LEAGUE FORMATION
On 5th May 1899, nine gentlemen, meeting in the Exchange Station Hotel, Liverpool, unanimously carried a resolution by Mr EA Morton of Old Xaverians FC ‘that a League be formed under the title of the Lancashire Amateur League’. It is further recorded ‘that Mr J Grant be asked to take the position of Secretary of the new organisation’. In September that year, the League haltingly got underway, with just seven teams: Old Xaverians, Bolton Amateurs, Leek, Blackburn Etrurians, Melling, University College and Owens College. Many amateur clubs in the cradle of the professional game, Lancashire, were desirous of giving more shape to their footballing endeavours; the League was the consequence. It is clear that they aimed from the start to be prestigious, inviting the President of the Lancashire FA, Mr DB Woodfall, to be the first LAL President, and Mr JJ Bentley, President of the Football League, to be Vice-President. To arrange their first season's fixtures, the clubs' representatives met.
Entry was tightly controlled in the early years — the committee sought applications from clubs it wished to see join, often being rebuffed, and in turn often turned down unwanted applicants. The membership, as a consequence, grew slowly. Meetings of the executive were few in number, and there were no sub-committees; discipline was the main executive concern. Problems of matches-not-played were frequent, referees had a tough time (ring any bells anywhere?). Little appears in the records which would have come as a surprise to a modern Council. Fines, allowing for the relative value of money in those days, were heavy.
In 1901-1902 a reserve division of 5 clubs was formed. In the previous season, the first inter-league game was played, in Belfast, against the Irish Junior Football Alliance. Soon the LAL Clubs were thinking about entering for the Lancashire FA Amateur Cup. Many seeds of today's familiar patterns were quickly sown.
On 5th May 1899, nine gentlemen, meeting in the Exchange Station Hotel, Liverpool, unanimously carried a resolution by Mr EA Morton of Old Xaverians FC ‘that a League be formed under the title of the Lancashire Amateur League’. It is further recorded ‘that Mr J Grant be asked to take the position of Secretary of the new organisation’. In September that year, the League haltingly got underway, with just seven teams: Old Xaverians, Bolton Amateurs, Leek, Blackburn Etrurians, Melling, University College and Owens College. Many amateur clubs in the cradle of the professional game, Lancashire, were desirous of giving more shape to their footballing endeavours; the League was the consequence. It is clear that they aimed from the start to be prestigious, inviting the President of the Lancashire FA, Mr DB Woodfall, to be the first LAL President, and Mr JJ Bentley, President of the Football League, to be Vice-President. To arrange their first season's fixtures, the clubs' representatives met.
Entry was tightly controlled in the early years — the committee sought applications from clubs it wished to see join, often being rebuffed, and in turn often turned down unwanted applicants. The membership, as a consequence, grew slowly. Meetings of the executive were few in number, and there were no sub-committees; discipline was the main executive concern. Problems of matches-not-played were frequent, referees had a tough time (ring any bells anywhere?). Little appears in the records which would have come as a surprise to a modern Council. Fines, allowing for the relative value of money in those days, were heavy.
In 1901-1902 a reserve division of 5 clubs was formed. In the previous season, the first inter-league game was played, in Belfast, against the Irish Junior Football Alliance. Soon the LAL Clubs were thinking about entering for the Lancashire FA Amateur Cup. Many seeds of today's familiar patterns were quickly sown.
