Origins

Celebrating 120 years of the Grecians – The St Sidwell’s United Story

14. Capt. F.J. Harvey

Captain Frederick Harvey, having campaigned for Exeter City to turn pro in 1908, became the club’s chairman. He was the obvious choice, given his pioneering work in running association football in East Devon and not least his contacts at the FA.

A profile of ‘Mr. F.J. Harvey’ in the Football Express in 1907 recounts how it was he who ‘led the agitation’ around the turn of the century when a Plymouth-based Devon FA refused to budge from their exclusive posture:

‘Open conflict with the County Association followed, and gradually the breach widened until, after Mr. Harvey’s well-remembered interviews with [FA Secretary] Mr. F.J. Wall, at headquarters, permission was secured to form the East Devon Authority.’

‘From that time dates the real and practical progress of the Code around Exeter, so that Mr. Harvey must always get a big share of the credit for initial advancement.’

Not surprisingly, when Sid Thomas is reminiscing in 1939 on ‘Exeter Soccer’, the first ‘old-time stalwart’ to come to mind is ‘Captain Harvey’ – ‘for the accuracy with which he could put across a corner kick.’ He’d played for Exeter United when they won the East Devon League in 1901 and was a committee member.

But Harvey, along with his merits as a player and administrator, had a much deeper knowledge of the game than most. Once an East Devon FA had been established in 1903, to add to secretarial duties, he was the one in charge of training and examining match officials.

And he’d hone his knowledge of the rules while running the line in Southern and Western League games. For the West Brom v Woolwich Arsenal exhibition in April 1902 he was one of the linesmen. He also officiated in several English Cup ties.

Now, such involvement in association football was all the more remarkable if we consider Frederick Harvey’s competing interests.

First and foremost, the sport he was most passionate about – and which gave him a living – was gymnastics. The reason he came to Exeter in 1894 was to set up a gymnasium along the lines of the one he’d run in London. He and his wife were physical training instructors. He’d been brought up in Liverpool; she was from Plymouth.

An illustration of gymnast Frederick Harvey in the Dundee Courier in May 1892.

Billed as the largest and best-fitted gymnasium in the West, the ‘West of England Physical Training School and Gymnasium’ was soon operating in Sidwell Street. As well as working with local schools, the couple gave classes for female students, challenging prejudices of the time. What’s more, pupils at the Institution for the Blind received free instruction.

Harvey was a student of his craft. Not only did he give lectures on gymnastics, do demonstrations, and judge competitions, he wrote books on the subject. He even set up his own publishing company in Exeter, making sure his titles were read as far away as America.

And Frederick Harvey’s other major activity in Exeter? His title, Captain, provides the answer. From around 1900 he was an active member of the Special Reserve and Territorial Force. But that’s another story.

(With thanks to Alison Styles for additional research)