2nd Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers

[KivoOwl]

Following on from the article I wrote on the Heeley FC a few weeks ago, I thought some of you might enjoy a read on the football team of the 2nd Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers, who were based in Sheffield just prior to WWI and played some of their games at Owlerton by permission of the Wednesday club.

 

It might be going into a future project of mine and might end up being edited as I think it's a little rushed and obviously doesn't (and can't) do justice to the history of the regiment as a whole.

 

Let me know your thoughts -

 

 

"No other club in this publication can trace their roots back as far as the football team of the 2nd Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers, who were stationed at Hillsborough barracks from 1910 to 1913. The regiment, formed in 1674 as the 5th Regiment of Foot, was designated the 5th (Northumberland) Regiment of Foot in 1782, and became a fusilier unit in 1836. Initially consisting of just one battalion, a 2nd Battalion was formed in 1856.

It is more than likely that the battalion had its own football team before the dawn of the 20th century, but it wasn’t until the battalion was re-assembled at Gravesend following the Boer War that the team entered the Army Football Association’s own Challenge Cup competition. In 1907 the 2nd was moved to Dover, and the football team entered the Folkestone & District Senior League, beating Dover FC 6-2 on the opening day of the 1907/08 campaign. They remained in this league for the duration of the battalion’s three year stay in the south-east, and shared the title honours in 1910 after playing out a goal-less draw in the league’s play-off final with Ashford Railway Works.

When the 2nd Battalion was transferred to Sheffield in October 1910, the local football season was already well under way, but despite the absence of league football, the battalion team managed to keep themselves busy by entering the Army and FA Amateur Cups, the latter for the first time. Their inaugural Amateur Cup campaign lasted three matches - all played away from home - and ended in a 0-3 defeat at York City, the amateur predecessor to the current professional outfit. Five days after that defeat, the 2nd played their first competitive ‘home’ fixture in Sheffield when they beat the Royal Scots Greys 7-0 in the first round of the Army Cup at the Niagara sports ground.

Another ground that the Fusiliers would come to call ‘home’ during their stay in Yorkshire was Wednesday’s Owlerton ground, which hosted its first Army Cup game in January 1911 - the Scottish Rifles being beaten 3-2 in a third round replay. The Fusiliers entered Sheffield league football for the first time in 1911/12 when they were admitted to the Hatchard League, alternating their home ground between Niagara and the Queens Ground, behind the Queens Ground public house across the road from the barracks, now a housing estate. They stayed in the competition for two years, and were always a big draw when travelling to away games.

Although they were competitive in the Hatchard League, the ‘Fighting Fifth’, as the team (and the regiment as a whole) was nicknamed, always saved their best performances for the cup competitions. In 1913/14 they embarked on a memorable Amateur Cup run that saw them reach the last sixteen of the competition. Having beaten Hathersage, Leadgate Park and the famous Northern Nomads at the Queens Ground, the Fusiliers opted to host their third round tie against Catford South End on the same ground, and were unfortunate enough to have the game abandoned due to poor light while playing extra-time - Catford won the replay in London. The Owlerton ground eventually hosted five Army Cup games, the last being the Fusiliers’ 2-3 defeat against the Durham Light Infantry in January 1913.

The 2nd Battalion left Sheffield in September 1913, and remained active until 1948, when the regiment was reduced to its original size of just one battalion. In the 35 years between leaving Hillsborough Barracks and its ultimate break-up, the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers fought in both World Wars, engaging in such actions as the Second Battle of Ypres (1915), the Battle of Loos (1915), the Battle of Valenciennes (1918). They were evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940, saw action in North Africa, and helped re-capture Naples from the Germans in 1943.

In 1968 the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers amalgamated with the three other fusilier regiments to form the present Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. The Army FA Challenge Cup is still competed for today, and in 2012 the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers reached the final of the competition – 80 years after their predecessors wowed the crowds in Sheffield."

 

 

The full list of Army Challenge Cup games played at Owlerton -

20/1/1911    Army Challenge Cup 3rd round replay    2nd Northumberland Fusiliers    3-2    Scottish Rifles
9/11/1911    Army Challenge Cup 1st round    2nd Northumberland Fusiliers    2-1    Royal Scots Greys
30/11/1911    Army Challenge Cup 2nd round    2nd Northumberland Fusiliers    3-2    1st East Yorkshire Regiment
24/10/1912    Army Challenge Cup 1st round    2nd Northumberland Fusiliers    3-0    Royal Scots Greys
23/1/1913    Army Challenge Cup 3rd round    2nd Northumberland Fusiliers    2-3    Durham Light Infantry
 

 

The Army Challenge Cup's website -

http://www.armyfa.com/cups

 

 

Highlights of the 2012 Army Challenge Cup final, which featured a successor-of-sorts to the team that played at Owlerton -

[Utah Owl]

Good article Kivo but surely Royal Engineers (appreciate this is more a corps than a regiment) would be the oldest military team? They were losing finalists in the first FA Cup in 1872 and during the first decade of the competition were runners up 3 times and won it once. They were founded in 1863 incidentally.

[S36 OWL]

Brilliant read. 

 

Thanks for that Kivo