This chapter is devoted to fixtures with other clubs between the wars, and to prominent names connected with those clubs, together with incidents and notes of interest concerned in matches with them.

Ashby-de-la-Zouch.
This club did not appear on the fixture list until 1930. Though they possessed quite a useful side they never matched up to Sutton's strength as will be seen from the statistics which nine victories and one drawn game in Sutton’s favour.

Birmingham University
In the earlier part of the period being reviewed the University could produce a strong team, but, like Ashby, could seldom match up to Sutton's strength. In eleven fixtures they drew two and lost the remainder and after an 11-0 defeat in 1927- 28 the fixture was dropped.

R.H. Dickinson, before becoming a stalwart for Sutton played for the University, as did a man named Cooke whose amazing short career is worthy of mention. In about 1922 he is reputed to have played hockey for the first time, and played right half for the university. He met with such immediate success that he was selected for the county team. Against Staffordshire, he so tied up

A.F. Leighton, the England and East outside left that he was selected for the Midland, and again when playing against the East he found himself marking Leighton. This meteoric rise gained him an England cap in his first season, and subsequently nothing was heard of him.

Burton on Trent.
For the first ten years the games with this club were very closely contested, although the over-all figures may somewhat belie this observation. But, whether or not due to Sutton's improvement or to Burton's decline the next seventeen games ended in victories for Sutton. Nevertheless, the Burton cricket ground was always a delightful ground upon which to play hockey.

Cheltenham (East Gloucester).
With this club whose name used to change periodically from Cheltenham to E Gloucester, and vice versa, a number of hard games ensued on their home ground. But at Sutton the home club invariably ran up a big tally of goals which, it is suggested, may have been because some of the opposition did not want to make the long journey.

Coventry & N.W.
It would naturally be assumed that a large club such as this, with their excellent ground and amenities, would prove stern opposition. At the time of writing these words, they are understood to be one of the strongest in the Midlands, though they were far from being so between the wars. In the twenty encounters between the clubs Coventry failed to register a single victory and only succeeded in making a draw on two occasions, whilst Sutton's goal record was 111 to 29 against.

Derby.
Derby was always a strong side, though fixtures with them did not commence until 1926/27. They supplied most of the county team almost every year, but even so, Sutton, on general balance, showed their supremacy with 13 victories to Derby's 7 with one drawn, - Goals 56 - 42 in 21 matches, figures which indicate how close were the encounters.

Players who come readily to mind are Noel Jacques, Bryn Owen (Wales), Edgar Chase, Dick Peach, A. Skinner, Fred Smith, etc. Business affairs took the writer back to his native town for a short period and he had a number of midweek games and social activities with the club.

Edgbaston.
One of the Midland oldest and strongest clubs, they played, at one time, on the Tennis Club ground in Edgbaston Park Road and later move to Priory Road. Both sides invariably played open attacking hockey and many enjoyable and high scoring games resulted, in fact in two successive seasons the fixtures at Edgbaston ended in 6 - 6 draws.

Sutton did not at any time suffer a heavy defeat but on a number of occasions inflicted them on Edgbaston. In the period under review 31 matches were completed of which Sutton won 22 and lost 6, with goals 133 - 66, an average of between 6 and 7 per game. Outstanding personalities who come to mind are Edmund King, Bobby Whitlock (center forward for England, and who lost his life in the war), Birch (full back for England), the three Threlfalls, as well as a number of others. 


Erdington.
A host of stories of games with Erdington could be told. These old rivals had many a hard match, and, in the earlier years, it is quite true to say that no love was lost between them. Whilst Sutton always tried to play a good clean game there were certain Erdington players who were quite the reverse, and, had it been association football, would, most likely, have been ordered off. In those days the club played at Heron Lodge, a ground where Boultbee Road is now, before being compelled to vacate it for the builders.

After moving to the Aston Unity cricket ground in Court Lane, and after the departure of the "certain players" mentioned above, the games became more enjoyable and friendly, though the keen rivalry still existed.

In the late 1920's the Erdington goalkeeper was Teddy Brett, who was probably the finest keeper England ever had. He made a scientific study of the goalkeeping art and wrote a book on the subject. One has recollections of a match at Rectory Park in which Erdington were overwhelmed yet Brett was beaten only twice when almost any other keeper would have let a dozen through.

To 'head' a ball into the net is a rare occurrence at hockey. The writer did just that! A kicked clearance by Brett struck the advancing forward's head and rebounded into the net from the back of the circle. Upon the return of consciousness, a free hit for the infringement was about to be taken.

