Pete1052 Posted 12 November , 2008 Share Posted 12 November , 2008 From The Times November 7, 2008 When the Whistle Blows: The Story of the Footballers' Battalion in the Great War by Andrew Riddoch and John Kemp The Times review by Matt Dickinson In front of 50,000 fans, Joe Kitchen skipped past two defenders before sliding the ball into an empty net. With his goal putting Sheffield United 3-0 up against Chelsea, Kitchen had secured victory and the FA Cup. So far, so expected - but this was April 1915 and a war was raging. Thousands of working men were fighting the Germans in the fields of France and Belgium and had already endured unimaginable horrors. Was this a time for their friends back home to be cheering something as trivial as a goal? And should the players not be setting an example to their countrymen by answering Lord Kitchener's summons? There have been countless occasions in the past century when it has been worth questioning whether football has the correct sense of priorities but this was perhaps the first, and greatest, test. Many establishment figures were convinced that the sport failed. As far back as September 1914, Arthur Conan Doyle had appealed to footballers to leave their boots at home and head across the Channel. “There was a time for all things in the world,” he wrote, and this was not the time to be chasing around after a ball. “If the cricketer had a straight eye let him look along the barrel of a rifle. If a footballer had strength of limb let them serve and march in the field of battle.” Cricket and rugby acknowledged those responsibilities by ceasing senior matches almost immediately once war was declared in August 1914. Football ploughed on with the league season - and for reasons that might indicate that the game has not changed very much. There was the sense of importance (an inflated opinion of itself, as many argued then, and since) arising from the game's huge popularity. The Football League argued that in hearing the results from home, the minds of soldiers “may be temporarily directed from the horrors of war”. If it was a position that caused only murmurs of dissent in the early months of the war, it was untenable by the time Sheffield met Chelsea - a game that was to be called the Khaki Cup Final because so many soldiers were there in uniform. In December 1914, The Times had called for the abolition of professional football “or any other game that hired large numbers of able-bodied young men from their country's service”. Pressure on England's footballers was also exacerbated by the example of Heart of Midlothian. Every member of the team, Scotland's most successful, signed up on the same day in November 1914. Seven of them never returned, three killed on the first day at the Somme. Shortly afterwards, William Joynson-Hicks, MP for Brentford, was charged with raising the 17th Middlesex Regiment, but it was some months before it could justify the name of the Footballers' Battalion. There were amateur players, including Vivian Woodward, the prolific England forward, and Frank Buckley, the international centre-half, but the ranks were made up of supporters eager to mix with famous names. In the spring of 1915, as clubs started to relent and release players, the regiment became a who's who of the professional game. These men may have come to war belatedly but their subsequent courage in some of the conflict's bloodiest battles is recorded in When the Whistle Blows. They included Walter Tull, the first black professional footballer in England for Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town. Overcoming great prejudice, he also became the first black infantry officer in the British Army. Tull died in action in 1918. There was Donald Bell, a defender with Bradford City, and one of the very first professional footballers to join up. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross after stuffing his pockets with grenades and attacking an enemy machine-gun post during the Somme offensive. Woodward, one of the lucky ones, would survive the war, although he would never play the game again at the highest level, injured in the leg by a hand grenade. Buckley, also seriously injured when shrapnel punctured his lungs, would return to England where “The Major” became a renowned manager. For these and hundreds of players, the blow of a whistle came to signify not the start of the game but the command to go over the top - although football had not been absent from their lives during the war. Particularly in the early months of conflict, football was encouraged during breaks from fighting. Regiments would queue up to face the mighty 17th Middlesex, and take a trouncing in good heart. There was the football match reputedly played in no man's land between British and German troops on Christmas Day in 1915. Football's ability to enhance morale was not in question but the inappropriateness of maintaining a professional league was underlined when war broke out again in 1939. The league season, only three games old, was immediately abandoned. When the Whistle Blows: The Story of the Footballers' Battalion in the Great War by Andrew Riddoch and John Kemp Haynes, £19.99; 336pp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanCurragh Posted 18 February , 2009 Share Posted 18 February , 2009 Bringing this to the top again - I've just had a quick look at "When the Whistle Blows" in the bookshop - on the basis of a browse, it looks worth getting. A good selection of quite detailed maps too Oh, and a Mr Broomfield is mentioned in the acknowledgments, if further encouragement is needed! Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 18 February , 2009 Share Posted 18 February , 2009 I bought a copy also and I have yet to read it but it looks good. I have some ephemera to this unit together with some medals so have an interest. Regards all. TT PS if you did not know at least one of the authors is a member of this forum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGWR Posted 20 February , 2009 Share Posted 20 February , 2009 Oh, and a Mr Broomfield is mentioned in the acknowledgments, if further encouragement is needed! Alan The inclusion of Mr Broomfield's name in the acknowledgements has certainly proved to be a major selling point! Regards, AGWR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 3 March , 2009 Share Posted 3 March , 2009 Have been reading this for a few days now and just reached the Somme. A worthy addition if the history of particular battalions is your thing. A good social history too of the early years of football. I am enjoying what is an nice easy read that covers a slant on the Great War that I know little about and will certainly be visiting some of the fallen and know a little more about them. AGWR a worthy reward for your research...well done!!! TT PS thanks for the mention in the acknowledgements and glad the piccie was useful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGWR Posted 7 March , 2009 Share Posted 7 March , 2009 TT, Glad to hear that you are enjoying it. We were very grateful for all the material that we received via the Forum. Kind regards, AGWR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 8 March , 2009 Share Posted 8 March , 2009 The inclusion of Mr Broomfield's name in the acknowledgements has certainly proved to be a major selling point! Regards, AGWR Not in this house it hasn't. I still don't have a copy However, I'm hoping the extremely thumbed copy in Books Etc in Victoria Station concourse might be discounted soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 11 March , 2009 Share Posted 11 March , 2009 OK nearly finished it. Just completed the Oppy chapter. I would like to add to my earlier review, superb but a very sad and poignient read. Well researched and well written. A very sympathetic style. Highly recommended. Regards TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john kemp Posted 13 March , 2009 Share Posted 13 March , 2009 OK nearly finished it. Just completed the Oppy chapter. I would like to add to my earlier review, superb but a very sad and poignient read. Well researched and well written. A very sympathetic style. Highly recommended. Regards TT Oppy chapter, my favourite. A "must" place to visit for anyone who has not been there and how fitting that just outside the wood is a football pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trenchtrotter Posted 17 March , 2009 Share Posted 17 March , 2009 Finished the book and I am missing it already...kinda got to know some of the men. Some sad epitaths for what happened to the post 1919. Highly recommended.....thats thrice Ive praised it now. Thanks authors!!! TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john kemp Posted 17 March , 2009 Share Posted 17 March , 2009 Finished the book and I am missing it already...kinda got to know some of the men. Some sad epitaths for what happened to the post 1919. Highly recommended.....thats thrice Ive praised it now. Thanks authors!!! TT The book has been short listed by the Sporting Club for the new authors sports book of the year award held tomorrow in London which AGWR is attending together with the Publishers and many stars of the sporting world. A great conclusion to a very long hard slog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john kemp Posted 29 March , 2009 Share Posted 29 March , 2009 Didnt win the sports book of the year, but top 5 a great result. Now for the film, any offers of leading rolls, ie who wants to be Walter Tull...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KevinEndon Posted 7 April , 2009 Share Posted 7 April , 2009 I have just got this book for my birthday, the reviews on this book look fantastic so I am looking forward to a good read, hope there is plenty about Celtic. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGWR Posted 7 April , 2009 Share Posted 7 April , 2009 , hope there is plenty about Celtic. Kevin Oh dear , does the person who gave it to you still have the receipt???? Regards, AGWR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest KevinEndon Posted 8 April , 2009 Share Posted 8 April , 2009 No Celtic, still it is an excellent book which I will keep forever. At last my coffee table is level lol Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 10 April , 2009 Share Posted 10 April , 2009 If it's any consolation, though, Kevin, I've just observed that there is singularly little about Cambridge United either. It is a nice book for all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Michelle Young Posted 18 September , 2010 Admin Share Posted 18 September , 2010 Excellent book, really good reading. Borrowed it from the library but would like it as a permanent fixture so might well ask Santa........... Michelle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AGWR Posted 18 September , 2010 Share Posted 18 September , 2010 Glad that you enjoyed it, Michelle. I think that the hardbacks have all gone now, but there will be a paperback in the not too distant future. Regards, AGWR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 18 September , 2010 Share Posted 18 September , 2010 I must say that it is a book which should find a place on everyone's book shelves (well, everyone interested in the GW, that is). It really is very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john kemp Posted 29 October , 2010 Share Posted 29 October , 2010 The paperback is now available "whilst stocks last" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebie9173 Posted 30 October , 2010 Share Posted 30 October , 2010 Picked up a paperback yesterday, but it went straight into the "Christmas Ideas" (i.e. give me this or else...) Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now