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A GLANCE THROUGH THE ARCHIVES |
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| When the
West Riding FA celebrated its Centenary in 1996 it
was quickly followed by Member Districts like
Bradford and Huddersfield reaching the same
milestone. |
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| Why then is
Leeds, the largest district within the County,
lagging some 5 years behind ? The
answer lies in the County FA records which show
that at the outset, Leeds was represented by two
separate Associations. viz Leeds North
and Leeds South. |
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| In the
interests of uniformity the two bodies were
encouraged to merge and in 1901 a constitution was
drawn up which was acceptable to all parties and
Leeds & District FA was formed, the President
being Mr. A Tordoff and Secretary, Mr, W Rawlinson. |
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| Unfortunately,
due to the absence of early minute books, there is
no record of the Associations progress up to the
First World War. However, after the
war the Association resumed its efforts to promote
football in the area by encouraging clubs, old and
new, to play the game and persuade all Leagues and
Competitions to become members. |
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| Another innovation following
the war, which is a good indication of the
social climate of the times, was the
introduction of the 'Footballers Sunday',
when in March each year players and
officials attended a Memorial Service at the
YMCA followed by the laying of a wreath at
the War memorial. These services
continued into the 1930's when, presumably
due to lack of support, they were
discontinued. |
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Leeds War Memorial |
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| In 1926 the Association elected
Mr. E Rickerby as President, an office he
held until 1961 - 35 years.
The following year Mr. W Dickinson was
elected Treasurer and he also remained in
office until 1961 - 34 years.
In addition Mr. Dickinson fulfilled the
duties of Secretary for 10 years from '51 to
'61. The many years of service
from these two gentlemen had a very
stabilising effect on the Association and
gave strong leadership. |
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| As far back
as the 1920's the Association had the foresight to
create the Accident Fund. In fact the
Treasurer's Report of 1927 records 130 clubs in
membership with claims amounting to £241.00 and a
surplus on the year of £27.00. The
accident Fund is today as strong as ever and
continues to provide a great service to local
clubs. |
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| In 1927 the
County FA inaugurated a Cup Competition for the
District Association Minor players under the age
of 16. Leeds FA were the first winners
beating Huddersfield, Halifax and Wakefield. |
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| In the same
year Whitehall Printers FC won the Leeds FA Senior
Cup. They were undoubtedly one of the
strongest teams of that era and in 1936 reached
the semi-final of the FA Amateur Cup. |
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| In those
early years the Association had strong links and
good relations with Leeds United AFC and regularly
played the Senior Cup Final at Elland Road during
the Easter period. These fixtures were
usually well attended and the gate receipts formed
the main source of the Associations income.
In the 1930's it was the Associations ambition to
achieve a 'Gate' of 10,000 at the Final but this
figure was not realised until 1947 when the Final
between Yorkshire Amateur and Leeds UYMI was
watched by spectators in excess of that figure.
The teams were so evenly matched that the game
went to a second replay before UYMI won -
All three games being played at Elland Road. |
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| Further
indications of the strong ties between the
Association and Leeds United are that in 1935 a
match between the two took place on Jubilee day
for the King George Jubilee Trust Fund and the
following season a similar game was played on
behalf of the Leeds Workpeoples Hospital Fund. |
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| We may think
that player misbehaviour is a product of present
times, but at the 1931 AGM the President appealed
for clubs to "dispense with players who
offend against referees" - Nothing changes ! |
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Sir Stanley Rous |
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In 1932 the
Association recognised the need for
organised football for boys in the 14/16 age
group and the Leeds Minor League grew
steadily in strength and numbers and in 1937
the Association broke new ground by
organising a Youth Summer Coaching Camp at
Abergale, North Wales, for young boys.
This was repeated in 1938 when 150 boys
attended and caught the interest of the
Football Association to the extent that Sir
Stanley Rous visited the camp.