Doug Terry was an outstanding outside right who was canoed for England.

Evesham.
For many years Evesham had been one of the leading sides in Worcestershire, but the two clubs had never met until the season 1935/36. Before the outbreak of war Sutton won the four matches played but only by narrow margins.

Harborne.
Between 1919 and 1925 Harborne was comparatively weak, sides were frequently heavily defeated. In the nine fixtures during this period Sutton won them all, scoring 51 goals to Harborne's 14. Fixtures were then dropped for four years, by which time Harborne had greatly improved.

During this period Sutton won 11, lost 3, and drew 3, but all matches were more closely contested than in the earlier period. P.G. Whitehouse, D. Hodges, together with a goalkeeper whose name was believed to be Wainwright, and who rose from club hockey to be the England goalkeeper for one season in a very short space of time, are names that stand in one's memory.

Leamington.
After defeating Sutton four times between 1921 and 1925, during which time Leamington were a very strong club and included that fine player, cricketer, and administrator, Jack Thursfield, and several other players of county standard. But after that spell they were unable to offer much resistance and the best they could do was to register one drawn game in the next fourteen years. In the sixteen seasons in which the clubs met, Sutton scored the enormous number of goals - 160, to Leamington’s 47.

Nottingham.
When fixtures were first arranged with Nottingham, they played on the Notts Amateurs cricket ground at Trent Bridge which was later acquired for the building of new council offices. Many fine players represented the club including, Bill Kirkcaldy, England's center half for several years, Lister and Philip Holliwell (both Midlands), Arthur Morris, and a number of others of high skills. Nottingham invariably presented Sutton with one of the toughest fixtures on their list though with 14 victories to 6 Sutton emerged the over-all victors.

A match at Nottingham is recollected when three Sutton players failed to get there in time for the start due to a breakdown of their car. Declining the offer of a man to level things up, Sutton played the first half with eight men and was actually leading 2-1 when the missing three arrived.

The eight were so exhausted in the second half that they only just managed to hold on to their lead by the final whistle.

North Staffs.
Fixtures with this strong club whose home ground was at Porthill in the Potteries, were restricted to seven seasons between 1928 and 1935. Though Sutton generally finished on top they only did so after some very keen encounters.

Olton.
There was always a keen and friendly rivalry between Olton and Sutton and the two clubs were generally regarded as providing the cream of club hockey in the Midlands between the wars. W.G. Quaife, the Warwickshire and England cricketer was, at one time, an outstanding player to quite an advanced age.

He was followed by his son Bernard, a clever inside forward who was responsible for an enormous number of goals and who also played for England. Bill Shorting and H.M. Kesterton also played for England, whilst Freddie Holmes represented the Midlands and Warwickshire for many years.

The match in 1935 for the "championship" has already been mentioned, but an incident in a county match with Notts at Olton is perhaps worthy of mention. A shot by the writer was saved on the line. On the follow up the Notts’ keeper became panic stricken, picked up the ball, and hurled it into touch, and then saved the resultant penalty bully. Nevertheless, with four goals from Sharp, Warwickshire won 5-1.

Orientals.
The Orientals were a very strong side and almost always gave Sutton a very hard struggle. It is remarkable how closely the over-all records resemble those with Olton. In the twenty-year period under review 34 matches were completed with each club, the final results too were closely similar, and the 102 goals by Sutton were exactly the same, and a difference of only 3 in the goals against. Some of the outstanding players of the time were A.N. Downing in goal (England), P. Murdoch (Ireland), and A. Bacon (Scotland).

Rugby.
Fixtures with this club commenced in 1922/23 season and were generally closely contested affairs, even though from 1930 Rugby lost every match, including the aforementioned classic of 1934. Over the years Rugby possessed a number of excellent players, amongst whom were Wakelin (an England center half), McDonough (center forward for Ireland), L.W. Lucas, a Warwickshire and Midlands stalwart for many years, etc.

Stafford.
Between the wars Stafford was not regarded as a strong side. They were overwhelmed every time before the fixture was dropped.

Walsall.
This extremely strong club which played on the Walsall Cricket Club ground at the Gorway went for two years without being defeated and contained as many as eight of the Staffordshire County side.

The outstanding player of the period was the brilliant England outside left Arthur Leighton, who was also the Hertfordshire County cricketer and for a number of years a fine all-rounder and captain of Sutton Coldfield Cricket Club. Goal-keener Robotham, J. Tucker (later to become a high court judge), the Hewson brothers, are amongst many other fine players remembered.

