Lionel Bird takes a look into the origins of Singers FC, the forerunner of Coventry City FC
SINGER & COMPANY, COVENTRY:
George Singer was born in Stinsford, Kingston, Dorset on 26 January 1847. He formed the company in 1875 with £300 capital. The business was initially based at 48 Leicester Street, close to the city centre. The first bicycle manufactured by Singer was the “Challenge”, the design of which is commonly referred to as the “Penny Farthing”. There were three versions of this bicycle, notably the “Ordinary”, the “Special” and the “Racing”. Singer expanded production in 1876 by acquiring larger premises situated in Alma Street, Hillfields. This factory was named the “Challenge Works” and was advertised as being the biggest bicycle & tricycle manufacturer in the world.
Singer’s brother-in-law, James Charles Stringer, later joined the company as his junior partner. Stringer was born in Paradise Street, Coventry on 19 February 1863. In 1883 there were approximately 5,000 workers employed in Coventry within the bicycle industry. Singer was ahead of his time regarding employee relations. He really cared about his workforce and encouraged employees to engage in useful recreational activities, which largely centred around sport. Most importantly he guaranteed a job for aspiring footballers. This recruitment policy enabled Singers F.C. to attract better quality players, which ultimately improved the team. He also allowed players time off from factory work without loss of pay, the prime example being travel to fulfil away fixtures, either in midweek or on a Saturday morning. In those days employees worked on Saturday mornings, usually finishing around 12 noon. The football club played a major part in the lives of the workers. Employees also benefited from the formation of the Singers Cycling Club, Singers Cricket Club and Singers Rugby Football Club. Â
Another major benefit came with the introduction of the Singer Annual Picnic, the first being held in the summer of 1887. Hundreds of employees and members of cycling clubs representing other Coventry factories, would cycle to Stoneleigh Deer Park, the home of Lord Leigh, and partake in a luxury picnic. Singer provided refreshments which included strawberries and aerated water (a form of lemonade). The Singer Apollo Band, mounted on a bicycle which seated 12 people, headed the procession to Stoneleigh. This band regularly performed at Singers F.C. home matches. The return journey at night was made possible by the workers displaying Chinese lanterns to illuminate the road.
Further expansion of the company came with the construction of a new factory in Canterbury Street, Hillfields, this being completed in July 1891. Singer products gained a reputation for outstanding quality and reliability. The company’s list of titled patrons included the Queen of Portugal, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Princess Duleep Singh and the Grand Duchess Waldimar of Russia. Members of the British nobility rode Singer bicycles, including the Prince of Wales. The Singer Company was registered as a limited liability company on 30 November 1894 with a capital of £175,000 in £5 shares. On 6 June 1896 it was floated on the Stock Exchange. The company was purchased by Mr. E. T. Hooley for £543,000 and George Singer became Managing Director over a workforce of 800 employees.
The bicycle industry suffered a serious decline in the late 1890’s. There were too many manufacturers, sales figures plummeted and cheap machines imported from America caused a trade depression. In October 1899 George Singer announced his retirement and was replaced by Walter Hewitt, a senior manager. The company needed new products which led to the manufacture of motor cycles. Enoch Stanley, the brother of Willie Stanley, was a pioneer in this field. He was born in Birmingham on 30 September 1856. By 1897 he had formed the Stanley Cycle Company based in Day’s Lane, Hillfields. Enoch mastered the skill of fitting a 2.5 horse-power engine with friction drive to the rear wheel of a bicycle. Motor-cycle production commenced in 1902 and was so successful, George Singer decided to purchase the Stanley Cycle Company three years later.
Singer motor-cycles were top quality and their brand name was enhanced by George Enoch Stanley, Enoch’s son. George was born at 40 Cox Street, Coventry on 15 July 1884. He joined the Singer Company in 1911 after achieving great success competing at the Brooklands Race Track in Surrey. He acquired the nickname “Wizard” due to his mechanical skills and racing ability. In 1913 he won 34 races and acquired 16 world records in various motor-cycle classes. However, technology was ever improving. In 1914 the Singer Company abandoned motor-cycle production to concentrate on the manufacture of motor cars.
