by Henry Corbett, Seen & Unseen
How unlikely founders shaped the game we love today
In the churchyard of Shepley Methodist Church in Yorkshire there is a gravestone which reads:
“In Memory of the Rev Ben Swift Chambers who set the ball rolling for the birth of Everton and Liverpool Football Clubs.”
Why was a Methodist minister starting a football team? The Reverend Ben Chambers had come to the Everton district of Liverpool in 1877 and had started a cricket team in the summer and wanted to keep sporting activity going through the winter. Why? Because sport was seen to teach good values of teamwork, respect, discipline, and also was a positive alternative to less helpful pursuits.
So in 1878 Chambers founded St Domingo’s Football team. They became Everton Football Club in 1879 and played in Stanley Park, Anfield. And Liverpool? A disagreement over Everton’s use of their Anfield ground (a mix of issues including rent, alcohol and politics) led to Everton moving to a new ground, Goodison Park, in 1892 and a new club was formed at Anfield, Liverpool Football Club. So Liverpool came out of Everton, and both clubs honour the Reverend Ben Chambers for their existence. At Chambers’ death in 1901 this tribute was paid to him: “a powerful and winning personality, eager to serve, keen to do good, delighting in the success of his friends, a never-failing friend”, someone who “hated sectarianism with all the energy of his strong nature. He was one of the best of husbands and a model father.”
Another impressive clergyperson, with the engaging name Tiverton Preedy, came to a poor area in Barnsley. He founded Barnsley St Peter’s Football Club, and he also played for the club, was the secretary, recruited players, and found a ground. When Preedy left Barnsley he was described as “a fearless pastor – if there was any work wanted doing or any place wanted visiting, no matter what the dangers were, you would always find him there”. Preedy kept in touch with the club and when Barnsley won the FA Cup in 1912 the club presented him with the match ball. It stayed in his study until his death and in his will he bequeathed it back to the grateful Club.
The founder of Fulham Football Club was the Reverend John Henry Cardwell. In 1879 he had founded St Andrew’s Cricket and Football Clubs, and in 1886 the football side became Fulham Football Club. The Church Times paid this tribute to the Reverend Cardwell: “Though ever a fighter for truth and light, he had the gift of being able to fight without bitterness and without losing friends. No priest in the London Diocese was more universally loved.” Cardwell himself commented that hearts are not won “by an aggressive propaganda” but by “making friends first”. He also had a good sense of humour: he enjoyed a young person in the parish calling him “Mr Cardboard”!