France-Belgium 2011 - George Draycott

Under glorious skies the final commemoration of Glorious 1911 took place on the Great War battlefields of Belgium and France. No Bradford City supporter will need reminding that the captain and goal scorer in the 1911 FA Cup Final, Jimmy Speirs, was killed during the Battle of Passchendaele just six years later. Thus the centenary of the FA Cup victory was the appropriate occasion to visit the final resting places of the nine Bradford City players who lost their lives in the Great War. Over the next couple of weeks we will feature sections of the journey, along with a commentary and photographs.

Twenty City supporters left Bradford Interchange on a sunny Thursday mid-morning en route to France. One change of trains, a quick dash through the Channel Tunnel and we were in Lille in time for tea. The following day we were conveyed by a Belgian coach to Gauche Wood and the first of the former players George Draycott. He lies in an isolated cemetery among rolling hills with the Gauche Wood as its backdrop. A single tree stands within the cemetery. Looking out over the quiet fields it is difficult to believe that men fought and died in this tranquil place. The tiny cemetery had a powerful impact on our group. Its size and isolation added to the poignancy. We wondered how many visitors had discovered George’s final resting place? Situated up a winding green lane, inaccessible by car and many miles from the nearest centre of population, Gauche Wood is far from the madding crowd. The beautifully tended cemetery, designed, like all the others, to resemble an English country garden, evidently has regular visits from its gardeners, but one suspects visitors are few and far between. If it was my fate to be killed in a war many miles from home, I would be content to have somewhere akin to Gauche Wood as my final resting place.

France-Belgium 2011

The final event to commemorate the centenary of the 1911 FA Cup triumph took place this weekend when twenty people visited the final resting places of the nine Bradford City players killed in the Great War. We also took in the graves of the the two Bradford Park Avenue players and the Serre area where the Bradford Pals attacked on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

Further images and a report will follow.

Speaking of events, this is the absolute final week of the When The FA Cup Came Home exhibition at Bradford Industrial Museum. It all finishes next Sunday 12 June. If you've not visited, shame on you! But there's still time - just.

Another Little Mystery

A member of Robert Torrance's family has kindly loaned a number of images to us, including this one. The big question is, who is it?
We know that a comedian by the name of Sammy Shields recorded a humorous sketch around the time of the 1911 Cup Final win. Could it be him? Unfortunately the internet doesn't provide much of a clue - there's very little information given regarding Mr Shields.
Can anyone out there help?

Ernest Goodwin

We have just received this photo of Ernest Goodwin from his family. He was a City reserve and was killed during the Great War. In June we will be visiting his last resting place at Étaples, France.

On Reflection …

In the wake of the club’s lowest position in the Football League since 1966, and the ongoing debate as to whether Bradford City will continue to play at Valley Parade, the 26th anniversary of the fire disaster was a timely reminder and it helped to place the club’s current travails into perspective. As the flowers were piled around the memorial to the 56 fans who died on 11 May 1985 I did wonder whether Bradford City could ever leave Valley Parade while the generation who survived the fire remain active supporters of the club?

Of course, time and tide wait for no man and come 1 July 2011 there will only be a smattering of the curious and historically aware, gathered at the memorial to the Bradford Pals, to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. On that single day over a thousand young Bradfordians were mown down by machine guns and artillery fire on the blackest day in Bradford’s history. Yet less than a century on the anniversary will pass largely unnoticed. One day the Valley Parade fire will slowly fade into history, but the tears that were shed during the soft singing of ‘Abide with me’ illustrate that our disaster is still raw in the memory.

11 May 1985

Today marks the twenty sixth anniversary of the fire disaster. As talks go on regarding the future viability of Valley Parade, we pause to remember the 56 supporters who died and the hundreds more who were injured. We will post images and a short report of the memorial service in the city centre later today.

Glorious 1911 and BBC Look North

Well, we're all still getting over the fantastic celebrations of last Tuesday, 26 April 2011, the centenary of the epic FA Cup win. As many readers will know, both the BBC and Yorkshire TV covered the various events throughout the day on their local news programmes.
Thanks to the BBC's Martin Armstrong and Look North Editor Tim Smith, here is what was broadcast on Look North, some of it live from the Midland Hotel.


Video courtesy of BBC Look North