France-Belgium 2014

 

And so the fourth annual bantamspast trip to the battlefields of the Great War is over. A party of twenty-six travelled around northern France in glorious sunshine, paying another pilgrimage to recognise the sacrifice and tragedy of those lost fighting in what should have been the war to end all wars.

The poignancy of locations such as Vimy Ridge, now a Canadian national historic site, where 3,598 Canadians lost their lives taking the strategic ridge, or France’s Notre Dame de Lorette Cemetery where 22,970 French soldiers have found their final resting place, is impossible for even the most casual visitor to ignore. However, equally effecting are places such as the tiny British cemetery at the village of Ors where Wilfred Owen, one of the greatest war poets, is buried, or the Le Trou Aid Post Cemetery, the beautiful last resting place of three Bradford Pals.

At many of the locations we visited research by members of the group ensured that we were able to pay our respects to Bradfordians buried so far from home. Their surnames and the streets where they lived were familiar to us. From Exeter Street to Leeds Road; Manningham Lane to Toller Lane, we stood and remembered our fellow townsmen. The one Bradford City link came at Bethune where we visited to grave of John Ayrton, the son of Bradford City’s first ever chairman Alfred Ayrton. We were asked by his niece (Alfred’s granddaughter who still lives in Manningham) to lay flowers at his grave. We were delighted to do it and remember a man whose father helped found our football club and even came up with the name ‘Bradford City’.

Next year we begin to enter the period where the centenaries of the deaths of the nine Bradford City players killed in the Great War begin. The first will be Gerald Kirk, who died on 24 April 1915. We hope to be at his graveside in Belgium one hundred years to the day after his untimely death.

Bantams' History Week So Far

The Bantams' History Week commenced under clear blue skies with a walk through the history of the city centre. A good number of walkers took in sights related to the football club's history. A new display in the Midland Hotel's Spirit of Bradford bar tells the story of the links between the hotel and Bradford City's FA Cup triumph of 1911. The walk ended at the Sparrow Bier Café on North Parade where displays show how John Baines of North Parade reshaped global football culture with his invention of football collectors' cards. A collection from the walk raised £85 for the Bradford Burns Unit and finally Bradford City chairman Mark Lawn pulled the first pint of a specially brewed Baines Blonde to offically launch the history week. The beer was produced by the Saltaire Brewery and all 210 pints were drunk within four hours on Saturday - we suspect City's victory which ensured a place in the play-offs may have been a contributory factor.

On Sunday a well attended guided walk of Undercliffe Cemetery was used to tell a few of the personal stories of individuals with strong links to the Bantams. Two former chairmen are buried within a handful of yards of one another: the well known Stafford Heginbotham, who twice helped save the club from closure and led the Bantams through the dark days following the fire disaster; Alfred Ayrton, the man who oversaw the change from rugby to football in 1903 and, when asked what the new football club was to be named, replied 'Bradford City'.

There are a few tickets left for the final event of the Bantams' History Week which is a dinner at the Midland Hotel on Friday 26 April - the anniversary of Bradford City's FA Cup triumph. The guest speaker will be David Conn of the Guardian. The two course meal costs £18, to book a place please email bantamspast.

Undercliffe’s Bantam Legacy

Two of the most remarkable chairmen in Bradford City’s history have their final resting places in the magnificent Undercliffe Cemetery. Barely the length of a football pitch separates the graves of City’s first chairman Alfred Ayrton and the man who did much to keep the club alive in two spells as chairman Stafford Heginbotham.

Alfred Ayrton stabilised Manningham Rugby Club in the early 1900s when they faced extinction, he then oversaw the switch to football and during the meeting that ratified the change he was asked what the new club would be called he replied: ‘Bradford City’. He evaluated, and then put to a vote, the proposed merger with the infant Bradford Park Avenue in 1907. His final act prior to retiring was to make the club a limited company and he left the chairmanship with the club poised for promotion to the top flight.

Stafford Heginbotham’s first spell as chairman saw him rolling up his sleeves to physically improve Valley Parade. He convened the famous crisis meeting at St George’s Hall that ultimately saved the club from closure. Like Ayrton he also considered a merger with Park Avenue but rejected it on the grounds that Bradford City was the first name on the FA Cup and that heritage should be preserved.  He returned to the club in 1983 when he and Jack Tordoff saved the club from closure with hours to spare. He later guided the club through the difficult days in the wake of the fire disaster. Stafford’s dignity, and full acceptance of blame, did much to ensure that the grieving process could go ahead without any background controversy.

Underclife Cemetery will be part of the Bantams’ History Week in April when a guided tour will be available. The cemetery is run by volunteers.

