The Encylopedia of British Football
Transfer System
In 1893 Jack Southworth was transferred from Blackburn Rovers to Everton for £400. It has been claimed that this was the first-time that money had changed hands between football clubs for a professional player. Blackburn was very upset at losing their star centre-forward who had helped them win the FA Cup finals in 1890 and 1891. Southworth went on to score an amazing 36 goals in 31 games for his new club in the 1893-94 season.
Good goalkeepers were also in demand. One of the best was Jack Hillman of Burnley. As Mike Jackman pointed out in The Legends of Burnley, Hillman was "one of the great exponents of goalkeeping during the Victorian period." In February 1895, Hillman was transferred to Everton for £200. He only missed one game that season and helped his new club to finish in 3rd place in the First Division of the Football League.
The Football Association was determined to keep professional players under its control. In 1893 a regulation was introduced that compelled all professional players to register annually with the FA. No player was allowed to play until he was registered, nor was he free to change clubs during the same season without the FA's permission.
The Football League then introduced a new rule that stated that any professional player who wished to move on to another club had to obtain the permission of his present club. The Football League also insisted that once signed, a player was tied to his team for as long as the club wanted him. Therefore, if a player refused to sign a new contract at the beginning of the season, he could not sign for no one else unless the club gave permission.
This measures introduced created the transfer system that still exists today. However, in 1893, the players were not free to negotiate a new contract on anything like equal terms with their employers. The Football League had in fact abolished the free market and clubs could now reduce player wages without losing their services.
In September, 1893, Derby County proposed that the Football League should impose a maximum wage of £4 a week. At the time, most players were only part-time professionals and still had other jobs. These players did not receive as much as £4 a week and therefore the matter did not greatly concern them. However, a minority of players, were so good they were able to obtain as much as £10 a week. This proposal posed a serious threat to their income.
In February 1898, a group of players on high wages announced the formation of Association Footballers' Union (AFU). John Bell became chairman of the union. The secretary of the AFU, John Cameron, announced that the union had 250 members. Cameron pointed out that their main objective was that they "wanted any negotiations regarding transfers to be between the interested club and the player concerned - not between club and club with the player excluded".
In 1893 J.J. Bentley became president of the Football League. Bentley opposed the power of the Football Association and objected to the decision that stated that no transfer fee of more than £10 be paid by football clubs. As Bentley pointed out in 1899: "The serious battle will be fought on what the League considers a principle and that is being allowed to work its own particular competition in its own particular way whilst at the same time observing the rules of the parent body."
The AFU was badly wounded by the decision of several members of the committee to seek higher wages in the Southern League. This included the AFU secretary John Cameron, who joined Tottenham Hotspur for the 1898-99 season. Tom Bradshaw also joined Spurs, whereas other leading figures in the union who left the Football League included Harry Wood and Abe Hartley (Southampton), Johnny Holt (Reading) and Jack Bell and David Storrier who joined Celtic.
Clubs in the Football League was forced to pay high transfer fees to get the best players. In the 1900-01 season Sunderland finished 2nd to Liverpool in the First Division championship. The team included Alf Common who was considered the best young goalscorer in England. At the end of the season, Sheffield United paid Sunderland £350 for Common. He repaid the investment by scoring the only goal in Sheffield's 1902 FA Cup Final win. Common continued to do well for Sheffield United and in the summer of 1904, Sunderland bought him back for a new record fee of £520.
Manchester United became a force in the transfer market when rich businessman, John Henry Davies, became chairman of the club. Ernest Mangnall became the new manager and in 1904 he paid Grimsby Town £600 for 21-year-old Charlie Roberts. At the time Mangnall was criticised for paying such a large sum for such an inexperienced player. However, it proved to be an inspired decision and it was not long before Roberts established himself as the keystone of the Manchester United defence.
John Henry Davies arranged for J.J. Bentley, the president of the Football League and the vice president of the Football Association to be appointed as president of Manchester United. Bentley now joined forces with the Association Football Players Union (AFPU) to get the maximum wage removed.
In February, 1905, Middlesbrough, who were in danger of being relegated from the First Division, purchased Alf Common from Sunderland for another record breaking fee of £1,000. One journalist described the transfer of Common as "flesh and blood for sale". Another sports writer wrote: "We are tempted to wonder whether Association football players will eventually rival thoroughbred yearling racehorses in the market."
Cartoon on the Alf Common transfer (February 1905)
Once again the transfer of Alf Common had the desired impact on the fortunes of the club. On 25th February, Common scored the only goal of the game against Sheffield United. It was Middlesbrough's first away victory for over two years. Common helped to save Middlesbrough from relegation and over the next five years he scored 58 goals in 168 games.
