"PINNACLE OF THE PERRY BARR PETS"

The Men and Matches Behind the 1897 Double
by Simon Page
ISBN 1 872204 30 9

Having looped through Hockley, one reaches Villa Cross and the start of our - and the Villa's story. As the driver steers his charge into Heathfield Road, strange physical and mental changes are experienced. Neck hairs rise in a salute to truly great men. Outside, the cars are replaced by carriages. Colourful 1990's clothes become the solemn dress of the Victorian era. Even the date on the ticket reads 1874. And the ugly sodium street lamps metamorphose into beautiful ornate gaslights.

It is under the glow of the first of these that four men stand. Waiter Price, William Scattergood, Jack Hughes and Frederick Matthews - all members of the Aston Villa Wesleyan Chapel Cricket Team formed two years earlier - are discussing the possibilities of forming a football club. Little do they realise the force they are unleashing on world sport.

We leave the Christian sportsman behind, although only for the three minutes it takes to get to the other end of Heathfield Road. For on the right is Wilson Road, but it is not crowded with modern houses any more. Instead, thirty men are kicking a ball around a meadow. Having played the first half under Rugby Union rules, Aston Villa and Aston Brook St. Mary are now using the round ball. The cheer which greets Jack Hughes' winning goal can just be heard 4 one listens carefully enough.

The end of THE street has been reached. Sadly, owing to uninspired route planning by West Midlands Travel, the 91 turns left. Ploughing a straight course would have taken the time traveller to the Victorian Pleasure Park of the Aston Lower Grounds and Sir Thomas Holte's garden: Aston Park. Both were the scenes of very early Villa triumphs.

But no matter. As the driver tries to make up lost time with a Stirling Moss-type negotiation of the Perry Barr roundabout, certain passengers while clinging on for dear life - look left. Some will see Leslie Road. Others spot the boundary of the famous Wellington Road enclosure, home of the 'Perry Barr Pets.' Meanwhile, the Old Crown & Cushion is the scene of great drunken revelry (some things never change). The talk is of two trophies. This is the story behind the revellers' ' JOY.

How does one go from a church cricket team and occasional 'parks hackers' to the greatest, biggest, most successful and famous, football club in the world in the space of a mere twenty-three years? The answer, it would seem, lies in the perfect combination of five key elements: passion, luck, vision, planning and pure, raw talent. These ingredients produced 'Aston Villa' and the proof of its greatness is known as 'The Double.'

To begin at the beginning, passion was much in evidence within the gaslight group, all of whom lived by the 19th Century creed of Muscular Christianity. Such was their - and their comrades' commitment that they would play in all weathers on atrocious strips of waste ground as they learned a new sport. It is a passion which many people falsely claim to possess today, although fortunately there are some men and women who can truly claim to have the claret and blue blood running through their veins. They are the select few who have inherited the Founding Four's dedication.

Then there is the luck element. The Gods must surely have decreed that, in 1876, George Burrell Ramsay should walk through Aston Park at the same moment that Aston Villa were holding a practice match. Such were the skills of the small Scotsman, who asked if he might join in, that he was immediately appointed captain, taught the Wesleyans how to play, and steered Villa to their greatest triumphs. He could have seen another club playing. The Villa flame may have flickered and died.

Similarly, what luck that the great Archie Hunter never found his way to Calthorpe FC's ground. Had he have done so, they and not the Villa would have become the Midlands' premier team. It wasn't long before Calthorpe disappeared for ever, a fate that could have befallen the Lions. And what outside influences ensured that Frederick Rinder and William McGregor should come to work in Birmingham? Had Rinder stayed in his native Liverpool, it is likely that 10th April 1897 would have seen Everton defeat the Villa to lift the Double rather than the other way round, such was the value of this great man to the fortunes of his football club.

Luck, however, is of no use if it is not exploited to the full. This is where the incredible vision of the men behind the Club played such a big part in the rise of Aston Villa. Ramsay discovered and purchased the lease on the Perry Barr enclosure. McGregor first voiced his ideas for a League whilst at a Villa committee meeting at the Crown & Cushion, then went on to make it a reality. And Rinder. What didn't he do? He possessed so many qualities. The business acumen to maximise the Club's financial clout. The vision to form a limited Company which would transform the Aston Lower Grounds into the world's greatest sporting arena. And a strength of character best demonstrated when he called the infamous Barwick Street meeting, at which he swept away the men who were running Villa into the ground.

These three men were masters of planning. McGregor organised his League and, on a more local scale, the transport of Villa's army of travelling support. Rinder looked after the finances. And Ramsay built a squad of greats. From the low of Barwick Street to the ultimate glory at Crystal Palace five years later, a team was pieced together in the manner of a jigsaw; each section fitting together perfectly and complementing the whole. The story of the construction of the Class of '97 is almost as worthy of telling as the story of the season itself. For this is the tale of the fifth great element: pure, raw talent. Ramsay got Villa an abundance of it.

By Christmas 1890, Jas Cowan - the greatest centre-half of his day - was already a fixture in the Villa side. Jas was yet another Scotsmen lured to Brum, and when George Ramsay heard about the ex-Third Lanark star, he kidnapped him. Well, that may be taking h a little far but it is true to say that Cowan, who like Archie Hunter before him had been looking for a different football team, was not allowed to leave Ramsay's presence until he had signed for the Villa.