George Singer died aged 61 at his home, Coundon Court, on 4 January 1909. His funeral and burial took place at Coventry Cemetery (London Road) three days later. All his coffin bearers were Singer employees, which included Joseph Collins and Herbert Turner, former Singers F.C. players. James Charles Stringer died aged 52 at his “Woodside” residence in Cookham, Berkshire on 1 November 1915. He is buried in Coventry Cemetery. Willie Stanley died aged 72 at 27 Charterhouse Road, Stoke, Coventry on 13 June 1933. George Bowers died aged 85 on 8 March 1951 at High View Hospital, Exhall, Coventry. Both were buried in Coventry Cemetery in unmarked graves.
When City fans Lionel Bird and Ian Devoy (Willie’s great-grandson) discovered this, they organised an appeal to raise money for two headstones. A total of £2,055 was raised through the generosity of Sky Blues fans, various CCFC Supporters Clubs, the Sky Blue Trust, CovSupport website and the general public. This enabled the procurement of a headstone for Willie Stanley and George Bowers. A headstone dedication service was held at London Road Cemetery on 4 April 2008. Approximately 40 descendants of Willie Stanley attended the special service. Enoch Stanley died aged 69 at 4 Read Street, Hillfields, Coventry on 13 October 1925. George Enoch Stanley died aged 64 in Beddgelert, Caernarvon, Wales on 4 June 1949. Singer workers were highly skilled and our football club has its roots firmly embedded in the district of Hillfields.
THE WOLVERHAMPTON CONNECTION:
Willie Stanley and George Bowers have a strong connection to the Blakenhall district of Wolverhampton. Willie’s father, Enoch, died aged 31 in 1863. Two years later his mother, Amelia, married James Bowers in Wolverhampton. George Bowers was born on 28 December 1865. In 1881 the Bowers/Stanley family lived at 26 Pountney Street, Blakenhall. George Bowers (aged 15) was unemployed and Willie Stanley (aged 19) was employed as a fitter/turner. Blackenhall was a hot-bed for association football at this time. Saint Luke’s School, situated close to a church bearing the same name, formed a junior team (Saint Luke’s F.C.) in 1877. They staged matches on a piece of rough ground off Goldthorn Hill. In the same year members of Blakenhall Wanderers Cricket Club formed a junior team (Blakenhall Wanderers F.C.). Many of the players were local people and the crowds who watched the games predominantly came from Blakenhall.
The two local clubs co-existed until the summer of 1879 when they decided to amalgamate, to form Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club. Wolves initially played their home games on John Harper’s Field in Lower Villiers Street, a main road which has a junction with Pountney Street. From that geographical location, the pitch was about a quarter of a mile away. Willie and George could walk to John Harper’s Field in less than ten minutes. They were ideally located to watch both junior teams and Wolves between 1877 and 1881. It was common for children and youths to play football in the streets and on any available waste land. Did Willie and George participate in this activity? Did they play football at school or for a junior team? Did they make that short walk to watch Wolves play? We will never know for sure. However, one thing is certain. When they came to Coventry they already had a strong interest in the “beautiful game” and given the size of the Singer Company workforce, identified an opportunity to form a works football team.
FORMATION OF SINGERS FOOTBALL CLUB:
Singers Football Club was founded by Willie Stanley at a meeting held at the Lord Aylesford Inn, 20 Aylesford Street, Hillfields on Monday 13 August 1883. Stanley was born in Birmingham on 12 February 1861. Also prominent in the formation of the club was George Bowers, Henry Banks, Henry Hathaway, Samuel Heath, Francis Moseley, Andrew Poole and Herbert Turner, all being employed at the Singer Company based in Alma Street, Hillfields. Singers F.C. established their headquarters at the White Lion Hotel, Gosford Terrace, Gosford Green. Willie Stanley became the club’s first secretary. In 1884 he successfully negotiated Singers’ membership of the Birmingham & District Football Association. This was a significant development which boosted the club’s quest to enhance the popularity of the “dribbling code” within our city.
