Football In Devon

The Devonshire Football Association was formed in 1888. This is a review of the three seasons since its coming into existence.

SEASON 1888/89.

Hon. Secretary, Mr J.V.Thomas, of Plymouth. The committee consisted of one member from each of the following associated clubs:
Argyle, Old Plymothians, Exmouth House, Mamhead School, Plymouth College, Newtonians, Tavistock. 

County matches were played :-

November 24th v Somerset
at Exeter; lost 2-4.

December 1st v Dorset
at Wareham; lost 2-3.

February 9th v Somerset
at Taunton; won 2-0.

March 30th v Cornwall
at Plymouth; won 3-2.

These results were fairly satisfactory, considering that the Association game is in its infancy in this part of the country. In the match with Dorset, Devon played one man short. A return match with Dorset had been arranged for March 2nd, to be played at Plymouth, but Dorset was unable to send a team. D.Richards, of Plymouth, captained the team throughout the season. In the back division A.H.Sharman (Newtonians) proved himself very capable, and he was ably assisted by Babb (Argyle). The brothers Fox (Plymouth) and Hewitt (Tavistock) did good service "forward."

Season 1889-90

Hon. Sec. Mr J.V.Thomas.
Two new clubs, Devonport and St James the Less. 

The following county matches took place:-

December 14th v Dorset at Plymouth; lost 2-6.

January 4th v Cornwall at Falmouth; lost 0-2.

February 22nd v Cornwall at Plymouth; won 6-0.

A match had been arranged with the Casuals for January 11th, but it fell through at the last, owing to the visiting club finding themselves unable to send a representative team, they having just concluded their Northern tour. In the match against Dorset, that county brought a splendid combination, and out-played Devon all the way through at every point of the game.

In the first Cornish match, at Falmouth, a series of mishaps occurred to the Devon men. One forward (Babb) was disabled in the first ten minutes; shortly after the commencement of the second half the goalkeeper, Drew, had his thigh broken by a charge, and one of the full-backs, Milburne, was hors-de-combat for a quarter of an hour, also from a charge.

On February 22nd at Plymouth neither county fielded its full strength team.

A Cup Competition was initiated this season. This was the means of producing a series of fine matches. The final, at Plymouth, in which Tavistock defeated Plymouth by 1 goal to love, was quite a brilliant contest for this part of England.

The Association game is making rapid advances in this county and the public are beginning to take more interest in it. It is hoped that one of the crack London clubs will visit Devon this coming season.

Three county matches have been arranged.

The Season 1890-91 

Hon.secretary Mr J.V.Thomas.

Clubs: Exmouth House, Mamhead School, Newtonians, Plymouth Argyle, Plymouth College, Plymouth United, St James the Less, St John's, Tavistock.

These County matches were played:-

November 22nd v Somerset at Taunton; lost 2-6.

January 10th v Cornwall at Falmouth; lost 2-3.

February 23rd v Cornwall at Plymouth; won 2-0.

There was also played one other match for the benefit of the fund for the "Serpent" relief - the County v Plymouth Garrison, which the soldiers won by 3 goals to 2. Two other matches had also been arranged, one with Somerset and the other with Dorset, but both through various causes fell through.

The season was on the whole a very disappointing one, the chief cause of failure being inability on account of financial straits to put the best team in the field in the foreign matches.

The Cup competition produced a series of matches of a very poor description, St James the Less eventually securing the trophy by defeating Plymouth United in the final.

In the coming season the Cup is to be competed for in League fashion, each club to meet every other club twice.


EXETER ASSOCIATION.
The Season 1891-92 

SEPTEMBER 1891.

• J.A, Lucas, goal,
• A,P. Truscott (Captain), W. J. Tompkins, Backs.
• S. Ashford, J.H, Sheavor, P.Mitchelmore, Halfbacks,
• A. Hitt, W. Norrish, J.M, Robinson, R,W,Stenson, and G, McCrea, Forwards,

The Season 1892-93.

The game in the Exeter and East Devon area was still very much dominated by the big Rugby clubs and very little Association code was played, Meanwhile new clubs became members of the Devon F.A., they were:- H.M,S, Impregnable, Mill Hill, Plymouth Garrison and Saltram,

The Exeter Association players for the 1892-93 season were :-

• Goalkeepers; J. A. Lucas, A, W, H, Routley.
• Backs; Atwill, F, Couch, W. J. Tompkins, A.P. Truscott,
• Halfbacks; E, A, Boundy, Goodridge, Gumner, F. Mitchelmore, J.H, Shearer, F, G, Townsend,
• Forwards; S. Ashford, A. Hitt, L. Hitt, H. James, G. McCrae, L, G. Neish, W, Norrish, J. M. Robbinson and R.W.Stenson,

The Season 1893-94 

SEPTEMBER 18th 1893,

PROSPECT OF FOOTBALL IN DEVON.