The 1939 camp was held at Blackpool. |
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| The steady growth
of football in Leeds was creating problems
in finding pitches and the Association was
regularly taking the Local Authority to task
over the lack of pitches or suitable
changing facilities within the local parks. |
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| The outbreak
of war in 1939 decimated local football, but the
Association was determined to keep going with a
reduced number of teams plus a number of
Service's teams from military units based in the
area. Again the President demonstrated
his wisdom and foresight by stating "I
am certain that the future of football will depend
on what is done now for boys and junior
players" |
| The next
season the Association launched a "Play
Football" campaign supported by the local
press. The campaign was instrumental
in gaining 20 teams for the Minor League. |
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| Throughout
its history the Association had shown a keen
interest in the recruitment and training of
Referees and has worked closely with the Referee's
Association in its aim to have sufficient Referees
to staff all games. For many years
Referee training was in the capable hands of Mr. G
Wilson whose reputation as an instructor spread
country wide. |
| He was later
assisted by Mr. J J Russell who also became the
first Referees Appointment Secretary when in 1950
the Association started its own Appointments
system to try to alleviate shortages in the West
Yorkshire, Red Triangle, Combination and Allied
Churches leagues. |
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| Referees
from the Association who have attained the highest
honours include... A Luty, J J
Russell, H Webb, H Jackson, R E Raby, G Kew, T L
Morris and J McAulay |
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| The 1948
season saw the revival of the Inter League
Competition which was won by the Red Triangle
League, defeating the West Yorkshire League in the
Final. Also that year a revision of
the District boundaries by the County FA brought
Halton, Seacroft and Crossgates within the Leeds
FA when they had hitherto been part of Barkston
Ash FA |
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| Problems of
insufficient or inadequate playing areas still
persisted and in 1952 the Playing Fields Committee
was formed with the aim of continuing to press the
Local Authority for improvements. |
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| With the
number of clubs in membership growing, the need
for a second Cup Competition was recognised and
1952 saw the creation of the "District
Cup" for teams eliminated in the first round
of the Senior Cup plus reserve teams. |
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| By the mid
50's many of the people whose names are familiar
to us today were established as Members of the
Council, men like E Armitage, R Bates, W Else, F
Escritt, R G Everitt, W Hollingworth, K Houlden, C
pagdin, D Pickersgill, W Paley, J Riggs, W
Riminton, J J Russell, H Copley, W Collier - and
its pleasing to record that one of them is
celebrating with us this evening. |
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| In 1960 the
death of Mr. W Dickinson left the Association
without a Secretary and, after interviewing the
applicants on 6th December 1960, Mr A C Taylor was
appointed to the position and remained in office
as Secretary or Treasurer until 1991 when he
became President. |
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| The most
significant event in football for the last 50
years was when the FA sanctioned Sunday Football
and in 1962 the Leeds Sunday league and its
affiliated clubs were accepted as members of the
District FA |
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| By the
1963/64 season there were 50 Sunday teams
registered and the District Sunday Cup Competition
was established with Shaftesbury United the first
winners. The next 15 years saw the
number of Sunday teams grow, whilst Saturday
football suffered a decline, some Leagues folding
as a result. The increased
participation on Sunday led to the start of a
second Cup Competition in 1971 - The Sunday
District Cup - and a third in 1978 - The Sunday
Jubilee Cup. The predominance of Sunday
football over Saturday still exists. |
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| Another major milestone in the
Associations history occurred in 1968 when,
at the request of the City Council, a
representative side travelled to Lille to
take part in a Twin Town Tournament.
These visits were repeated in 1970, 72, 74
and 76 when, having remained unbeaten
throughout the group games, Leeds lost to
Lille in the Final by 2-1. |
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Lille |
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| In 1977 an International Twin
Town Committee was formed with A C Taylor as
Vice Chairman with the object of having the
Competition in other locations. |
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| In '77 it
was staged at Beauvois and '78 Leeds hosted the
tournament and won. 1979 saw the team
visit Dortmund and we returned to Lille in '81,
after which the competition faltered due to the
retirement of Committee Members. In
1988 the Leeds FA along with the City Council
attempted to revive the competition by inviting
the twinned Cities to Leeds but we met with only
partial success, with Lille, Dortmund and Siegen
being the only foreign acceptances. |
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| The game of
football continues to flourish at grass roots
level and, under the guidance of the Football
Association, is adaptable to changes witnessed in
recent years by the development of Mini-Soccer for
children up to the age of 11 years and by the
moves to encourage and develop the involvement of
women and girls in the game. |
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| The
Association has been fortunate over the years to
have excellent guidance and leadership from its
principal officials and these have been capably
supported by so many others in offices such as
Referee's Appointments, Youth, Accident Fund and
Playing Fields secretaries and by Council Members.
As we move into the 21st Century we are confident
that future generations will continue to produce
people of dedication and commitment ready to meet
the challenges which lie ahead. |
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