The emergence of Singers Football Club and the revival of Coventry Association Football Club established an important foothold. At this point Rugby Union still dominated the local sporting scene. However, over the next ten years the popularity of association football increased significantly which established a growing fan base. Coventry Independent Journal 3/9/1884: “Our newly-formed Association Club, which first saw the light last year, is early in the field having advertised for new members some weeks ago. This club, although it showed creditable form last season, was somewhat unfortunate in its matches, being the vanquished more than the victors. With new blood infused into its ranks, there is no reason why the club should not, during the coming season, render a much better account of itself”.
FIRST PITCH:
The first pitch was in a field close to where the Gosford Park Hotel is situated at the corner of Northfield Road and Saint George’s Road, near to Gosford Green. The 1841 Coventry Tithe Map indicates it was field number 340, a meadow named Far Glade. It was known locally as Dowell’s Field, as it was rented by Samuel Dowell, who sold corn, hay, coal and milk from business premises in Far Gosford Street. Dowell’s Field was close to Binley Road and some football correspondents referred to the pitch as the Binley Road Ground, although there were no stands or terracing. Increased success and bigger crowds made it necessary in 1887 to relocate to a pitch situated in Nursery Field, just off Gosford Terrace, near Gosford Green. Nursery Field was owned by Joshua Perkins junior, a coach lace manufacturer based at Britannia Mills in Payne’s Lane. Today’s geography would place the new pitch within the boundaries of Wren Street, Britannia Street, Swan Lane and Mowbray Street. It was referred to as the Stoke Road Ground (now Walsgrave Road).
Here is an extract from an article in the Midland Daily Telegraph (19 September 1936): “What might be termed a new epoch in the Club’s history occurred in 1887/1888, with a move to a new ground on the Stoke Road, a few yards above Saint Joseph’s Convent and approximately where King Richard Street runs. The field on Stoke Road was surrounded on all sides by hedges and high trees, was none too level, but was by no means bad for a playing pitch. Not a house could be seen on the Walsgrave Road to Stoke or along Swan Lane. The headquarters of the Club remained at the White Lion Hotel. With the absence of stand accommodation, a room at the rear of the public house was used as a “dressing room”. Ablutions were carried out from a bath in the yard next to a water pump. They were not the days of luxuries. Beyond a towel and a bucket of water it was all glory and discomfort, instead of hot baths, massage, and a hurried departure in luxury cars. Some of the away matches were played on fields with humps, hollows and furrows all intact, and with primitive equipment and ill-marked lines, when there were any. Out of such crude beginnings modern soccer grew”. Access to the Stoke Road Ground was obtained via an alleyway next to the White Lion Hotel, Gosford Green and also directly from Catherine Street, Hillfields. It was the home of Singers F.C./Coventry City F.C. until 1899, when the Highfield Road Ground was developed.
NEWSPAPERS:
Appearance/Goals totals are derived from available match reports. These became frequent from the 1887/1888 season onwards. The following newspapers provided vital information regarding results and match reports: Coventry Independent Journal (1885), Athletic Reporter (1885), The Coventry Reporter (1887-1888), Coventry Times (1888), Midland Counties Reporter (1888), Coventry Mercury (1889-1891), Coventry Standard (1889-1891) and the Midland Daily Telegraph (1891-1898). Other provincial newspapers have been an invaluable source: Atherstone/Nuneaton & Warwickshire Times, Birmingham Daily Post, Birmingham Mail, Coleshill Chronicle, Harborne Herald, Kenilworth Advertiser, Nuneaton Observer, Rugby Advertiser, Sport & Play Magazine.
NICKNAMES:
George Maley, football correspondent for the Coventry Reporter newspaper in the late 1880’s, nicknamed Singers F.C. as “The Vocalists”. He was born in Duke Street, Birmingham on 4 July 1862. Maley wrote under the nom-de-plume “Dribbler”. It was through his eyes and his pen much of Singers’ early history was recorded. He was a very interesting character and a man of several talents, being an accomplished actor/baritone singer and qualified referee. He was a member of the Coventry Amateur Operatic Society and regularly performed at the Royal Opera House in Hales Street.