To write football notes in the present beautiful weather may perhaps be incongruous, but the seasonable weather for the champion of all outdoor games cannot now be far off, Devon is always about a month later to start than up country clubs, and our players do little else than talk about the first week in October, with the winter staring grimly at them, they feel it imperitave that they should do something. That is why their are no champions, or for that matter, Internationals in either Association or Rugby, for Devon men are not always in form, consequently, to write of football now, it must bee too a great extent prespective. There has been a lot of talk in the Plymouth district recently of what is being done in the forthcoming season, But there always has been, so there is little to be said for that, Still to judge by appearances the season 1893-94 is likely to be one long remembered, Association Football has not been of mushroom growth in Devonshire, and has even grown very slow, There are now however, encourageing signs. When the Devon Cup competition was started first, there were only 6 clubs entered. These then went back to 5, Last season there were 7. This year there are no fewer than 11. There should be one of the greatest contests ever known for the "Cup".

The Exeter Area
Then there is the Exeter area, it is pleasing to see that there are two teams entered for the Cup from the City of the Faithful. They have proved too faithful to the Rugby game, in which they have lost their prestige. May they soon be fortunate in the new venture. There are some good players in Exeter and the immediate district surrounding, and surely in a City of such dimensions there must be a great recruiting ground for the players, Were the distance of Exeter to Plymouth less than it is, there would be great hope, but great expense attched to the visit of "out of town". There are entered in the Devon Senior Cup: - Royal Marines, Kings Own Scottish Borderers, 2nd Devonshire Regiment, 7th Company of Royal Artillery (Plymouth), Royal Artillery (Exeter), 2nd Battalion of Devon Volunteers, Plymouth Albany, Plymouth Argyle, Exeter Association, Saltram and St James the Less,

SEPTEMBER 14th October 1893
at Horse Show Field, Mount Pleasant,

EXETER ASSOCIATION 3,
PLYMOUTH UNITED 3,

Scorers
EXETER James 2, Challen,
PLYMOUTH Lynes, Butler 2.
Attendance

The weather was inclined to be showery, but there was still a fairly large number of spectators present, Plymouth won the toss and started to play down the hill and with the wind, The game for the first 5 or 10 minutes was slightly in favour of the United, but one of their men (Burrows) received an injury to his ankle and had to retire. Plymouth continued to have the best of the game, and from a well taken corner kick they eventually succeeded in making a goal, Lyne scoring. Soon afterwards the Exeter men for the first time got near their opponents goal, but the latter soon took the play back to the Exeter end, The ball continued to travel up and down rapidly, and after a time James by a fine piece of play scored a goal for Exeter. About 5 minutes later another goal was scored, by Butler for Plymouth, About 5 minutes before the call of half time Challen netted a 2nd goal for Exeter after some excellent play close to the posts, A few minute after the start of the 2nd half James scored a goal for Exeter, and 10 minutes later Butler equalised. For the remainder of the match play was on the whole uninteresting and mainly in the vicinity of the Exeter goalposts. Exeter, however, made two determined rushes, and one of their players was slightly hurt, Time was called soon after, and the game, the first important Association match played in Exeter thus ended in a draw, It was later learned that the accident to Burrows was of a quite serious character. It was first thought to be a not very serious injury to the ankle, but subsequently getting worse, Burrows was taken to the Devon and Exeter Hospital, where it was found that the small bone in his leg was broken,

SATURDAY 21st OCTOBER 1893,
at Beaconsfield,

EXETER 1,
J, Nickles; S. Garland, J. McDermott; A. Luff, G, Honeybourne, W. Tompkins; R, Davey, D, Hoggan, E. Byrne, H. Smith (Capt), A,N, Other,
TAVISTOCK 7,
Williams; Doidge, Spencer; Callicott, Mitchell, Avery; Walters, Huggins, Sargent, Moore, Merrifield,

Scorers
Exeter:- Byrne,
Tavistock:- Merrifield, Moore 2, Sargent 2, Callicott, ?

Although it was a wet afternoon there was a fairly large number of spectators, Soon after the start Merrifield scored a goal for Tavistock, For some time afterwards the ball continually travelled from one end of the field to the other, and at last Byrne scored a goal for Exeter, Soon after this Moore scored an easy goal for the visitors, and repeated the performance 5 minutes later, For a a quarter of an hour or so, nothing worthy of note took place, then Sargent scored another goal for Tavistock, At half time Tavistock led by 5-1, In the 2nd half the visitors had the hill in their favour, and after they had pressed for some time, two goals for them were got in rapid succesion by Callicot and Sargent,

SATURDAY 18th November 1893,
At Horseshow field, Mount Pleasant.

EXETER 1,
7th W.D.ROYAL ARTILLERY 5,

Scorers
EXETER:- Smith,
ROYAL ARTILLERY :- Troughton 2, Cruttendon, Dowling, Frederick.

Played in miserable weather, the wind at times reaching the strength of a gale. Smith scored for Exeter, Artillery scorers above,

Date and Venue n/k
DEVON JUNIOR CUP.