In January 1908, the Football League imposed a £350 limit on the cost of players. This proved ineffective as clubs got round the regulation by doing deals involving the selling of several players together. For example, in order to get £1,000 for their star player, they included two other poorly rated players in the deal. Officially, each one was sold for £350. After a year the league withdrew the regulation.
Harold Halse was one of those players who was purchased for £350 in 1908. He had scored 91 goals in 64 games for Southend United before joining Manchester United. In two seasons Halse helped United win both the Football League title and the FA Cup.
in March 1911, Sunderland paid a record transfer fee of £1,200 for Charlie Buchan. He later complained he only received a £10 signing on fee for the move. Another player who was sold for £1,200 during this period was Robert Young who went from Middlesbrough to Everton. This was a amazing fee considering that Young was a defender and had never played for his country.
Lawrence Cotton, a local wealthy businessman, was chairman of Blackburn Rovers. He was determined to create a team capable of winning the First Division title. Blackburn's manager, Robert Middleton signed several international players such as Billy Davies and Jimmy Ashcroft. In 1911 Middleton purchased Jock Simpson from Falkirk for a fee of £1,800. That season Blackburn won the title by three points from their main challengers, Everton. It was the first time in Blackburn's history that they had won the league title.
Blackburn started the 1912-13 season very well and were undefeated until December. This was followed by five successive defeats. In an attempt to regain the championship, Robert Middleton broke the British transfer record by buying Danny Shea from West Ham United for £2,000. Shea received £550 for signing for the club. Patsy Gallagher, described Shea as "one of the greatest ball artists who has ever played for England... his manipulation of the ball was bewildering."
Robert Middleton also purchased another forward, Joe Hodkinson for £1,000. Shea scored 12 goals but it was not enough and Blackburn finished 5th that season.
In the 1913-14 season Blackburn once again won the league title. Danny Shea was in great form scoring 27 goals. Other expensive transfers buys such as Jock Simpson and Joe Hodkinson also made substantial contributions to the success of the club and that year won places in the England team.
Charlie Roberts had been the captain of the Manchester United team that won the First Division championship in 1907-1908 and 1910-1911. Although he was aged 30 years old, Oldham Athletic paid a fee of £1,750 for Roberts in 1913. Roberts brought success to Oldham and in the 1914-15 he captained the club to the highest position in the club's history, runners-up to Everton in the First Division championship.
In the 1914-15 season Lawrence Cotton provided the money to enable Blackburn Rovers break the transfer record again when they bought Percy Dawson for £2,500 from Heart of Midlothian. Blackburn scored 83 goals in 1914-15 season. However, their defence was not as good and Blackburn finished 3rd behind the champions, Everton. Dawson was top scorer with 20 goals.
Blackburn Rovers had shown that it was possible to buy success. The top clubs were especially willing to pay top prices for goalscorers. Horace Barnes scored 74 goals in 153 league games for Derby County. In 1914 Manchester City paid a record transfer fee of £2,500 for Barnes. During his first season at Maine Road he scored 22 goals in 39 games. However, the First World War interrupted his football career and like Danny Shea, he was past his best when the Football League resumed in 1919.
In October 1919, Frank Barson became Britain's most expensive player when Aston Villa paid Barnsley £2,850 for his services. Barson was a great success at his new club. In their book, The Essential Aston Villa, Adam Ward and Jeremy Griffin argue that: "When Frank Barson arrived at Villa Park in the winter of 1919 he provided much-needed backbone to a team that was floundering hopelessly at the foot of Division One. Barson was a 1920s Stuart Pearce - feared for his biting tackles and competitive spirit, but admired for his ability on the ball."
In 1920 Bolton Wanderers paid Plymouth Argyle £3,500 for David Jack. Although only 21 he looked a great prospect for the future. In his first season he helped Bolton finish 3rd in the First Division of the Football League. Two years later Bolton reached the first FA Cup Final held at Wembley Stadium. Jack scored the opening goal in Bolton's 2-0 victory over West Ham United. Jack went on to score 144 goals in 295 games for Bolton.
Harry Bedford was another player who scored a great deal of goals during this period. He signed for Blackpool in 1920. Bedford was the country's top goalscorer in the 1922-23 with 32 goals. He repeated the feat the following season with 34 goals. After scoring 112 goals in 169 games for Blackpool, Bedford was transferred to Derby County for £3,000 in 1925. During his time at the club he scored 142 goals in 203 games.