One recollects a somewhat unusual goal being scored in one of the matches at Rectory Park. From a badly taken corner hit in the home club's circle the ball was intercepted and taken the entire length of the field and into the net without another player touching it.

West Bromwich.
They could never be regarded as a club strong enough to prove themselves of stern opposition to Sutton. In thirteen fixtures they lost 12 and drew 1, and on one occasion a mix up in the fixtures resulted in Sutton 1st playing against West Bromwich 2nd at Sutton and winning 17-0, whilst the 2nd team of Sutton went to West Bromwich to defeat their 1st 4 - 3.

Womborne.
In striking contrast to the Wolverhampton Cricket Club, the best players in the Wolverhampton area invariably drifted to the village of Womborne, a club which had generally turned-out strong sides. Though Sutton usually held the whip hand, a lot of the contests were closer than the figures over the period indicated. Edgar Page was the England center half prior to 1914, and a great sportsman and personality in the locality, whilst C.L. Spackman and Ronnie Wilcox both played for England in the 1920's, together with a number of other good players.

Worcester.
Fixtures with this club did not commence until the 1933/34 season, and over the next six years some hard games resulted. Spreckley and Doc Gibbons (the Worcestershire cricketer) are amongst those who come most readily to mind.

Other Clubs
Other clubs which we met during these years were Aldridge, Berkswell, Bloxwich, Bournvil1e, Chester Road, Hinckley, Kettlebrook, Kings Norton, K.S.L.I. Reg’t (Whittington), North Staffs Reg't, Pickwick, R A F' (S'bury), Redditch, Tamworth, and Birmingham Y M C A. None of the sides were met more than three times over the twenty years, and in most cases, fixtures were arranged in order to complete the fixture card. In all the above matches Sutton won all (28) and in doing so scored 162 goals against 23.

Bacchanalians.
A few words on this famous club may be of interest. As, mostly, a nomadic mid-week or Sunday side, they did not compete with other Midland clubs except on special occasions. They originally came into existence in 1926 when internationals E.B. Crockford and C.L. Spackman arranged an end of season match at Rugby – “Toughs” v “Lepers”!

The writer took part in this game which was comprised of players mostly from the Midland counties. Following this the Bacchanalians came to life, and played many of their games at Wellesbourne against teams of similar standing, and attracted a large following of spectators.

They soon entered for the Folkestone Easter Festival where they have been popular visitors ever since. Their motto, "Locus in Soleis ", (A Plaice in the Sun), is derived from an incident at Folkestone in the early times when a fish was strung over the main street and remained there until captured the following year by another side on tour.
The Bacchanalians, with their wine coloured shirts, have maintained their image for good sporting hockey and convivial company for many years.

Summary.
The statistics covering the "Golden Years" have already been mentioned, and, though it is always difficult to compare one generation with another, facts and figures cannot lie.

An analysis of the figures of the period covered by this chapter and that of the sixteen seasons from 1958/59 to 1973/74 (1946 - 1958 figures are not available), reveals that the outstanding feature would appear to be in the numbers of goals scored, via:

From the above it will be noted that whilst the number of goals scored opponents has varied only slightly (by 3 goals) Sutton's figures show a much greater decline (by 61 goals) in the averages of the two periods. Whilst Sutton, admittedly, possessed a very strong side between the wars, the post war team has never even approached the worst season of the earlier period as far as goals scored are concerned.

So, what is the answer to this great difference?

It is not believed the general standard of play within the Club has deteriorated as much as the figures suggest, nor were the opposing defences have improved by any great margin.

It is suggested that one reason may be in the change of tactics by concentrating more on defence (though an improvement in this respect is not revealed by the figures) thereby depriving forwards of support. Or again, is it that forwards lack of the stick skills of their predecessors?

The general policy in pre-war days of most clubs lay in attack with five forwards closely supported by the halves whose function was also to drop back to assist the defence.
It is also wondered if the dropping of hockey by some schools may have affected the game, for it is considered that boys learning the arts of stick-work from fourteen years of age have a considerable advantage over those not taking up the game until they leave school.

But whatever the reasons it is believed that if only Sutton could step up their 'goals for' their over-all successes would be much improved.

Very few rules were published by the Hockey Rules Board between the two world wars other than the following three amendments:

1927: Advantage was formally written as a Rule.
By this time there were routinely two umpires for each match.

1936:  Notes and suggestions for umpires were included in the Rules book. Later this became an appendix entitled ‘Advice to Umpires’.

1938:  Any form of interference with the stick of an opponent, including hooking of sticks, was forbidden as was the use of any part of the body, except the hand, to stop the ball.