His match reports, analysis and articles were of a high standard, sometimes humorous and often enlightening. Here is an example written a few days after the Birmingham Junior Cup Semi-Final tie against Victoria F.C. (Birmingham) played on 25/2/1888: “Quite a large party consisting of the team, committee and supporters left Coventry by the mid-day express. We arrived at Witton in due course. Upon leaving the station we were met by Sammy Durban (Victoria F.C. Secretary) and well-known Aston Unity cricketer, who conducted us to the Dressing Room. Our men were soon busy donning the war paint during which process I, in company with several other thirsty souls, took myself downstairs to get a “wee drap” (wee drap is a Scottish term for a small amount of amber fluid, usually whiskey) just to keep out the cold. The players turned out on the field, which was in a most wretched condition. The recent severe frost had made the ground like iron and with an inch or two of snow upon the surface, it made things anything but comfortable for the players. To make matters worse a snowstorm prevailed during the whole of the game”. The Vocalists lost this match 3-2 and it’s amazing the game went ahead in such atrocious conditions.
Another example of his journalistic credentials came a few days after the Birmingham Junior Cup 4th Round away tie against Victoria F.C. (Birmingham) on 2/2/1889: “The sight of so many supporters departing to see the Victoria match made me wonder who would be left behind to take care of Peeping Tom if Singers or any other Coventry club, should ever reach the English Cup Final. And who knows, that may happen some day. In no town has the association game made more rapid progress than in Coventry. So play up Singers-s-s-s and when the present players have lost their football legs, and they see Coventry has reared her head to a high position in the football world, they will be able to speak with pride of the time when they instituted the association game here”. Maley’s main employment was in the bicycle industry and he later became a mechanic. In December 1889 he openly campaigned for the formation of a Coventry Football League to encourage the development of local amateur teams.
He joined the Midland Daily Telegraph (forerunner to the Coventry Evening Telegraph) in February 1891. In 1893 he supported the idea of Singers F.C. becoming Coventry City F.C. and would witness this development five years later. George married Ellen Marion Brown at Saint Michael’s Parish Church, Coventry on 31 July 1897. In the early 1900’s he was licensee of the Waterloo Bar in Pepper Lane. He soon left the pub trade and moved to Windsor Street, Rugby, having secured a job as an engineer’s mechanic. George died aged 70 at 20 Lower Hillmorton Road, Rugby on 23 November 1932. Singers introduced a new kit at the beginning of the 1890/1891 season. The jersey (shirt) was black with a white collar and the knickers (shorts) were black with a single white stripe down each side. At that time the team consisted of several diminutive players. This prompted local media to often refer to the team as the “Little Blackbirds”, due to the colour of the kit and the size of the players. The new kit was first worn for the game against Packington F.C. (Warwickshire) at Stoke Road Ground on 20 September 1890. This match ended in a 2-2 draw. When Singers won the Birmingham Junior Cup in 1891 it prompted a supporter to write the following poem:
Eye have not seen my gentle boy
The team that with Singers are able to toy
Ear hath not heard the mighty din
That shall greet the Blackbirds when they win
Their forwards are swift, their backs are sure
And they will to the bitter end, endure.
TEAM GROUP PHOTOGRAPHS:
1885-86
The earliest team group photograph was taken during the 1885/1886 season at Dowell’s Field, or at a location near the Binley Road in Gosford Green. The players are wearing an assortment of football jerseys (shirts) and have their shin guards on the outside of their stockings (socks), the traditional way they were used at that time.
1889
The Vocalists played Coleshill F.C. (Warwickshire) in a Birmingham Junior Cup 1st Round tie at Stoke Road Ground on 2 November. Singers won 6-0 in front of a crowd estimated at 1,400. Arrangements had been made to photograph the team and officials prior to kick-off. The local photographer charged with this task discovered his tripod was missing a vital screw. Fearing his equipment might not hold the camera safely in place, he postponed proceedings. This is a real shame because such a photograph would have been a very important addition to the club’s history.
