The massive Wrexham AFC history thread (The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham...)

[eastsussex]

Additionally NRE, it would be a great help to me if you could provide a reference or date from the article that I wrote, that you are referring to, the year that I wrote it and where I posted the article.

I have been writing these posts about the history of the club for about 9 years now, with some articles posted on the old WST site, many on here and others on genealogy and sports sites elsewhere. I have thousands of articles stored on disk and thousands of references to those articles. If you could let me know where and when I posted the article, it would really help me to find the references that I used to write them.

 

[Old School]

Hi NRE.



From memory, I seem to recall that the 1884/85 AGM was not recorded in the newspapers, but the first game of the club was recorded in the Chester Observer on 6th September, as follows-

WREXHAM. Football Match by Electric Light.— On Saturday night a football match, by the aid of the electric light, was played in a field off Grosvenor-road, Wrexham, in connection with the local Horticultural Society, whose show was held on the previous day. The opposing teams were Ruthin and Wrexham Olympic ‘a new club’ and after a well-contested game the Wrexham club won their first match by four goals to three. The score for the winning team was run up by R. Davies and J. Owens (3), and for Ruthin by Bryan, E. J. Owen, and J. G. Humphreys. The teams subsequently dined together at Messrs Stevens's restaurant in Hope-street.

The event was also advertised in the Wrexham Advertiser.

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4591636/4591641/28/

Additionally, if you scroll across from the advertisement, you will see that an AGM for the new Wrexham Olympic was held at The Buck Inn on 21st August 1884 but was cancelled due to the small attendance.


The FA ban appears to have caused some consternation within the club, as most of the players and club officials were changed (at least on paper) between the end of the 1883/84 season and the beginning of the 1884/85, with John Taylor and William Townley of The Denbighshire Football Association taking the helm. This John Taylor was not the John Taylor in our first ever game, as I had originally claimed, but he was an accountant who joined the football club a couple of years after the original club was founded (which I have explained elsewhere in this thread). William Townley was the manager of the National Provincial Bank who took on the role as treasurer, while the Presidency was not recorded. But in a meeting of the Welsh FA a few years later, Evan Morris, who was then the Vice-President of the Welsh FA, was described as having been the president of Wrexham Football Club since its inception in 1864. This too was incorrect, as William Henry Pritchard was the first president in 1865 and he later took on the role of honorary secretary in 1868, with Evan Morris as President.

Evan Morris therefore remained as the ‘defacto’ president of the football club during the Wrexham Olympic era; which itself, was something of a ruse to trick to the English FA into permitting the Wrexham club to continue playing in the English FA Cup after the club had been banned from English FA games, which was financially important to the club. The ruse worked as Olympic were allowed to continue playing in the English FA Cup, although there were later complaints from other teams that some of the players from the old Wrexham team were still playing for the new Wrexham Olympic team in the FA Cup, but the complaints were over-ruled by the FA. I have explained this also in another post earlier in thread, but I can’t find that post at present.

The change in officials that were elected from the end of the 1884 season (when Wrexham Olympic was formed) can be ascertained by comparing those prior to the end of the 1883/84 season to those that were recorded after the start of the 1884/85 season under the guise of Wrexham Olympic. Although, the club was basically the old club with a number of changes that enabled it to continue playing English FA games.



Evan Morris was also the Vice-president of The Denbighshire Football Association, and so there may have been deemed to have been a conflict of interests if he was ‘openly’ regarded as the President of Wrexham Olympic. Therefore, John Taylor- the honorary secretary of Wrexham Olympic and William Townley- treasurer of the club would represent Wrexham Olympic at football association meetings after Olympic was founded.



https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4591735/4591738/20/



It was all a bit mixed up in those days with informal associations between clubs not being so heavily scrutinised as they are today.



I trust this helps?





The Argus Jubilee Competition



https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3785306/3785311/48/



https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4592360/4592362/7/



https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3562282/3562290/44/



Final- Wrexham Olympic v Bangor at Anfield



https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4592486/4592491/36/



Open Air Concert by The Temperance Society at Evan Morris’s Rosenheath, where the medals were presented to the players.



https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4592514/4592519/33/


View attachment 7709View attachment 7710

“From memory” how old are you?!

