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THEY TOOK THE LEAD

DISCOVER

28 June 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo, in what is now modern day Bosnia and Herzegovina. This event would trigger a number of other events that would lead to the First World War. Initially, a common held attitude was that the war would be over by Christmas, resulting in many working class communities not volunteering for service immediately. As the war continued, it became evident that this was not the case and public pressure for fit men began to build.

 

In this part of the website discover more about Clapton Orient, sport and football during the war and how this impacted the home front.

RECRUITMENT

Prior to conscription introduced in 1916, military recruitment was through volunteers enlisting to join. The infamous “Lord Kitchener Needs You” poster was one of the earliest examples of First World War British propaganda. Pals’ battalions began to emerge and enlisted through locally driven recruitment, with the promise of the men serving together. A total of nine Pals’ Battalions were part of the Middlesex Regiment. 

 

Rugby Union was one of the first major sports that saw military enlistment in significant numbers; a fact that had not gone unnoticed by the War Office. Recruitment was targeted at football urging players to “play the greater game” like their rugby union counterparts. Often strategies ignoring rugby was a sport of the public schools and most of the men were already officers, or the fact that rugby was amateur.

Liverpool Football Club Training c.1910 © British Pathe (Source: YouTube)

Good training is one of the corner stones of any successful football team. Here is a video of the Liverpool team doing their training, a typical session for teams during this time. Fitness was at the centre of their training making sure that their men were fit and healthy to play against their opponents. Although they were physically fit, many men still smoked and maintained poor diets often due to their employment in low paid manual labour.

CARTOONS

Cartoons were often used during the First World War to pull the public's attention in different ways. From the pages of Punch!  to the London Illustrated News, cartoons often used emotive language and dramatic images to convey political messages. Clapton Orient even had their own cartoonist. 

 

Philip de b'Laymann, a cartoonist and the child of a German buisness man, was born in Paddington in 1888. His work can be found on copies of the Oriental Notes drumming up support for the war effort and patriotism. He would later go on to become a top cartoonist and a popular hit with British seaside tourists, drawing many saucy postcards to be sent to loved ones when on holiday. 

Australian Rules Football 1917 © British Pathe (Source: YouTube)

Victorian Football, more commonly known as Austrialian Rules Football, was a popular pass time in East London and even had their own leagues. Australian Rules Football was known for its rough housing and fast pace; something the management at Clapton Orient did not want to be involved in. Clapton Orient urged supporters and players not to play Australian Rules Football because of its rough nature. 

 

SPORTS DURING THE WAR

Sport during the war was essential to the war effort. Where most professional sports had been discontinued indefinitely, amateur sport took the reigns and provided a key service in boosting morale and the public spirit. Sports like Ladies' football, Aussie rules football and even baseball. Clapton Orient would come to become stiff competition in baseball in the interwar period. 

 

When the Football Association temporarily disbanded in 1915, the London Combination Football League took its place. Generally catering for soliders on leave, many professional teams took to amateur football. Ladies' football would arise as the sporting star and quickly overtook the men's game in popularity. In 1921 the Football Assoication banned professional ladies' football a ban that lasted until the early 1970s.

Table Football 1914 - 1919 © British Pathe (Source: YouTube)

Here is a fun film from the British Pathe archives. It shows people of all generations playing an early game of table football. Entertainment during the war was essential to the war effort on the home front, often used to maintain morale for the workers.

AFTER THE WAR

As the war ended, men returned from their service to come back to peace time England. After the war, the Football Association continued professional football the next season and the mens game was once again a professional sport. However, the women's game was still more popular where the public had got a taste for the game. The FA ruled in 1921 to ban women's football.

 

Many men were never able to play football again, many returned back to their peace time jobs. The First World War had many impacts and new legislation came in with the 'Homes Fit for Heroes' bill in 1919. With improved living conditions veterans returning from the war were gradually rehabilitated to remain their peace-time lives, many would never forget the horrors of the war and would never speak of it again.

Clapton Orinet and Newcastle United, 1926 © British Pathe (Source: YouTube)

Post-war, Clapton Orient continued to play at professional level. Whilst they were never able to completely recuperate from their wartime losses, Orient were determined to put the war years behind them. The above clip is of Orient against Newcastle United in 1926 for an FA cup game. 

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