BETWEEN THE WARS
War found the League, as it found the nation, unprepared. The minutes of the meeting of 4th August 1914 have a bleak look; after a list of those present, there is the simple message: 'The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.' The next record comes from almost five years later; the League had effectively disbanded. Only Heaton Chapel, Whalley Range, Bolton Wyresdale, Smithills and Old Hulmeians were on hand to get things going again; Chorlton quickly joined them, and other pre-war clubs eventually to return to the fold were Stand, Heaton Moor and Old Mancunians. For a long time, it was extremely difficult to run a smooth League. But unbeknown to anyone involved in those stuttering times, a period of stability and eventually controlled expansion was being born. 22 clubs played in the Central Section (which was the sole section until the formation of the Northern Section – see below) in the next twenty years; 5 played right through and 8 more had over ten years of membership; there was total constancy of membership from 1930-31, when Oldham Hulmeians joined.
In 1929, the Northern Section of the LAL came into being, in 1936 the Southern; in the next 30 years, neither looked back. By 1939 there were 7 Divisions in existence. The Central Section members on the whole regarded themselves as the LAL or at least the ‘Main Section’ as they insisted on calling it, although once inter-Section games began, they did not always prove it on the field of play.
There was almost a different sort of expansion as early as 1922. In an episode as bizarre as the original demise of the Liverpool Section, it almost re-formed. Reaching across the years, that founding father EA Morton of Old Xaverians brought the LAL to the point of accepting the re-formed section; but it did not happen, and a blanket of silence subsequently covers the records.
The LAL was served by two excellent Secretaries, RE Flanagan, who died tragically early, and, from 1927, Harold Heap, about whom there is more elsewhere and who served for 57 years. His name, and that of Chairman John Battersby Kershaw, were synonymous with the LAL. For 26 years they were at the helm together. In addition, Vice-Chairman Allan Farquarson served almost to the end of the period, as did President R. Holt.
War found the League, as it found the nation, unprepared. The minutes of the meeting of 4th August 1914 have a bleak look; after a list of those present, there is the simple message: 'The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.' The next record comes from almost five years later; the League had effectively disbanded. Only Heaton Chapel, Whalley Range, Bolton Wyresdale, Smithills and Old Hulmeians were on hand to get things going again; Chorlton quickly joined them, and other pre-war clubs eventually to return to the fold were Stand, Heaton Moor and Old Mancunians. For a long time, it was extremely difficult to run a smooth League. But unbeknown to anyone involved in those stuttering times, a period of stability and eventually controlled expansion was being born. 22 clubs played in the Central Section (which was the sole section until the formation of the Northern Section – see below) in the next twenty years; 5 played right through and 8 more had over ten years of membership; there was total constancy of membership from 1930-31, when Oldham Hulmeians joined.
In 1929, the Northern Section of the LAL came into being, in 1936 the Southern; in the next 30 years, neither looked back. By 1939 there were 7 Divisions in existence. The Central Section members on the whole regarded themselves as the LAL or at least the ‘Main Section’ as they insisted on calling it, although once inter-Section games began, they did not always prove it on the field of play.
There was almost a different sort of expansion as early as 1922. In an episode as bizarre as the original demise of the Liverpool Section, it almost re-formed. Reaching across the years, that founding father EA Morton of Old Xaverians brought the LAL to the point of accepting the re-formed section; but it did not happen, and a blanket of silence subsequently covers the records.
The LAL was served by two excellent Secretaries, RE Flanagan, who died tragically early, and, from 1927, Harold Heap, about whom there is more elsewhere and who served for 57 years. His name, and that of Chairman John Battersby Kershaw, were synonymous with the LAL. For 26 years they were at the helm together. In addition, Vice-Chairman Allan Farquarson served almost to the end of the period, as did President R. Holt.
