1952/3-the best yet

It’s public trial day in August 1952, and the players representing the “Whites”-the probable first team-emerge from the newly built dressing rooms at the Ford End Road End, through the new tunnel and past the spectators on the new terracing. Leading them out is Joe Millbank, followed by Billy Butler, Joe Murphy, Vivian Woodward, Ken Fisher and (just visible far right) Johnny Holland, Murphy, a newcomer from Crystal Palace, was to keep Butler out of the team for most of the season. Millbank, captain for the last three seasons, also lost his place to another newcomer, Jack Wilkins.  Many spectators are wearing collars and ties-it was customary to dress up for a match in those days. 

The new players had first use of the new dressing room block that had been completed over the summer at the Ford End Road end of the ground, behind some new (but still uncovered) concrete terracing, and linked to the field by a new tunnel flanked by two stone eagles that were to remain on the ground until the end of the club’s existence. No longer did the players have to endure what the local paper called the “disgracefully inadequate” old dressing rooms in their lean-to at the back of the stand, where tactical talks had to be whispered to prevent the other team overhearing through the flimsy walls.

Most of the building work had been done by volunteers, which was just as well because a new share issue intended to raise £3,000 had produced only £750 by July. Admission prices went up from 1s 6d to 1s 9d, mainly because of the Government’s Entertainment Tax, which prompted some predictable jibes when the football on display was less than entertaining, and the chairman announced that players’ wages, fees and expenses in the first twelve months of the new company’s existence (to mid-January 1952 and thus including parts of two seasons) had been £13,527 against gate money of £13,235. This did not augur well, even though he stated that it was “never the policy of the board to make a profit and give half of it to the Inland Revenue”. The wages component of these figures was £9,734, suggesting an average wage in the £8 a week region.

This first team group was taken early in the 1952/3 season, probably before the FA Cup tie against Potton on 27 September, in which this eleven played. 

Back: Len Garwood, Jack Wilkins, Larry Gage, Joe Murphy, Dougie Gardiner, Jimmy Gray.

Front: Joe Dubois, Vivian Woodward, Ronnie Rooke (player-manager), Dougie Taft, Johnny Holland.

 The photograph appeared in the Bedfordshire Times for 10 October 1952 below the headline “Bedford Town’s top-of-League side”. The novelty of this position was still taking some getting used to-the comment below the picture said: “A few seasons ago Bedford’s big worry was how to get away (at the best to keep away) from the bottom of the table. Now the club strives to remain at the top”. 

Although Rooke had switched the club's colours from amber and black to a basic blue and white when he arrived, it was not until Tim Kelly took over in 1955 that plain blue shirts and white shorts became the norm. In Rooke's era the players wore blue and white quartered shirts with black shorts early in 1951/2, and then various permutations of white shirts with blue trimmings (sometimes blue sleeves) and black shorts took over, as seen here.   

The season started on the field in spectacular style, with seven successive wins in the league and league cup; over 16,000 people saw the two legs of the league cup tie against Kettering, which produced two 2-1 wins, and the team was undefeated until 16 September when they lost 3-4 in a thrilling match at Headington. They were leading here 3-1 with 20 minutes left thanks to a Rooke hat-trick, only to go down to a last-minute winner. By mid-November the Eagles were top of the league for the first time in their history, and they were still on top at Christmas, having lost only once more (at Merthyr) after the Headington match. Taft was taking some of the goalscoring pressure off Rooke and Woodward in the attack, Wilkins was consistent enough in defence to oust the experienced Millbank, whom he succeeded as captain, and Dubois, Wade and Murphy were also proving useful acquisitions. Shortly after the start of the season Rooke had signed another newcomer, Len Garwood from Spurs, who could play in either full-back or wing-half position and was to give the club six good seasons. 