The Yuletide of 1890 saw Ramsay give the fans a truly wondrous present: Charlie Athersmith. The fastest man in football was about to be unleashed on unsuspecting and largely innocent League defences. He was joined two months later by John Devey, the man who would captain two Cup winning teams and five League Champions in eight years at the helm. It is fitting that these two should join almost in tandem, for their partnership on the right wing betrayed an almost telepathic understanding of each other's movements.

1892 may have been a quiet one in terms of transfers with only Bob Chatt and Frank Burton of the Double squad arriving. These had lesser parts to play in the ultimate glory that lay ahead but were important reserves none the less. But, the year was hugely significant elsewhere, for it saw Barwick Street, which has been briefly mentioned, and also Villa's lowest point. Can there be many clubs which at any stage in their history could claim that losing a Cup Final was their nadir? Humiliation at the hands of bitter rivals West Bromwich Albion was, however, the great turning point.

A season of consolidation took the Club to the summer 1893 and four Ramsay signings which drastically improved every section of the team. In defence, left-back James Welford arrived. His career would see him make history and have the worst disciplinary record in the Club, so often did he fall foul of the strict regulations laid down by the Committee. The West Brom Cup winning team was raided with John Reynolds being the booty. His half-back play earned him caps for England and Ireland and made him a Villa legend. Up front, the left wing was bolstered by Steve Smith, another future International. The result of these transfers? Villa won the League for the first time.

But there is still one 1893 signing yet to be mentioned. Of all the greats who George Ramsay lured to Aston Villa, one man stands out from the rest although he is cruelly overlooked even by Villa historians. That man was poached from the frighteningly-titled Middlesbrough lronopolis club. His name was Joe Grierson and he had the single honour of coaching every one of Aston Villa's League Championship winning sides until the triumvirate of Ron Saunders, Tony Barton and Roy McCIaren took the Club to glory in 1981. Under trainer Grierson, the League was conquered six times and the FA Cup four times in a run of success which it took a World War to halt. Not until Shankly and Paisley led Liverpool to the peaks was that level of domination eclipsed anywhere in the world.

The day-to-day running of the team was now under the control of George Ramsay, Joe Grierson and John Devey; three men who knew that one shouldn't rest on one's laurels. Already, the Villa had become enough of a giant that a single League Championship would not suffice. In the summer of '94, Tom Wilkes was brought in to keep goal and his job was made easier by the acquisition of the 'Prince of Full-Backs.' Howard Spencer would become not only the greatest right-back in the world, but also a fine Villa captain and later a club director.

But 1894/5 - his first season in the League was 'disappointing.' The Villa only finished third! This was more than made up for, however, by revenge over the old enemy. The knee of John Devey (not Bob Chatt as has often been written) propelled the ball into the Albion net after just 30 seconds and the FA Cup was back in Brum... well, at least until it was stolen from Shillcock's shop window.

But back to the League. In '94/5, Villa had been beaten only once at home. The following season, with four new recruits, they would drop just one point at Perry Barr. And win their second championship. That 1895/6 season saw the debuts of Jeremiah Griffths and the great Scottish centre forward John Campbell, whose eye for goal was matched only by his precision passing. John Cowan came down to join his brother Jas and to do battle with Steve Smith for the outside left position. The fourth of the quartet was the matchless James Crabtree. The most versatile footballer of his era, he would eventually play in all five 'back' positions for England. For the Villa, he was a handy emergency centre forward too.

As the '95/6 campaign drew to a close, Ramsay et al were already preparing for even greater glories. Young Albert Evans had been secured early in the season as a partner for Spencer at the back. Grimsby were paid a record fee for a goalkeeper bringing Jimmy Whitehouse to the Midlands. The relegated Small Heath club received the world record transfer fee for their star forward, and expert cricketer, Fred Wheldon. The purchase of goalkeeper Billy George completed the squad building.

The jigsaw was finished. The scene was set for Aston Villa's greatest triumph. But spare a thought for Dennis Hodgetts. After ten years, 215 games and 91 goals for the Claret and Blues, he had rightly won a place in the Villa hall of fame. Yet on the eve of the Double season, he accepted Small Heath's offer to become their captain. Right up until his death - and he lived into his eighties Dennis never stopped regretting that decision.

Having won the League in '96, the Villa wound down with a tour of the North. in the space of five days they played games against Hibernian, Celtic (the Scottish Champions), Ayr and Newcastle, before returning to Birmingham to prepare for the slaughter of Stoke in the replay of the Staffordshire Cup Final. That victory brought a record fifth win in the competition. One by one the players re-signed for the Club with the main press speculation, and worry for the supporters, being a few scurrilous stories linking Charlie Athersmith with a move to Everton.

Off the field, work on the Aston Lower Grounds - which would become Villa Park - was going on apace and the Club announced that the playing surface would be given a year to set before being put to use. Those familiar with the stadium's recent pitch problems would be forgiven for wishing such action could be repeated today.

1896 had seen four trophies won by the Villa (the Birmingham Senior Cup and the Birmingham and District League Championship being the other two). Such was the weight of expectation carried by the Club, however, that the Birmingham Daily Post saw fit to publish the following - some may say prophetic - words on 4th May 1896:

"We trust that next season will be even more successful and we shall have the pleasure of seeing the League Cup and English Cup side by side."

1896/7 saw only half the trophy wins of the preceding campaign, yet it was a glorious year the like of which has never been bettered. The campaign represented the pinnacle of the Club affectionately known as 'The Perry Barr Pets'.

PINNACLE OF THE PERRY BARR PETS

The Men and Matches Behind the 1897 Double

by Simon Page
Available at all good bookshops or direct from H&V