1890-91
The Midland Daily Telegraph gave away a plate photograph of the Singers F.C. team for each newspaper sold on 18 April 1891. This was on the day of the Birmingham Junior Cup Final held at the Perry Barr Ground, Birmingham. The Vocalists beat Willenhall Pickwick F.C. (Staffordshire) 1-0 with a goal by Frank Mobley, in front of a crowd estimated at 5,000. An additional photograph was provided, most likely by the MDT, a few days later. It shows the victorious cup winning team wearing their medals and the Birmingham Junior Cup displayed on a table.
1891-92
During the 1891-92 season Singers won three trophies, these being the Birmingham Junior Cup, Wednesbury Charity Cup and the Walsall Junior Cup. The last team photograph during the Singers period was taken at the end of that season. It features the players in their kit along with James Morgan, a wooden case housing the players medals and a table displaying the trophies.
COVENTRY WANDERERS FOOTBALL CLUB/COVENTRY ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL CLUB:
Members of the Coventry Wanderers Cricket Club decided they wanted to play association football as a winter sport. They formed Coventry Wanderers Football Club in 1874, this being the first association football club to be established in Coventry. Walter Turrall was a founder player (a forward) for the Wanderers and was appointed the club’s first secretary. He was born in Coventry circa 1856 and was a well-known ribbon manufacturer in the city. He later switched codes and joined Coventry RFC. He died aged 61 in Coventry on 3/6/1917. Harry Chitham, who was born in Nuneaton on 23/2/1848, replaced Turrall. He was employed as a printer and died aged 70 in Leicester on 29/5/1918. Initially, Wanderers played home games on a pitch situated in Dunns Field, just off Quinton Road, Cheylesmore, near to the railway line. The field was rented by John Dunn, a butcher who had several shops in the city.
The majority of the Wanderers players were employed in the city’s watch making industry. The Wanderers changed their title to Coventry Association F.C. in 1876 and relocated to a pitch situated in Bull Field, Spon End, close to Queens Road Church. The match card for the 1876/1877 season shows they had fixtures against Aston Villa, Birmingham, Nottingham Forest and Walsall, to mention a few. Coventry Association F.C. had close ties with the Rudge Bicycle Works in Spon End (Coventry Reporter 1/3/1890). The club disbanded around 1880 or 1881, most likely caused by lack of support and poor finances. Some of their former players occasionally played for Singers F.C. Coventry Association F.C. re-formed for the 1883/1884 season, having secured a full fixture list, playing against such teams as Birmingham Excelsior F.C., Smethwick Raglan F.C., Aston Clarendon F.C., Nettlefolds Athletic F.C. and Witton Unity F.C., to name a few. Initially they played their home games at the Coventry Cricket Ground, Butts, Spon End, before relocating to a pitch in Earlsdon. Coventry Association F.C. now rivalled Singers in the quest to establish a firm fan-base. Ultimately, they failed and the team eventually disbanded.
RUDGE FOOTBALL CLUB:
This club was formed by employees of the Rudge Bicycle Factory at a meeting held at the Bull Field Inn, Moat Street, Butts on 25 February 1889. Prominent in the formation was Mr. A. Smith who was elected secretary. The club’s headquarters was established at the Union Arms public house in Hope Street, Spon End. The Rudge factory was situated in Crow Lane which prompted the football club to be nicknamed “The Crow Laners”. There was fierce rivalry between the Singer and Rudge factories in business, as well as on the football pitch. Matches between the two teams were sometimes dubbed “The Battle for the Coventry Championship”. Over the years the Vocalists established themselves as the premier club in the city, but Rudge still played a significant part in enhancing the game locally. A change of title to Rudge-Whitworth F.C. occurred in 1896 to acknowledge the amalgamation of the Rudge and Whitworth companies, which had happened two years earlier. On many occasions Singers borrowed Rudge’s best players to bolster team selection, which often gave young players an excellent opportunity to display their skills against better opposition. Rudge-Whitworth F.C. disbanded in 1898.