Another exciting young talent who emerged at this time was Syd Puddefoot. He was playing junior football in the East End of London when he was spotted by Syd King, the manager of West Ham United. Like Danny Shea he was a scoring machine and netted 107 goals in 194 games for the club. In 1922 Falkirk became the first club to pay £5,000 for a player when they signed Puddefoot. He was very reluctant to move to Scotland and later complained that his teammates refused to pass to him in games. Whatever, the reasons, unlike previous big money buys, Puddefoot failed to provide success for his new club and the Scottish League remained dominated by Celtic and Rangers.
Hughie Gallacher was a highly successful centre-forward with Airdrieonians in the Scottish League. During a four year period he scored 91 goals in 111 games. In 1925 Newcastle United paid Airdrieonians £6,500 for Gallacher. He made an immediate impact and during his first season scored 23 goals in 19 games. The following season Newcastle won the First Division league title. Gallacher, who had been made captain of the side, scored 39 goals in 41 games. After scoring 133 goals in 160 league appearances, Gallacher was sold to Chelsea for £10,000.
In May 1925 Herbert Chapman visited Charlie Buchan in his sports outfitters shop. He asked him if he was willing to be transferred to Arsenal. Buchan, who had scored 209 goals in 380 games for Sunderland, agreed and after two months of negotiations, he joined the London club. Bob Kyle, the Sunderland manager, explained to Buchan the complex arrangements of the deal: "We pay Sunderland cash down £2,000, and then we hand over £100 to them for every goal you score during your first season with Arsenal." Buchan scored 21 goals that season which brought the amount paid by Arsenal to Sunderland to £4,100.
In March 1925 Dixie Dean was transferred from Tranmere Rovers to Everton for a fee of £3,000. Dean was one of the best signings of all times. Dean was in sensational form in the 1927-28 season. He scored seven hat-tricks that season and ended up with a record-breaking 60 league goals. Dean helped Everton win three league championships and a FA Cup final victory. During his time at Everton he scored 349 goals in 399 games.
Dixie Dean scoring against Sunderland on 25th December 1926
In 1925 Frank Richards, the manager of Preston North End, a Second Division club, paid £3,000 for Alex James, a free-scoring inside-forward from Raith Rovers in the Scottish League. James did well in his first season ending up as the club's top scorer with 14 league goals. He also won his first international cap when he played in Scotland's 3-0 victory over Wales in October, 1925. Alex James developed a good partnership with centre-forward, Tommy Roberts, who scoring 30 goals in the 1926-27 season. James not only scored a lot of goals, he was also a provider of chances for others.
James attracted the notice of all the top clubs when he scored two spectacular goals in Scotland's 5-1 victory over England at Wembley on 31st March, 1928. In four years at Preston North End Alex James had scored 55 goals in 157 appearance. He also supplied the passes that resulted in plenty of goals for his strike partners, Tommy Roberts, Norman Robson and Alex Hair.
James had become frustrated with playing Second Division football. He was also upset with Preston for not always releasing him to play international games for Scotland. Most of all, he was dissatisfied with his wages. At the time, the Football League operated a maximum wage of £8 a week. However, other clubs had found ways around this problem. This included Arsenal who signed James for £8,750 in 1929. Herbert Chapman, the manager of Arsenal, arranged for James to obtain a £250-a-year "sports demonstrator" job at Selfridges. It was also agreed that James would be paid for a weekly "ghosted" article for a London evening newspaper.
In October, 1928, Herbert Chapman, the manager of Arsenal, decided to pay a transfer fee of over £10,000 for David Jack of Bolton Wanderers. Sir Charles Clegg, president of the Football Association, immediately issued a statement claiming that no player in the world was worth that amount of money. Others thought that at 29 years old, Jack was past his best. However, over the next few years Jack did everything he could to show that he was worth the money.
The buying of Alex James and David Jack helped to make Arsenal the dominant club in the country. Their first success was winning the 1930 FA Cup Final. In the 1930-31 season Arsenal won their first ever First Division Championship. The following season they lost the title by two points to Everton. Arsenal regained the championship in 1932-33. They also scored a club record of 118 goals in the league that season. Arsenal made it four out of five when they won the league the following season, beating Huddersfield Town into second place.
In 1936 Peter Doherty was transferred to Manchester City for a club record fee of £10,000. Doherty wanted to remain with Blackpool. As he later pointed out: "My personal feelings counted for next to nothing in the transaction. I might as well have been a bale of merchandise." The following season City won the First Division championship with Doherty scoring 30 of the goals.
In December, 1936, Everton signed Tommy Lawton from Burnley for a fee of £6,500. The remarkable feature of this transfer was that Lawton had just celebrated his 17th birthday and that it was a record fee for a teenager. He was a great success at the club and went on to score 70 goals in 95 games.
Alex James retired in 1937 and Arsenal manager, George Allison, began looking for a replacement. In 1938 he purchased Bryn Jones from