 In the second qualifying round of the FA Cup on 11 October 1952, left winger Don Wade (left) beats keeper Sid Blow to put Bedford three up against Eynesbury Rovers, who were led by their recently departed colleague Freddie Hall. Over 6,000 watched this match despite the junior opposition (note the boys sitting on the grass in front of the railings) and this goal may have been a relief since it did not come until the 84th minute, after the Eastern Counties League side had put up a tough fight. Taft added another four minutes later to give the scoreline more respectability. Wade was a talented winger who had spent five years at Upton Park, but was unable to dislodge Johnny Holland from the left wing spot for very long.   

The empty surrounds at Watling Street, Dartford tell us that this is a mid-week afternoon match, in the Southern League Cup on 15 October 1952, watched by just 600 people. Bedford’s share of this was a mere £25. Here Joe Dubois (left) puts Bedford 2-1 up  in the second half, the first of three goals inside four minutes, which paved the way for a 5-1 success. Vivian Woodward looks on. Dubois was an Ulsterman who had been on Arsenal’s staff with Rooke, but had respectable spells with Doncaster, Grimsby and Halifax-the latter two, unusually, after his one season at The Eyrie. 

Even the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup were highly prized fixtures in the 1950s, especially when there was a local derby element. At Hitchin’s Top Field in the third qualifying round on 25 October 1952, over 6,300 turned up, with many Eagles supporters swelling the crowd, and the gates were shut before the start, forcing latecomers to perch on the surrounding trees and buildings. Here Joe Dubois (left) puts Bedford two up after only seven minutes, streaking past what appears to be a rather late challenge by the defender on the right. Hitchin later reduced the arrears twice and were unlucky not to equalize in the dying seconds before going down 2-3.

It was a measure of the successful league progress that “only” 4,143, the lowest home crowd so far, watched the first qualifying round FA Cup tie against Potton in September, with several supporters complaining that it was “hard on those who pay their 1s 9d” that Bedford had to bother with these rounds, but after comfortable wins in this match and against Eynesbury in the next round, a different challenge awaited the team at Hitchin in the third qualifying round. The gates at Top Field were shut on a crowd of over 6,300, swelled by many Eagles followers, and some people perched in trees and on the roof of a neighbouring factory, which collapsed causing minor injuries. On the field Rooke won an early penalty-cynics dared to suggest that he tended to go to ground rather easily-which Taft converted to set Bedford on their way to another 3-2 success. 

Programmes from the early 50s are still around on ebay and similar places but are not cheap. The design was rather attractive as this example from October 1952 shows. 

In the fourth qualifying round at Peterborough, then in the Midland League, an extraordinary crowd of 15,327, almost as many as had watched the Swindon tie the previous year, broke the London Road record, but the team unfortunately chose to produce their poorest display so far. They were two down after 25 minutes and never really recovered, with Rooke being played out of the game by the rugged Norman Rigby, still in the Posh side when they reached the Football League eight years later. Nothing much went right that day-Wade had a goal disallowed for offside, and as the players left the field at the end, Rooke was punched by an unknown spectator who was annoyed by an alleged challenge by Bedford’s player-manager on his opposite number, goalkeeper Jack Fairbrother. 

 Bedford exited from the FA Cup at London Road, Peterborough on 8 November 1952, watched by an extraordinary crowd of 15,327, which beat the previous Peterborough record by a whole 5,000. The Eagles had been having an excellent run in the league but after going two goals behind early in the game they were unable to repeat their earlier form; Dubois pulled a goal back and just before half-time Taft had a goal disallowed for offside, apparently because Wade was in an offside position even though Bedford claimed he was “not interfering”, and therefore the goal would probably be allowed today, but there was no further scoring. In the final moments, a lively conversation seems to be going on here between Ronnie Rooke (right), Taft and some of the home defenders after a collision involving Posh’s goalkeeper and player-manager, Jack Fairbrother (on ground), with centre-half Norman Rigby, who had kept Rooke in check, looking over him. Rooke was attacked by a home spectator as the players left the field, although this seems to have created remarkably little comment. “The game included too much aimless kicking and roughness”, said the Bedford Record’s reporter. Fairbrother later told journalists that “another Bedford forward” and not Rooke was to blame. Until elected to the Football League in 1960, Peterborough competed in the Midland League, which was probably equal in standard at this time to the Southern League, although this season they finished only eighth. In the next round they beat Torquay before going out to Bristol Rovers. Even by the standards of the time they attracted tremendous support, and when Bedford visited London Road the following September in the Hunts Cup, the gate of over 6,500 was Peterborough’s lowest of the season so far. 