 

[NewportRoadEnd]

Captain Half back G Thomas Wrexham Olympic November 1884

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4591735/4591738/19/

Captain Half Back T Burke Wrexham Olympic December 1884

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4591771/4591777/39/



Evan Morris

Evan Morris President of Wrexham Football Club 1876

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3854283/3854290/51/


Evan Morris President of Wrexham Football Club 1879

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3854871/3854879/61/


Evan Morris President of Wrexham Football Club 1883

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4590097/4590101/18/


2nd June 1883 “ Evan Morris has been President of the Wrexham Football Club since its commencement, and he was sure that the longer he retained the position, the more he lived in the hearts of the members of the club. He always tried to be present at their matches and when he was unable to attend, he was admirably represented by his amiable lady. Mr Morris still took the same interest in the Wrexham club and what was more he put his hand in his pocket in support of it”.

Alderman Smith.

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4590097/4590105/62/



The date of the advertisement for Wrexham Olympic’s opening match was 27th September 1884 with William Townley advertised as the treasurer.

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4591681/4591685/26/

I cannot find the reference to Sisson as joint secretary to Wrexham Olympic, at present, with Evan Morris as president, but I will post as soon as I find it.

This is really very helpful - thank you so much.

It appears the Captaincy of the football team representing Wrexham pre 1900s was a very fungible thing. Two captains in the same month for Wrexham Olympic!

 

[NewportRoadEnd]

Additionally NRE, it would be a great help to me if you could provide a reference or date from the article that I wrote, that you are referring to, the year that I wrote it and where I posted the article.

I have been writing these posts about the history of the club for about 9 years now, with some articles posted on the old WST site, many on here and others on genealogy and sports sites elsewhere. I have thousands of articles stored on disk and thousands of references to those articles. If you could let me know where and when I posted the article, it would really help me to find the references that I used to write them.

Of course. It’s funny - I read things and then see a post of yours, and it’s clearly inspired by a post or article of yours!

The quote in question I myself can’t find - the search function isn’t excellent here. As soon as I find I will update.

 

[eastsussex]

Of course. It’s funny - I read things and then see a post of yours, and it’s clearly inspired by a post or article of yours!

The quote in question I myself can’t find - the search function isn’t excellent here. As soon as I find I will update.

Afternoon NRE

I think I found the article that you quoted from- Athletes and Olympians, from 2016

https://www.redpassion.co.uk/thread...-members-and-player-of-wrexham.105637/page-24

I also found the reference to Herbert Sisson as one of the honorary secretaries of Wrexham Olympic Football Club, on its inception in 1884.
John Taylor was the other secretary and William Townley was the treasurer.

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4591627/4591631/21/wrexham football club transfer ban AND meeting

All had a long association with the old club, but not in official roles; which is why I posted that the formation of Wrexham Olympic was a kind of ruse that enabled the club to continue playing in the English FA Cup.
John Taylor had been a member of Wrexham Football Club within a few years of the club’s formation, while Townley had been a member for years and was still a regular in the Wrexham Cricket Club team, who also played alongside Herbert Sisson at The Hare and Hounds Football Club. The teams were kind of interchangeable in those days and players would sometimes play for other clubs, while at other times, the clubs themselves would amalgamate. In 1880, Wrexham Albion had been amalgamated into Wrexham Football Club to provide additional strength to the 1st and 2nd teams.

With regard to Evan Morris.

As you pointed out, William Edge Samuel was re-elected as the president of the club at the 1885/86 meeting: which meant that he must have been elected as the first president of Wrexham Olympic: not Evan Morris, as I had stated. However, I would still add that the former president- Evan Morris retained a very strong association with the club until he died.

He was one of a new group of young lads that had joined Wrexham Cricket Club, when Sir Watkin and Townshend Mainwaring restructured the club in the latter half of the 1850’s.
Evan Morris had a passion for athletic sport and he was also one of the first to enlist in the 1st Wrexham Rifle Volunteers at the age of 17 in 1859.
He was a founding member of The Denbighshire County Cricket Club and he was one of the leading figures that founded The United Volunteer Services Club in October 1863, which campaigned to bring athletic sport to Wrexham, in order to keep the young men of the town out of public houses.
As I have explained elsewhere, this campaign gave rise to the birth of the football club; and despite the numerous different roles that Evan Morris undertook throughout his life, he always retained his passion for sport, which he believed could induce self restraint and temperance amongst the masses.
By the mid 1880’s, he had so many roles that he was not always able to attend matches, although he continued to support the club financially, while his wife- Fannie Elizabeth (who was also a long-time supporter of the club) continued to represent him at games when he was absent due to other commitments.