Mary Gets The Star Treatment

Back in 1903 Alfred Ayrton was a major force in the creation of Bradford City. Today his granddaughter, Mary Needham, witnessed her very first game - and what a game it was!
As guest of honour, Mary's first port of call was the bantamspast museum to see a presentation about her grandfather's involvement with the club, delivered by David Pendleton. A sizable crowd was there too, the highlight being a view of the silver fronted manuscript given to Alfred on the occasion of his retirement as club chairman in 1907.
Having been interviewed and photographed by the press, Mary made her way into the ground to view the match. As we all know now, a fairly uneventful first half was followed by a second which really couldn't have been scripted better : 5 - 0!
Following the match Mary spoke with her grandfather's successor, Mark Lawn, and was assured she would be welcome again. Could she be the much needed lucky charm?

Mary's First Game

Mary Needham, granddaughter of Bradford City’s first chairman, Alfred Ayrton, will be an invited guest at Valley Parade for Bradford City versus Oxford Utd on Saturday 30th Oct. At the age of 79, this will be Mary’s first ever visit to a football match.

Mary recently donated a magnificent illuminated silver presentation case to Bradford Museums and Galleries. This presentation case was given to her grandfather when he retired as Bradford City chairman in 1907 along with his portrait painted in oils. The solid silver case was made by Fattorini of Bradford and was signed by board members at the time including Harry Jowett (chairman), A Fattorini, A Lancaster and others.

David Pendleton will give a talk on Alfred Ayrton’s significance to the club before the game in the bantamspast museum at 2pm. Mary will be in attendance between 1:30 and 2:30pm to meet fans and hear the talk about her grandfather. Alfred saved Manningham Rugby Club from closure when he became their president in 1900. He later drove through the conversion of Manningham Rugby Club to football and the birth of Bradford City. The illuminated case was given on the occasion of his retirement as Chairman of Bradford City on January 29th 1907.

As usual, admission to the presentation is free and everyone is welcome.

Mary will then be watching her first football match and meeting the present chairman, directors and fans.

Alfred Ayrton - More Information Revealed

The bantamspast research teams have been encamped in Bradford Central Library for a number of weeks now! Our thanks to Chris Ambler for his painstaking investigations into the life of Alf Ayrton, Manningham Rugby Club’s last chairman. Alf Ayrton was the man who drove through the switch from rugby to football in 1903, became Bradford City’s first chairman, steered the club through the potential merger with Bradford Park Avenue and them laid the ground work for the club to become a limited company in 1908.

His contribution to the history of Bradford City was immense. He saved Manningham from closure in the early 1900s, held the first meetings with those interested in forming a professional football club in Bradford and he even coined the name ‘Bradford City’. He then helped establish the club in its early days and set it on the road to success. Indeed, when he retired in 1907 the club was on the verge of promotion to the top flight after only five years of existence. He was held in such esteem that when he retired he was presented with a magnificent silver illuminated address (above), now safely in the care of Bradford Museums and Galleries, and a painting which is hung in the bantamspast museum. Alf was later the first chairman of the Bradford City Supporters’ Association, whose minutes we have had transcribed and hope to make available digitally.

Alf was born into a family with strong ties to Manningham. His father was Manningham born solicitor John Ayrton. Alf was born at Brighouse where the family had moved from its previous home of Heaton. Alf began work as a woolstapler's assistant. By the age of 28 he was a woolstaple buyer and lodging in London. However, he was already married and had a family home at Whetley Hill. The Ayrton’s later lived at 73 Ashwell Road, Heaton and then 7 Selbourne Grove, Manningham and, by the outbreak of the Great War, 37 Blenheim Road, Manningham.

Alf became a wool merchant and ran his father's firm, a wool merchants, combers and top makers, at West Brooke Mills, Shearbridge Road. The family shared the losses of all too many Bradfordians during the Great War when Alf’s son John died of wounds received at the Battle of Loos on 29 April 1917. He was a second-lieutenant in the 1st West Yorkshire Regiment.

After the death of his wife Harriet in 1928, Alf moved in with his daughter at 3 Jesmond Avenue, Heaton. In the 1930s he followed the path of many retiring Bradfordians and moved to 68 South Lane, Bare, Morecambe. Sadly, he was killed after being struck by a car during the blackout in the early days of the Second World War on 29th November 1939 aged 76. His body was returned to Bradford and he was buried alongside his wife at Undercliffe Cemetery.

We are hoping to invite Alf's granddaughter as guest of honour to a special presentation on the life of Alf Ayrton before the end of the season. Watch this space!