Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the third chapter of the book (a 11,500 word section). This focuses on the mid 1800s and the development of Manchester’s earliest known association football club Hulme Athenaeum and its long term impact.
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Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the second chapter of the book (another 5,000 word section). This focuses mainly on the early to mid 1800s and talks of the development of Manchester and the sporting growth occurring at that time, including forms of football as well as cricket and horse racing etc..
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Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the first chapter of the book (a 5,000 word section). This focuses mainly on the middle ages up to the early 1800s and talks of the 1608 ban on football in Manchester, Peterloo and leisure activities such as cockfighting and early cricket activity, as well as football of course. There is material in every section of the book that should interest fans of Manchester football, no matter which team you support, or academic researchers/historians.
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Although most Mancunians were unaware at the time, one of the players with Ardwick AFC (Manchester City’s predecessors) was actually the first overseas international to play in the Football League. Walter Bowman was born in Canada during 1862, and arrived in the British Isles in August 1888 as a Canadian international.
The Canadians were playing a number of friendly fixtures against sides in Ireland, Scotland and England, and they even faced Newton Heath winning 2-0 with Bowman scoring. Whether this appearance was witnessed by any of the Ardwick officials at the time isn’t known, but Bowman returned to Canada with his team mates shortly afterwards.
A second tour followed in 1891 – including a 3-1 Ardwick victory on 12th December 1891 – and Bowman remained behind after the rest of the Canadians had returned home. He joined Accrington, making his debut in January 1892. That match made him the first overseas international to play in the League and on 25 August 1892 he signed for Ardwick. He didn’t manage to make his Ardwick debut until 18 February 1893 when he scored as Crewe were defeated 3-1.
Bowman became a Manchester City player when the Club was re-established and he remained with the Blues until the close season of 1900, with one of his most significant matches being the 11-3 record victory over Lincoln on 23rd March 1895, although Bowman failed to make the scoresheet.
After City little is known of Bowman’s life. An article in April 1929 talked of a reunion in Toronto of the touring side but Bowman did not attend. It was believed he was living in the USA in a copper mining city in western Montana called Butte, but he was never traced. No matter what the final resting place of Bowman, his place as the Football League’s first overseas player means his name will never be forgotten.
Following on from yesterday’s Ardwick AFC feature, here’s another one. This focuses on the Manchester Cup… As football in Manchester developed, so did Ardwick’s desire to become one of the regions elite clubs. The Manchester Cup had been established in 1884-5 and this was quickly perceived by the majority of Mancunians as the most prestigious competition around. The Football League was not in existence until 1888 and even then Manchester failed to have any representatives, while the FA Cup had been established since the 1860s but was not seen in a positive light by Manchester’s sides. Entry into the Cup required great expense as games could be played anywhere in the United Kingdom – during the 1880s sides from Ireland competed in the FA Cup, while Scottish sides had been amongst the earliest supporters of the competition. The cost of travel clearly limited Ardwick’s ability to play beyond the Manchester region.
In April 1891 Ardwick reached the Manchester Cup final for the first time in their history. This was a major landmark and it was also the first major meeting with Newton Heath, present day Manchester United. Newton Heath had previously played in every final of the competition since it was created in 1884-5 and so this was seen as a real test for the Ardwick players.
Despite the fact that Newton Heath were the more experienced side, Ardwick took the lead thanks to a seventh minute goal from the influential captain Davie Weir. Reports simply stated that “Weir scored with a long shot”, however they did give a little information before that to suggest that the goal owed much to the earlier persistence of Bob Milarvie. Milarvie had challenged the Newton Heath goal a couple of times and had clearly surprised the Heathens. Then, after gaining the ball following a Newton Heath attack, Milarvie “got on a splendid run but was badly fouled.” From the resulting free kick Ardwick attacked and Weir netted the goal.
Ardwick did actually have another goal disallowed – they were awarded an indirect free kick and the taker blasted the ball straight into the Heathens goal without any other player touching it – but the trophy was won by the Hyde Road side for the first time.
Success in the trophy perhaps went a little to their heads when at the 1891 Football League AGM Ardwick – along with Darwen, Newton Heath, Nottingham Forest, Stoke, and Sunderland Albion – applied to join the newly expanded Football League. All the applicants, with the exception of Ardwick, were members of the Football Alliance – a league originally set up to rival the Football League. Not surprisingly, Ardwick failed to gain admittance, with the new places were filled by Stoke, who had won the Alliance, and Darwen. There was a consolation prize however and Ardwick were admitted to the Alliance League for the 1891-2 season.
The Manchester Cup had proved to be the Club’s major breakthrough and it had also proved the Ardwick were already perceived as Manchester’s club. Although Newton Heath had been the more successful club so far, Ardwick were perhaps seen as being more progressive and were already the better supported of the two. The Hyde Road derby in the Alliance League attracted a crowd of over 10,000, whereas the Heathens home game at North Road was watched by around 4,000. Even the Hyde Road derby attendance was bettered by Ardwick on two other occasions in the Alliance that season.
As well as their large support, Ardwick managed to prove their ability to live with the best when they won the Manchester Cup again. This time they convincingly defeated Football League side Bolton Wanderers 4-1. The dream of playing League football was getting closer and the Manchester Cup successes had helped that dream. One man who was proud of this achievement was Walter Chew (image below), who was with St. Mark’s in their first season of 1880-81. In 1888 he joined the Manchester FA Committee and remained an influential figure there until his death in 1949.