                       Photographs by kind permission of Johnston Press plc 

Three more scenes from the Peterborough cup-tie. (Top), Jack Wilkins just fails to dispossess

Posh’s Andy Donaldson in the move that led to their second goal. (Middle) Larry Gage is beaten by Fred Martin’s shot for the first goal. (Bottom) Gage and his backs, Joe Murphy and Jimmy Gray (on the line) defend a corner against Martin and Paddy Sloan. 

 How some supporters travelled to Peterborough for the cup-tie, for five shillings (£0.25). The special train used the old line from Bedford St John’s to Cambridge and probably then went via March to Peterborough. The arrival only 45 minutes before the kick-off makes one wonder how many people missed the start as they queued to join the 15,000 crowd at London Road.  

But this setback didn’t affect the league campaign, and the following week Bedford pulled off an excellent 3-2 win at Gravesend despite playing with ten men for all but the first 25 minutes after Dubois had been injured. They had also reached the league cup semi-final with a 5-1 win at Dartford. Only after Christmas did problems start to arise. January and February brought five defeats, including a grim trip to the west in February which produced 1-4 and 0-5 defeats, at Cheltenham and Hereford, in three days. Early in March came a horrible 1-7 thrashing at Weymouth in the league cup semi-final. The reasons for this slump were not explored in any detail at the time-there don’t seem to have been any significant injuries, although Rooke was later to claim that by now many of his players were tired (some of them were not exactly in their first flush of youth). At Weymouth, however, he was forced to play a young amateur in goal with both Gage and Boulton injured, and bizarrely the reporter claimed that the team were so hampered by the foggy conditions that they were “wary of long passes”. 

 Vivian Woodward (centre) heads for goal against Worcester at The Eyrie on 13 December 1952, with Dougie Taft waiting, left, for any mistake by Worcester keeper Newman. The Eagles won 2-1 in what was said to have been one of the best games of the season so far, coming back from a goal down at half-time with goals by Rooke and Wade. As Worcester pressed for a late equalizer, “some people confessed that the excitement of the last ten minutes was too much for them and that they turned their heads away!” according to the Bedford Record correspondent. 

Taft was a very useful capture for Rooke and hit 29 goals in what was to be his only season with the club-he was too expensive for them to keep once the directors clamped down on the wages budget the following summer, and moved on to Peterborough and, later, to Kettering.  

    Photograph courtesy and copyright of the Worcester News.  

In the return fixture with Worcester at St George’s Lane on 3 January 1953 City got their revenge with a 3-1 win. Here Bedford keeper Frank Boulton watches a cross sail harmlessly wide, watched by full-back Joe Murphy (left) and captain Jack Wilkins (centre).  

Boulton, who had been Arsenal’s first choice goalkeeper for a while in the late 1930s, was nearly 34 on his arrival but stayed for another three seasons, mainly in the reserves since first Larry Gage, and then Charlie Bumstead, was usually first choice. On Easter Monday 1953, he played for the reserves at home in the morning against Kettering Reserves (attendance 3,500), and then turned out for the first team at Kettering in the afternoon, keeping successive clean sheets. While with Derby in 1945/6, he had been very unlucky not to get a FA Cup winner’s medal-he had been first choice up to the fourth round but was then injured in a league game and missed the final against Charlton.  

 After topping the table at Christmas 1952, Bedford lost their way in the new year and this match against Cheltenham at Whaddon Road on 19 February saw their fourth defeat of 1953, by 1-4, their heaviest defeat so far-which would be followed three days later by a 0-5 thumping at Hereford. Here even centre-half and captain Jack Wilkins (left) has joined the attack to help Jimmy Ayton (left) challenge Cheltenham keeper Nicholls. 

