Match 14
Saturday November 8th 1924
Fulham v Leicester City
The accident at the War Memorial, the Nuneaton bus fire, and the death of Chelsea's Tommy Meehan had already touched Leicester's season indirectly. Today at Craven Cottage, there would be a tragic incident right in front of the eyes of our players and traveling fans. At the time though, nobody had any idea of the seriousness of the situation.
Before we come to that, let's summarise the game itself.
We were looking to extend our unbeaten run to seven games. Two weeks after our fine win at Selhurst Park we were back in London with another chance to impress the journalists of the capital.
All reports agreed that the first half was a complete non-event, players from both sides being repeatedly caught offside. It was after the break that the game came to life, and at the centre of the action was our keeper George Hebden.
First, he let a harmless effort from Bill Prouse slip under his body and into the net. Three minutes later, Fulham threatened again, and though Hebden saved comfortably this time, before he could release the ball, Fulham centre forward Harvey Darvill 'gave him the full force of his shoulder'.
That was a perfectly legal tactic at the time (and would remain so until the 1960s), and Darvill's challenge saw Hebden lose control of the ball. Prouse was there for a simple tap in to make it 2-0.
We needed a quick response, and we got it. According to The Daily Herald, 'it seemed as though the Leicester side wanted this "two-down tonic" to show what a really good side they can be'. This was Kernel in the Football Post:
Johnny Duncan looked like losing his unbeaten certificate as captain. But once again the Scotsman's personality saved the situation, and under his leadership the lads rallied in splendid fashion and took complete control of the game.
Arthur Chandler pulled one back with a 'fine shot', and we pressed for the equaliser.
It would come fifteen minutes from time, in controversial circumstances.
Duncan was in a great position to score, but '
Reynolds, the home goalkeeper, dived for the ball and proceeded to lie with it under his body. Duncan made an effort to get the ball but Reynolds would not move and the referee ran to the spot and picked up the ball. Without hesitation, he dropped it and Bamber, the Leicester left-half, booted it into the net. It was all done so quickly that the spectators and Fulham players were amazed. The London players tried to mob him but he was very firm in his decision'. (Daily News, London).
The crowd
'booed until it must have been hoarse and at the finish provided another interlude by discharging bangers and other fireworks' (Kernel).
2-2 was the final score.
During that second half, shortly after Harvey Darvill's shoulder charge on George Hebden, those two players collided again. This time it was the Fulham man who came off worse, the impact leaving him flat out on the ground. Hebden went to help him up, and heard him say 'I've been winded'. He was taken off and given lengthy treatment by the Fulham trainer before returning. That seemed to be the end of the story. But tragically, it was not.
A week later, Darvill was fit to play, and scored as Fulham drew 1-1 at Stoke. He then played the following Saturday in a home win over Coventry, but the day after that he started complaining of stomach pains. His condition quickly deteriorated, and for three days he was in agony in hospital. It turned out he had burst a blood vessel in his stomach following that collision with George Hebden. On Wednesday November 26th he died, aged just 28.
The following Saturday, Hebden had to miss a Leicester game to give evidence at the inquest, where the coroner returned a verdict of 'accidental death'. No blame was attached to the Leicester keeper. Before he died, Harvey had told his brother 'Probably I've had a kick, but pros take no notice of that kind of thing'. Shortly after the inquest, the bereaved family took the trouble to write to Hebden, 'assuring him of their sympathy in the unfortunate accident'.
On the day of the inquest, Hebden's place in our line-up was taken by Bert Godderidge. As we shall see, he played well, and stayed in the team the following week. In fact, Hebden woud never play for us again. That one incident at Craven Cottage had ended the life of one player and, indirectly, the top-level career of another. Hebden played out the rest of his career in the lower Leagues.
Back on November 8th, these were the full results:
Chelsea's impressive win at Blackpool moved them right into contention and knocked us down a place.
The situation at the top of Division One, meanwhile, was fascinating, with two surprise teams at the top.
Like us, Notts County and Birmingham traveled down from the Midlands to London that day. At Highbury, Donald Cock put the Magpies ahead before getting sent off for violent conduct. County held on for an impressive victory. The result was the same at Upton Park, where Coalville-born Joe Bradford scored to give Birmingham the points. Here's action from both games:
You can see that both Notts County and Birmingham were wearing that distinctive V-design jersey:
Those results left the Midlands pair clear at the top of the table:
At that time, only Aston Villa and West Brom had brought the title to the Midlands, but it looked like a third club might be added to the list this season. Would it be Notts County or Birmingham? Could they maintain this early season form?
The answer was 'No'. Both faded badly, with Birmingham finishing 8th and Notts County 9th. They would have to wait for that first title.
100 years on, they are still waiting. Wolves, Derby, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City have been added to that list, but not those two. If you ask their fans now whether they think it will ever happen, you will get the same answer Leicester fans would have given ten years ago.
This, by the way, was how Nottingham's Football Post saw the situation back then:
Back in 1924, of course, we had never won a trophy of any description. But that weekend, there was a sign that football in the city was on the up. Sports fans in Leicester that Saturday afternoon had two options:
Our professional team may have been lagging behind Derby County in the Division Two promotion race, but what happened at Filbert Street that afternoon was a portent of things to come.
With Harold Lineker starring on the right wing, the result was:
Leicester Boys 7 Derby Boys 0.