He was a founding member who had played for the football club in our early seasons, but also officiated for the club at all levels, including President.
In footballing circles, he was still regarded as the face of Wrexham Football Club at the end of the 1880’s, when his health started to deteriorate and he withdrew from public life.

He died at The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne on 18th April 1890, while en route to France, where he had hoped to recuperate.


“football should be encouraged, for it brings men together; high and low, rich and poor, to contend on an equal platform, where one man is as good as another, and the best man wins”.

Sir Evan Morris
1842-1890

 

[eastsussex]

To add NPR, Evan Morris was elected as the president again in 1888, after the club changed its name back to Wrexham Football Club.
He was also the president of the club when he died in 1890.

Wrexham was still a relatively small town at that time and all of the men frequently worked together in their roles for the Welsh FA and the Denbighshire Football Association- Evan Morris (Vice President) John Taylor (Honorary Secretary) William Townley (Treasurer) and Herbert Sisson (Treasurer 1885).

Many of the references that I used when I wrote ‘Athletes and Olympians’ are not available from the WelshNewspaperArchives, and so I can’t provide links, but I have attached a couple of screenshots.







Death of Evan Morris

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4591012/4591018/58/

 

[WasanActonlad]

You say forming of Denbighshire cricket club...
I'm sure I read it was a name change from Wrexham Cricket club..instigated by Edward Manners when he became Secretary of the Wrexham Cricket club, probably looking to get a better class of fixture. I tried tracing possible origins of Cricket club..don't take this as gospel but believe it may go back to 1840s.
Re the Mr Sissons..
I'm sure that name rings a bell..was there a doctors or dentists in the town around the 60s possibly 70s..if so wonder if family connection.

 

[eastsussex]

You say forming of Denbighshire cricket club...
I'm sure I read it was a name change from Wrexham Cricket club..instigated by Edward Manners when he became Secretary of the Wrexham Cricket club, probably looking to get a better class of fixture. I tried tracing possible origins of Cricket club..don't take this as gospel but believe it may go back to 1840s.
Re the Mr Sissons..
I'm sure that name rings a bell..was there a doctors or dentists in the town around the 60s possibly 70s..if so wonder if family connection.

Hi WAL, I hope you are well?

Wrexham Cricket Club was formed in 1836 (with their pitch on the Racecourse) and Sir Watkin’s father as patron. I have posted about this previously, but cant find it at present.
The club had some success in the 30’s and 40’s but was failing by the mid 50’s. Townshend Mainwaring was the president at the time and together with Sir Watkin jnr, they revamped the club and attracted a new group of young players, including Evan Morris, Edward Knibbs, Thomas Sykes, Thomas Broster and later Charles Kershaw, Joseph Roberts and Edward Manners who joined in 1859 (these would all later play for Wrexham Football Club).

George Warburton- a carver and gilder was the secretary at that time (in the 50’s) but he failed to submit accounts one year, which caused a bit of a stir and he was gradually pushed out of favour by the younger members who rallied around Edward Manners. His position started to increase in stature. He was a lot more energetic than Warburton and he had a lot more drive: he was also a far better administrator and his energy started to drive the club forward in the early 1860’s.

Denbighshire County Cricket Club was formed on 29th April 1864, with 6 additional Vice-presidents; some of whom lived outside of Denbighshire, as did some of the new players. This also caused a bit of a stir amongst local players who later complained to the newspapers that the town and county were being represented by players from outside of the area.



‘On the motion of Lord E Hill Trevor, it was resolved to form a club and incorporate it with the Wrexham Cricket Club’.

https://newspapers.library.wales/view/4579126/4579131/35/



The Denbighshire County Club became the main focus for a few years, playing all of the important matches, with Wrexham Cricket Club acting as a kind of feeder club that played minor local matches. The county club was also renamed as the Denbighshire Wanderers for one season.

 

[WasanActonlad]

Apart from a head cold I'm timity boo..
As some of your Sussex neighbours may say...
Anyway I trust by now our conversations have shown I have earned your respect with my knowledge..
So certainly I am not here to score points..but I feel I need to point out a mistake you may have made. I feel also I can back that mistake with evidence...
That evidence is staring you in the face on respect of fellow viewers who I trust they agree with me in saying that the mistake you made was in choosing your profile name...its not east Sussex red its the ORACLE..
Talk about Alistair Williams encyclopedia of Wrexham...You are becoming the encyclopediaof wreham sport..
Trust I've not missed the hockey section

 

[WasanActonlad]

I do like to give back handed compliments..
It's amazing what you've gathered