The other week I posted this card from John Baines (he used to produce these cards in Bradford, West Yorkshire) featuring Ardwick AFC’s captain Davie Weir. It made me realise that perhaps I should post more on the Ardwick years of City and so here’s a small piece on the birth of Ardwick in 1887. That year was to prove perhaps the most important year of the decade as far as the club was concerned. Gorton AFC’s leaders decided in which direction the Club should go after spending a couple of seasons playing at the Bull’s Head in Reddish Lane, on the very edge of Gorton. This was really as far away from the Club’s Clowes Street origins as the side could go while remaining in Gorton. The Club’s identity was in danger of disappearing.
Association Football was becoming more popular in the area and sides, such as Newton Heath, were beginning to progress, winning trophies such as the Manchester Cup. Professionalism was beginning to develop and Gorton had to decide on whether their future was to be as a good local side, such as a modern day pub team, or as a professional outfit.
The decision was taken to become a progressive and professional outfit. The committee also wanted Gorton to return to their Clowes Street roots. They recognised that this was not entirely possible – Clowes Street remained one of Manchester’s most densely populated areas – but they did manage to find an area of wasteland not too far away. Legend tells us that Club Captain Kenneth McKenzie lived in Bennett Street, Ardwick, and every lunchtime he would take a short cut from Bennett’s Timber Yard, off Hyde Road, through the L&NWR railway arches, and across the wasteland to Bennett St. He believed that with a little effort this land could become Gorton’s home.
After a great deal of effort and negotiation with the railway company which owned the land the pitch was ready for its first match by the end of August 1887. In addition, steps were taken to relaunch the Club. The name of Ardwick AFC was chosen as the new ground was just within the boundaries of Ardwick and not Gorton, although it has to be stressed that this ground was closer to Clowes Street than any other Gorton venue used by the Club after its first season.
The nearby Hyde Road Hotel became Ardwick’s headquarters. Stones from this building, demolished in 2002, formed part of the Club’s Memorial Garden at the City Of Manchester Stadium when it was opened.
Gradually Ardwick increased their support and it’s fair to say that by the summer of 1888 Ardwick were Manchester’s most popular club, or at least on a par with Newton Heath. In 1889 Ardwick built a grandstand capable of holding 1,000 spectators, and for the sum of £5 15s the club’s first pay box – turnstile was not an appropriate name – was erected.
From that point on the side grew at a rapid rate and managed to recruit several good quality and well known players. Perhaps the best known at the time was Davie Weir (seen on the card at the top of this page) who joined Ardwick in May 1890. Often described as individualistic, Weir was an England international when he arrived at Hyde Road after playing in the 6-1 victory over Ireland in March 1889 and a 3-2 defeat by Scotland the following April. Against Scotland he was credited with scoring England’s second goal, although there remains some dispute as to who got the final touch.
At City Weir played as a forward, but he had previously been known for fulfilling a variety of roles most notably centre-half. Football was still developing of course, but the key point concerning Weir’s pre-Ardwick days is that he was known as a great goalscorer whatever position he played at Bolton. He’d only missed one match during Bolton’s first two seasons of League football, and had netted a 21 goals in 43 League games. During 1889-90 season he scored an incredible 10 goals in only 4 FA Cup ties. Clearly for Weir – a player only in his late twenties – to leave League side Bolton to join a side that had yet to compete in any formal league says a great deal about the ambition of Ardwick.
At Hyde Road Weir was immediately popular and he netted two hat-tricks in his first four games. He also scored the first Ardwick goal in the FA Cup, and was a key member of the side that competed in the Alliance League in 1891-2. His career also saw him feature in the Club’s first season in the Football League where he became Ardwick’s top goalscorer, despite returning to Bolton midway through the season in January 1893.
In later life he became the Glossop manager in 1909 and remained with the Division Two side until April 1911 when he was approached by Stuttgart to become their coach. He passed away in November 1933 at the age of 70.
Every Monday I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. Today’s section is the introduction to the book. There is material in every section of the book that should interest fans of Manchester football, no matter which team you support, or academic researchers/historians.
Subscribing costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or you could sign up for a year at the discounted price of £20 per year. Every subscriber gets access to everything posted on the site.
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today.
Every Monday starting on 3 August 2025 I’m posting a section from my book ‘The Emergence of Footballing Cultures: Manchester 1840-1919’. It tells the story of the origins of men’s football in Manchester and discusses the birth of both City and United plus the clubs that predated them such as Hulme Athenaeum, Manchester AFC, Birch etc. There is material in every section of the book that should interest fans of Manchester football, no matter which team you support, or academic researchers/historians.
Subscribing costs £3 per month (cancel anytime) or you could sign up for a year at the discounted price of £20 per year. Every subscriber gets access to everything posted on the site.
Here’s a nice card from John Baines (he used to produce these cards in Bradford, West Yorkshire) featuring Ardwick AFC’s captain Davie Weir. Presumably this is from 1892-1894 when the team was in the Football League. Weir was the club’s top scorer in 1892-93.
Already this website tells the story of Manchester City with seasonal articles on every season from 1890-91 (Ardwick) through to 2009-10 and throughout February I’ll be adding the history of the Club prior to 1890. Starting with material from the 1850s and the establishment of an organisation that was to play a major part in the establishment of the Club, I’ll be telling via a series of articles the story of key individuals/origins/moments that contributed to the establishment of a football club. The series starts tomorrow with the first feature on the 1850s. Watch this space!
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Gary James' Football Archive 