MONTHLY ROUND-UP: SEPTEMBER 1871
After an unusually rainy year in London, the Metropolitan League season is ending in some confusion due to the number of rescheduled games taking place after the intended end of the season. There are eight such games but incredibly six of them involve Hackney, who have suffered so many postponements, and often through no fault of their own as it was their opponents’ field which was unfit for play. Entering October, the Old Westminsters lead by a fraction having won four of their five games in the last month, but newcomers Peckham are still maintaining their challenge as they won five out of six and indeed briefly led the standings before a narrow defeat against Clapham returned them to second place. The only other team with a realistic chance are The Regent’s Park, but they are two games back after ending September with a 7-0 loss at the hands of Peckham. A number of the rescheduled games involve the Westminsters or the Regents, meaning that while all have provisional dates to be played, the league is intended to switch games around if necessary to ensure that no championship contender has an unfair advantage.
Of the other teams, the Royal Artillery Barracks ended September in fine form but a loss to Peckham early in the month seems to have ended their hopes, while Greenwich are out of the race after losing three of their five games in the month. Angel have fallen back to an even record, while outgoing champions the City of London Club are now guaranteed to end with a losing record. Hackney picked up another win against the City Club, but are a long way back in last place.
The Liverpool and District League should be decided already, but St Helens have faltered at the last and allowed Liverpool back into the race. After recording two wins on each of the first two Saturdays in September, and seeing Liverpool lose on both days, St Helens led by four games with five to play but proceeded to lose their next two, while Liverpool won each time. The two met on the final Saturday of the month with St Helens knowing a win would settle the championship, but they let slip a 3-0 lead to fall 4-3 and now lead by just a single game with two remaining. They will still be champions if they win their final two, but any further slip could see Liverpool catch up. With four wins from five in September, Great Float are not mathematically out of the running but it will be tough for them to win the title, while a poor month has ruled out Toxteth. Sankey are guaranteed to finish last.
Irwell Meadow are now the only team who can deny Rochdale the Manchester and District League championship, after champions Salford lost four successive games in September to fall out of the running. All else being equal, Rochdale would be champions already had they beaten Irwell when the two met in mid-September, but Irwell took a 1-0 win to keep the race going. Rochdale will be champions if they defeat Irwell in their final game, or if they win against Moss Grove a week earlier and Irwell lose on the same day. Should that not happen, Irwell can still force a tiebreaker or even win the title outright if all results go their way. Elsewhere, Oldham now have a losing record after a poor month which brought four defeats, while Moss Grove won every game in September as they finish strongly. Belle Vue are guaranteed to finish last, and indeed are four games worse than anybody else.
The race is run in the Leeds and Bradford League, where Bowling Old Lane are the first champions. The team from Bradford’s southern suburbs, who some felt should not have joined the league, took the title ahead of Leeds, one of the loudest critics of their inclusion. Bowling won all six games in September, starting with victory over Leeds, and secured the crown at the end of the month by defeating Huddersfield. Bradford’s win over Leeds on the same day leaves those two teams tied for second, and increases Bowling’s lead to three games, giving their success the appearance of being more straight forward than it has been. Either Leeds or Bradford will finish second, while it will be Woodhouse or Huddersfield who end up last as both teams managed just a single win in September.
In other news, two more new leagues have been announced for next year. One will be the second league in Yorkshire, based around the city of Sheffield, while the first competition in Scotland will see several clubs in the Glasgow area doing battle.