ONE hundred and twenty years ago this month Bootle Football Club paid their first visit to the home of Newton Heath at Manchester. This club was the forerunner of the present day Manchester United. The visit, the first by a Merseyside club, was to prove controversial...
THE home executive greeted them on their arrival and escorted the visitors to their club headquarters at The Three Crowns public house on Oldham Road.
Here they changed in to their club colours of blue-and-white striped shirts. Their hosts, who wore green-and-yellow quarters, accompanied the Bootle party to the field of conflict on North Road.
The rain was falling heavily as Bootle kicked off and, after five minutes, had a claim for a goal refused by the referee.
The ball, as the visiting players protested to the official, was kicked down field by a home defender leaving the Bootle players stranded.
The home forwards picked up the ball and, after surrounding the Bootle goalkeeper, scored the first goal. Bootle, as the second half progressed, had a second goal disallowed. The goal, which came from a corner kick, was disallowed on the claim of “offside”. The atmosphere further intensified when, following a prolonged protest, a second goal, scored by Doughty, was awarded to Newton Heath.
The Bootle players, clearly thinking the player was offside, reacted angrily, and their captain Jamieson, in protest against the referee, summonsed his players around him and led them out through an exit gate. Bootle secretary Henry Heard, dashing from the grandstand, stopped the players on North Road and persuaded them, in the interest of the game, to return to the field.Jamieson, with great reluctance, led his players back and play restarted. The Manchester side went on to win 4- 0.
Bootle were soon to have their revenge. But that, as they say, is another story...
