brick pavilion for use by the teams and community for social activities.

 

Bradford Parish and East Chorlton progressed into the Lancashire Amateur Cup Quarter Finals, the latter against Second Division opposition in the form of South Manchester, who provided stiff opposition. South’s disappointment was overshadowed by their success in winning the Second Division championship and Whitehead Cup and thanks to their Second XI finishing third in the Reserve ‘B’ Division they made a late surge to overtake East Chorlton and won the Aggregate Trophy. They also overcame their local rivals West Didsbury in the Whitehead Cup Final.

 

The Rhodes Cup was won by Wythenshawe Amateurs to carry on their amazing achievement in the four years since joining the League by winning a trophy in every season. Old Stoconians became the first old boys’ team to win the First Division championship in forty-nine years. This was a fine achievement considering the joint runners-up were East Chorlton and Bradford Parish three points adrift. They were unable to retain the Whitehead Cup, but their Third XI won their divisional championship.

 

Prestwich Margaretians won the Third Division with Mantact runners-up, but with there being only nine members in the division Mantact were not promoted. The Reserve Division‘A’ was a battle between East Chorlton and Bradford Parish with East edging Parish out by one point.

 

The Reserve Division‘B’ was won by Cheadle Hulme, who had further success by achieving the double in defeating Bradford Parish in the Reserves Subsidiary Cup Final and losing out to Aldermere in the Hellawell Shield Final.

 

The Reserve Division‘C’ was won by Cepea Amateurs. Bradford Parish were beaten in the Quarter Fnals of the Lancashire Amateur Cup, but East Chorlton reached the Final losing out to Maghull.

 

1958-59 SEASON

 

The President for the Golden Jubilee season was G.H. Sansome a founder member of Old Urmstonians in 1929 and co-opted onto the Management Committee in 1936 to help launch and run the new Third Division. He then progressed onto the full Committee taking charge of results and records.

 

Tootal Amateurs and Bredbury Amateurs did not seek re-election and resigned from the League.

 

Their places were taken by Davyhulme Hartford, Hazel Grove and North Withington.

 

Wigan Mining and Technical College were expelled from the League.

 

South Manchester and Monton Amateurs were promoted to the First Division replacing Cheadle Heath Nomads and MEC. Prestwich Margaretians were promoted to the Second Division, from which there were no teams relegated. £17-0-0d, the proceeds from the Whitehead cup were donated to the Manchester and Salford Lads Club Federation.

 

Wythenshawe Amateurs, East Didsbury, Mantact, Manchester Architects, Manchester Ship Canal and Prestwich Margaretians were elected full members of the League as they had all been associate members for at least three years.

 

After many years of trying, the League was accepted by Cheshire FA as full members. The new Styal pavilion was opened in December by the club president, H.G. Greg.

 

S. Marsh of Rusholme, B. Robinson of Bradford Parish and A. Trowe of South Manchester all played for Lancashire FA in NCAC games. Rusholme started the season as though they meant business by beating Bradford Parish in their first game 8-2 with county representative Stan Marsh scoring five. Rusholme were lucky in having a dedicated and long-established backroom team with H. Kaine (twenty-two years), N. Hargreaves (thirty-one years), W. Gregory (thirty-five years) and G. Martin (twenty-five years).

 

East Chorlton entered the English FA Amateur Cup and managed to progress through two rounds but met their match against Manchester University.

 

East were joined by Manchester Architects and Old Flixtonians in the Lancashire FA Amateur Cup Quarter Finals. Manchester Architects showed their potential strength becoming the only League team to make it through to the Semi-Finals after playing four of their five ties away from home. Architect’s success was based on a wealth of youth in their side, with Ware (twenty), Thompson (nineteen), Lang (eighteen), Sobierjaski (seventeen) and Mundy (fifteen). Unfortunately, their good run came to an end at Lytham losing out to Blackpool Rangers. Their disappointment was overcome by winning the Second Division championship with the Second XI finishing joint runners-up with Cheadle Heath Nomads in the Reserve Division ‘B’ giving them a share in the Aggregate Trophy with Bradford Parish.

 

Rusholme won the First Division for the first time in thirty-two years and were runners-up to Aldermere in the Whitehead Cup.

 

Manchester Ship Canal walked away with the Third Division from newcomers, Hazel Grove.

 

The Reserve Divisions were won by East Chorlton in ‘A’ from Bradford Parish, Cheadle Hulme in ‘B’, and North Withington in ‘C’.

 

Old Ashtonians won the Third XIs Division from Old Standians, who won the Hellawell Shield.

 

South Manchester won the Rhodes Cup thirty years after their last success in the competition and the Second XI of East Chorlton did the double over Bradford Parish by becoming the Reserves Subsidiary Cup winners.

 

The guest of honour at the Annual Dinner presentation was Harold Hardman, the Chairman of Manchester United and a keen supporter of the amateur game.

 

The death of C.W. (Clarrie) Hellawell, who was such an influence in the development of the League in the early years, was recorded by Committee with regret.