(1) Archie Hunter, Triumphs of the Football Field (1890)

Alexander Latta, of the Everton team, whom I well remember taking a notable part in the International contests, Scotland versus Wales and Scotland versus England. He is a Dumbarton man and the next remarkable thing to his play is that he doesn't drink or smoke.

Now don't think that I mean to suggest that the majority of football players are intemperate, or that they are given to over-indulgence either with ale or tobacco. There is an impression abroad - especially among those who don't know anything about the game and the players - that after every match the members go to the nearest tavern and drink as hard as they can. Well, you may find them in a tavern, because it is usual to reassemble in some convenient place; but I deny that footballers on such occasions go beyond proper limits. On the contrary, they are very moderate indeed in this way. The fact is they are obliged to be, or they would be no good. When in strict training they can't be too careful; and though a man who is accustomed to having a glass of ale at his dinner is not forbidden to take it, yet if he can do without it he is told to abstain. Any recklessness in drinking and smoking would soon tell upon a player, and you wouldn't see him playing very long. Though it is unusual to find a man both a teetotaler and a nonsmoker, yet it is not uncommon to find a man either the one or the other; and I should like my experience in this respect to be known.

 

(2) Peter Lupson, Thank God for Football (2006)

The same year that Beecroft became president of Aston Villa FC, a 31year-old Scotsman who was to change the whole course of football history became a member of the committee. William McGregor had left his native Perthshire in 1870 to take advantage of the business opportunities that Birmingham presented. He bought a linen draper's shop on the corner of Brearley Street and Summer Lane (in Aston) where he was to remain in business for the rest of his life. McGregor had got to know fellow Scot George Ramsay and the two men had become firm friends. Ramsay managed to persuade McGregor to become involved with Aston Villa. It proved to be an astute move because McGregor was a visionary and energetic leader and he helped make Villa the most successful and prestigious club in the country. Even today there is a visible reminder of his influence: it was at his suggestion that the Scottish national symbol of a lion rampant was adopted as the club's badge. But his name in football will forever be associated with something even greater than the famous club itself. He was the creator of the Football League.McGregor was a committed Christian widely respected for his honesty and integrity. The Reverend W. G. Percival, a pastor at the Congregational church in Wheeler Street, Aston, where McGregor worshipped for over 40 years, said at his funeral service that the best thing about him "was not so much the genial, kindly, honest sports man, but it was the Christian behind it all". He described him as "a man of absolutely unblemished personal character". Charles Crump, president of the Birmingham County Football Association, stated in the local press that he `stood for all that was best and cleanest in the great game of football: People found it impossible to dislike him even if they disagreed with him, and it was said of him that he never made an enemy and never lost a friend.It did not take long for McGregor to make his presence felt at Aston Villa. One particular problem that faced the committee was the players' drinking habits. Many of them were regularly giving training a miss, preferring to spend their time in local pubs, and some even turned up drunk for matches. Something had to be done. Determined to instill new habits in the players, McGregor, a lifelong teetotaller, decided to rent a room at a coffee house in Aston High Street and to compel them to attend social gatherings and musical events each Monday during the season. It might be more than just a coincidence that Villa enjoyed considerable success not long afterwards.

McGregor and Ramsay were a formidable partnership. Within three years of McGregor's arrival they had established the club as a force to be reckoned with in local football. A 22-0 win against Small Heath (the forerunners of Birmingham City) gives some indication of their strength at the time. The recruitment in 1878 of 19-year-old Archie Hunter, another Scot who had come to Birmingham in search of work, was a particularly inspired move. Hunter, whose impressive playing style and sense of sportsmanship made him a favourite with the fans, was considered to be the best centre-forward of his day and he was one of football's first superstars. His influence in the side was considerable and when Ramsay retired from playing in 1880 through injury, Hunter took over the captaincy.

 

(3) Brian Belton, Founded on Iron: Thames Ironworks and the Origins of West Ham United (2003)

At first Thames Ironworks did not join a league. It is not known if this was a conscious decision, but Thames' first timetable of matches was much closer to the schedule of a professional club than that of a typical works team. It included matches against one First Division team and two clubs from the Southern League.

With Thames now ready for their first season of football, Dave Taylor stood down from his position to concentrate on refereeing and was replaced by A.T. (Ted) Harsent, another Thames Ironworks employee who lived close to the Works in Mary Street, Canning Town. Harsent became the first secretary of Thames Ironworks Football Club. Francis Payne was the chair of the new club; he worked as a company secretary in the Ironworks. Payne was involved in several of the other works associations, most notably as vice president of the Temperance League. The existence of this particular group, alongside Arnold Hills' personal commitment to alcoholic abstinence, might go some wav to explaining why the first Ironworks teams were teetotal and also non-smokers. Five years later, when Thames Ironworks FC had become West Ham United, the East Ham Echo still referred to the team as "The Teetotallers".