In an era when reserve matches attracted regular crowds in the 2,000-3,000 bracket and often more, supporters attached importance to a strong second eleven, and in Ronnie Rooke’s first spell as manager his policy of expensive signings meant that the Eaglets were normally too strong for United Counties League opponents. This team beat Northampton “A” 7-0 at The Eyrie on 3 January 1953 on their way to the league and cup double-it includes several players who clocked up a lot of first team appearances. 

Back row: Tommy Ruff (trainer), G R Evans*, Billy Butler, Maurice Woolgar, Joe Millbank, Peter Hancock, Joe Bell. 

Front row: Frank Faulkner, Jimmy Ayton, Brian Perkins, Joe Campbell, Johnny Summers. 

*Amateur who never appeared in the first team. Another unrelated defender with the same name and initials played for the club before and just after the war

By now the local football journalists had largely written off Bedford’s title chances. On 12 March they suffered their first home defeat, to Llanelly, but soon after this a run of four successive victories allowed them to reach Easter in third place, only a point behind the leaders, Headington, though they had played one game more. In second place and level on points were Kettering, their opponents on Good Friday at home and on Easter Monday away-with a home game against Chelmsford on the Saturday in between, as was normal until the 1970s. That Good Friday, 10,184 people, a club record for a league fixture that would never be beaten, saw the Eagles falter on the big occasion as they had done at Peterborough, losing 0-2; but wins against Chelmsford and at Rockingham Road in the return match (watched by over 7,000) meant that they had climbed above Kettering. They even defeated Headington, 4-2 at home, later in April, and after drawing at Gloucester the following week they were still only two points behind Headington with three games left. On the very last day of the season, in a match that kicked off at 6.15 pm to allow supporters to watch the "Matthews" FA Cup Final on TV first, they could still have won the title had they beaten Cheltenham at The Eyrie provided that other results went their way; but Cheltenham, who had beaten the Eagles on their own ground in February, drew 3-3 to become the only team to avoid defeat in both their fixtures with Bedford, and Headington duly took the title by two points, sending Bedford down to third, behind Merthyr. 

An historic day-Good Friday, 3 April 1953, when 10,184 people crammed into The Eyrie to set a new record and see a vital Southern league clash with Kettering, who were lying second in the table to Bedford’s third and separated only by goal average-with the leaders, Headington, only a point ahead of both.  A goalless first half ended with Kettering keeper Peter Pickering denying Jimmy Ayton a certain goal with a superb save, and then Powell gave the visitors an early second half lead, hitting a second two minutes from the end. Although Bedford beat Chelmsford next day and won at Kettering on Easter Monday, this defeat did much to dent their chances of the title-just as a dropped point against the same opponents, also on Good Friday at home, was to do in 1957/8. 

Here Pickering takes a cross to foil Ronnie Rooke, a lone warrior it appears, with Kettering resorting to such deep defence that even their inside right, Jackie Whent, is on the goal line. 

This record was never beaten at The Eyrie for a league fixture, and the next three best league attendances were all for Kettering’s visits; 9,200 (approximately) saw them beaten 5-1 in March 1956, 8,728 saw Kettering win 2-1 in October 1956, and  8,800 saw the 2-2 draw on Good Friday 1958.  

Even after losing to Kettering Bedford were still in the hunt for the title, and when the leaders, Headington United (later Oxford United) visited the Eyrie for an evening match on 16 April 1953 they were outplayed as Bedford won 4-2 before 5,600 supporters. This is the Eagles’ second goal, scored through a packed defence by Joe Dubois (extreme right), who had fastened on to partly cleared free kick by Vivian Woodward. All six goals came in the first half. Left to right are Ronnie Rooke, Headington’s keeper Jack Ansell, their centre-half Bob Craig, who was to give Bedford such splendid service a few years later, Dougie Taft, Tom Potter, Headington’s right-back who had been with Bedford from 1949 to 1951, Cyril Toulouse (4) and Jimmy Ayton, next to Dubois. 