GENEVA 7.
EXETER RESERVES 1,

SATURDAY 2nd DECEMBER 1893,
at Mount Pleasant,

EXETER RESERVES 1,
DEPOT DEVON REGIMENT 1,

Scorers

SATURDAY 9th DECEMBER 1893.

EXETER RESERVES 2.
WELLINGTON 4,
At Horseshow field, Mount Pleasant.

Scorers
EXETER McDermott, Garland, WELLINGTON Francis, Smith, Page, Sanders,

The ground was in bad condition at the Horseshoe field, but the play was excellent, In the 2nd half the visitors had to act on the defensive, the play of the Exeter men being very good, finally Wellington rallied,

SATURDAY 30th DECEMBER 1893,
EXETER 12,
BAMPTON 0.

Scorers:-unknown 

SATURDAY 13th January 1894,

The Devon Cup match between Exeter and Saltram was postponed.

SATURDAY 20th JANUARY 1894
DEVON CUP,
at Horseshow Field, Mount pleasant.

EXETER 2.
SALTRAM 3.

Scorers:- Unknown

The ground was in quite good condition, but during the afternoon showers of rain fell, much to the disconforture of the spectators, In accordance with the cup rules, the field had to be roped Loff, the Exeter RoversCycling club kindly placing their ropes at the disposal of the Football club. The visitors kicked off with a strong wind in their favour, and play was for a long time of the give and take character. The combination of both teams was good, the home Backs playing especially well. The visitors combined play took the leather dangerously near the Exeter line, Play remained in this position for some time, and Saltram succeeded in scoring a goal. A 2nd goal was added shortly before the call of half time. In the 2nd half Exeter played with renewed vigour and scored two goals, Saltram were not to be denied, however, and got another goal right on the call of time. The Exonians had exceedingly hard lines in not scoring three goals in the first half.


SATURDAY 27th JANUARY 1894,

EXETER RESERVES 3,
WELLINGTON 2.

Scorers:- Not Known 

SATURDAY 3rd FEBRUARY 1894,
TAVISTOCK 2,
EXETER 1.

Scorers
TAVISTOCK Walters, Huggins,
EXETER Smith,
Played in lovely weather before a large crowd. Tavistock started against the wind, but with the sun in their favour. Exeter attacked but put the ball behind twice. Tavistock gained several corners to no effect, Merriefield failed with a good attempt to score, but Smith with a shot along the ground scored for Exeter, who led by this goal at half time, Re-starting, Tavistock immediately broke away, Walters scoring magnificently, Merrifield put in a hard shot which wassaved, but from the rebound Huggins scored Tavistock's second,

SATURDAY 10th FEBRUARY 1894. FRIENDLY,

EXETER 1,
ROYAL ARTILLERY 2,

Scorers
EXETER Honeybourne,
ROYAL ARTILLERY Hewitt 2

There was a small number of devotees of the Soccer game present at the Horse Show Ground for this friendly, The Exonians were the first to attack on the kick off, the Artillery Goalkeeper having a very warm time of it, He was, however, always on the alert, and defended exceedingly well. The combination of both teams was good, and the Exeter Backs Carey and Littlehells, were very prominent for their excellent defensive tactics, The visitors however, were not to be denied, and after a fine dribble, Hewitt scored a good goal. Just before half time, Honeybourne landed a goal for Exeter. The second half started with a strong wind in the Artillery's favour. They exhibited some fine play, and Hewitt scored another goal for them, Exeter now played with renewed vigour, but found the visiting defence to be impregnable, Smith came away several times, and was unlucky not to score. Other players who were prominent for Exeter were Tompkins, Byrne and White.

SATURDAY 24th FEBRUARY 1894,
EXETER 6, TRAINING COLLEGE 1.

Scorers Not Known

SATURDAY 10th MARCH 1894.

EXETER RESERVES 1,
MOUNT RADFORD SCHOOL 0,
Scorer

SATURDAY 17th MARCH 1894.

EXETER 2,
St JAMES THE LESS 5,

Scorers
EXETER Fletcher 2.
St JAMES Og, Bowden, Smith 2, Newman,

There was a fair attendance this afternoon at the Horse Show Field, Exeter kicked off, and after carrying the ball almost to their opponents goal had to retire, and following one narrow escape, had a goal registered against them by Bowden, it being a penalty, as the result of hands, Exeter again pressed, and after a shot going over the crossbar, Fletcher scored, Some good passing resulted in the ball finishing up behind the St James's goal twice, but without result, Smith had the misfortune of putting through his own goal, thus giving the visitors a 2-1 lead at half time. St James pressed hard, and their Smith scored a goal. The visitors were having much the better of this half, and sent the ball behind several times. Then Exeter played up well, but nothing came of three corners, and shortly afterwards the visitors broke away, and Newman brought their score to 4-1, A 5th goal was scored by Smith, A run and a pass resulted in a 2nd goal for Exeter, when Fletcher scored.