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Swansea City v Lovells Athletic – 18th Nov 1944 |
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SWANS v LOVELLS ATHLETIC FOOTBALL LEAGUE SOUTH 18th NOVEMBER 1944 Before the outbreak of World War 2, the last competitive match played by the Swans resulted in an 8-1 reverse at St James Park, Newcastle on 2nd September 1939. Within 48 hours war with Germany was declared, and professional league football was suspended forthwith. Conscription was introduced throughout the country, and the Football League inevitably decided that professional football could not continue. However, the League chairmen agreed that it was in everyones’ interest to keep the clubs active and set about arranging a series of friendly matches and regional wartime leagues. Understandably, in the prevailing travel difficulties experienced during these years the Swans were restricted to playing the likes of Cardiff, Bath, Bristol, Aberaman, Lovells, etc The Swans side during these wartime years was made up of promising youngsters and players who were stationed in the area at the time. In fact, it was often the case that players were picked up on route and lent boots and kit to play in. With this chaotic organisation it is no surprise to find that games were frequently high scoring mis-matches, with scorelines such as 8 – 5, 7 – 4, 11 – 2, etc. The world had been at war for five long and bloody years when this match was played. Prior to this season Swansea Town’s games of the war years had been played at the St Helens rugby ground. This was because the Vetch had been requisitioned by the military for anti-aircraft purposes, but for the 1944 – 45 season the team was back at the Vetch, playing before crowds of between two to four thousand. The front page of the Evening Post at this time was dominated by reports on the conduct of the war, and there seemed a genuine air of optimism that the Allies were in the ascendancy, with reports on the relentless push forward through Holland, France and Germany of nine Allied assault forces, highlighted by Eisenhower’s winter offensive into the Ruhr. Paper rationing meant that programmes were only 7.5 x 5 inches in size, and printed black on white paper. This understandably limited 4 page programme has a prominent front page ad for Down’s Furnishers, with the centre pages taken up with the line-ups, surrounded by ads for the Albert Hall and Carlton cinemas, showing Humphrey Bogart in “Passage to Marseilles”, Betty Grable in “Pin Up Girl” and Dana Andrews and Richard Conte in “The Purple Heart”. With circumstances as they were, the published line-ups usually bore little resemblance to the teams that took to the pitch, and this game against Lovells Athletic resulted in a 2 – 1 win for the visitors in front of three thousand spectators. Estimated value of a reasonable condition copy of this programme – £45 – 50 |
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Why not check out the latest Vetch Verdict on the BBC site? |
This article first appeared on JACKARMY.net.