Headington recovered from this setback to win the title on goal average from Merthyr, who threw away their chances by losing three times in the run-in to teams at the other end of the table, and Bedford had to settle for third place by two points. Two years later, four regular members of this successful Headington side, Craig, Johnny Crichton, Ronnie Steel and Harry Yates (who didn’t play in this game), moved to Bedford to participate in the club’s most successful era. 

This is the reserve line up (with ball-boys) that beat Spalding 6-1 at The Eyrie on 18 April 1953 to win the United Counties League Cup. Results elsewhere on the same day also assured them of the league championship. The attendance was 4,910, higher than for a number of first eleven matches that season. (See The Eaglets for more on the reserves in  this period)

 Back row: Tommy Ruff (trainer), Ronnie Rooke (player-manager), Jimmy Ayton, Frank Boulton, Billy Butler, Eddie Painter. 

Front row: Frank Faulkner, Joe Bell, Joe Millbank, Peter Hancock, Joe Campbell, Johnny Holland. 

The first team were still in the running for the Southern League title and had a match that day at Gloucester (attendance 1,600!) which was drawn 1-1. Rooke might nowadays have some explaining to do as to why he omitted himself, Ayton, Holland and Boulton, all of whom had played against Headington for the first team two days earlier, from the team at Gloucester in order to play them in this match, but nobody seems to have complained. 

 Photograph by kind permission of the Cambridge News

 Partly concealed behind a cap which appears about to come off, Bedford’s young reserve keeper Maurice Woolgar, who was on loan from Brighton, punches clear under challenge from a Cambridge United forward in the Hunts Premier Cup semi-final at Newmarket Road on 20 April 1953, with Ken Fisher in attendance on the right. This match ended in a 1-1 draw and Bedford squeezed home 2-1 in the replay. United were then only in the Eastern Counties League and their ground was very undeveloped, but this match attracted a 3,300 crowd and within 15 years they were one of the strongest non-league clubs in the country. In 1970 they reached the Football League while Bedford were sinking into obscurity. 

After their best ever league season, Bedford supporters will have fancied the team’s chances of landing the County Cup against Luton at The Eyrie on 27 April 1953, but two goals in the first six minutes, from Bernard Moore and Jesse Pye, spoiled what was then regarded as one of the highlights of the season for the crowd of 7,557. Luton went on to win 4-1. Here Dougie Taft (foreground) seems to have beaten keeper Ron Baynham to a cross but headed wide as Ronnie Rooke looks on. 

It had been a splendid effort and easily the most successful season in the club’s history. Rooke again netted 37 times but this time he was supported by Taft (29 from 53 matches), Woodward (21), Wade and Dubois (11 each). Wilkins, ever-present, had been the backbone of the defence, well supported by Murphy who missed only two matches, Gray and Garwood. Competition was so keen that Rooke claimed he really didn’t have a reserve team-it was more a case of two first teams. The second team outclassed most United Counties League opponents, winning the league (last won by the first eleven in 1934) and the league cup, clinching the latter by beating Spalding 6-1 at home before nearly 5,000. Nowadays, however, a manager would hardly get away with playing the entire first eleven at Rushden over Christmas merely because there was no senior fixture that day.

Despite all this, average crowds were actually slightly down, to 4,821 -even though the first two home reserve matches both attracted over 4,000. In the absence of floodlights, there was no solution to the problem of winter midweek fixtures which although normally played on Thursdays, which was early closing day for the town's shops, inevitably struggled to get decent crowds. However, for Gravesend’s Thursday afternoon visit in March the crowd of 2,750, the lowest of the season, was swelled by eighteen employees of Igranic Engineering who took an unauthorised afternoon off and were then suspended by their firm. Chairman Hobkirk expressed regret and suggested that Igranic adopted his own firm’s practice of allowing those who wanted to watch the match to start earlier in the mornings that week. Earlier in the season, in his programme notes for the League Cup tie against Hereford on Thursday 2 October-kicking off at 5.15-the chairman asked for supporters' views on switching to Wednesdays. As well as giving injured players more time to recover before their next Saturday match, this would, Hobkirk felt, be more popular with "the young ladies". His reasoning would strike us as strange-on Thursdays, he wrote, these ladies, who presumably mostly worked in shops, "have a very powerful influence over their male companions in drawing them early enough to get to the pictures, theatre and other entertainments, including long walks (if they are still courting), whereas if...young men could see their football match on a Wednesday, such arrangements would not influence their attendance at football matches". He seems to have been unable to persuade the rest of the Board to change, however, and Thursday continued to be the regular midweek match day until floodlighting arrived in 1961, when Monday became the usual slot.

I'm grateful to Ian Hands for this little curiosity from 1952/3- "Players' Instructions and Training Rules" issued by the club under Ronnie Rooke's managership. This one belonged to defender Billy Butler and acted as a pass into the dressing rooms as well as a stern reminder of how much training was expected. Ronnie Rooke at this stage appears to have had homes both in London and Bedford, the latter being in Lynton Grove and christened "Highbury". 

I wonder how many chairmen today would give players their home phone numbers?

Under Rooke's leadership the players were expected to behave themselves on and off the field. A small booklet entitled "Players' Instructions and Training Rules" was issued to each player, which also incorporated a pass admitting them to the ground and dressing rooms. "It should be a point of honour with you to conduct yourself in such a manner which will ensure you taking the field in a perfect mental and physical condition, thus enhancing your own and the club's reputation", said the instructions. "If you have any complaints, take them to the manager and he will see that you get a fair hearing. Do NOT go to any Tom, Dick or Harry for sympathy". Players living in the Bedford area were expected to turn up to training on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings by 6.30 pm, and "players living away will see that they get at least two evenings training" , and preferably three, wherever they lived.(1)

One of the very few instances of bad crowd behaviour was recorded during Merthyr’s visit in January, when the visitors had a player sent off after a punch-up and the pitch was “invaded” by a single rapidly removed spectator. Most of the time, as the Bedfordshire Times observed in January, “the true Bedfordian is not a noisy fellow”. Noisy or not, at the season’s end there was much satisfaction at what had been achieved, but trouble was in store.

To continue the story go to 1953/4 -Rooke's reign turns sour

For full results and teams go to Results and teams, 1950-67

LEAGUE TABLE 1952-1953

  1. Headington United                 42  23  12   7   93   50  58

  2. Merthyr Tydfil                          42  25   8   9  117   66  58

  3. Bedford Town                         42  24   8  10   91   61  56

  4. Kettering Town                         42  23   8  11   88   50  54

  5. Bath City                                   42  22  10  10   71   46  54

  6. Worcester City                         42  20  11  11  100   66  51

  7. Llanelly                                      42  21   9  12   95   72  51

  8. Barry Town                               42  22   3  17   89   69  47

  9. Gravesend & Northfleet         42  19   7  16   83   76  45

 10. Gloucester City                       42  17   9  16   50   78  43

 11. Guildford City                         42  17   8  17   64   60  42

 12. Hastings United                     42  18   5  19   75   66  41

 13. Cheltenham Town                 42  15  11  16   70   89  41

 14. Weymouth                             42  15  10  17   70   75  40

 15. Hereford United                    42  17   5  20   76   73  39

 16. Tonbridge                              42  12   9  21   62   88   33

 17. Lovells Athletic                     42  12   8  22   68   81   32

 18. Yeovil Town                          42  11  10  21   75   99   32

 19. Chelmsford City                   42  12   7  23   58   92   31

 20. Exeter City Reserves            42  13   4  25   71   94   30

 21. Kidderminster Harriers       42  12   5  25   54   88   29

 22. Dartford                                 42   6   5  31   40  121   17