This clue was rather prosaic for Mr. Ferragamo`s shoes, for it referred to the fact that a shoemaker is also known as a cobbler, and Northampton Town`s nickname, since their beginning in March 1897, is "The Cobblers".
As to why, well boot and shoe manufacturing was the town`s main industry, was a major employer for many years. You can see that on both John Player`s "Counties and Their Industries" (1915) and Pattreiouex`s "The English & Welsh Counties" (1928)
The footballer on our card is Thomas Boyle, and he was born, in Sheffield, on the 21st of February 1901. He grew up to become a miner, but was spotted, aged twenty, playing football for the Bullcroft Colliery team, and signed for Sheffield United.
Almost certainly his proudest moment was lifting the F.A. Cup with them, at Wembley Stadium, just four years later in 1925. And his dad was probably just as proud, for he was the Irish international Peter Boyle, also of Sheffield United, who had won the F.A. Cup trophy himself, with them, in 1899 and in 1902 - and also played in the 1901 final, which was won by Tottenham Hotspur.
According to the Trading Card Database, Peter Boyle is on just two cards, the 1901 set of F. & J. Smith "Footballers" (No.80) - and the 1902 set of Ogden`s "General Interest" (No. F.375).
His son, and our man, listed as Tommy Boyle (b,.1901), seems to appear on a few more cards. The first is a cigarette card, the 1912 set of Murray`s "Cricketers and Footballers Series H" (unnumbered), but that cites Burnley, so it is almost certainly of the other Tommy Boyle, born in 1886. The trade card, the 1925 Crescent Confectionery "Footballers" (unnumbered), is definitely him, with Sheffield United. Our card is not listed. As to the later cards listed, the 1997 reprint of the 1914 Churchman "Footballers" is also the other Tommy Boyle. And I have no idea who is on the two J.F. Collectables cards, for they are only listed not shown - but if you own them please tell us the team so that we can add or discount them.
In 1929 our man moved on, to Manchester United, for £2,000 - that equates to approximately £105,000 today. However he was only there for one season. Something must have been going on then, as he moved to Macclesfield and within a month or so was at Northampton Town. He either liked that better, or the problems elsewhere had settled down, as he stayed for five years.
After that he did a little bit of player-managing for Scarborough, and also took over the license of the Plough Inn, which was at Scalby, not so far away. He died in January 1972, aged seventy.
This set first appears in our original British Trade Index, RB.25, published in 1962, as :
BRITISH CHEWING SWEETS (LTD), SLOUGH, BERKSHIRE
Cards exchanged for wrappers from "Oh Boy Gum", about the 1920s.
- PHOTOS OF FOOTBALLERS OF THE PRINCIPAL TEAMS. Md. 75 x 51. Brown varnished half-tones. Unnd. (3 known) ... BRI-1
1. Half Back - A. Turner - Stoke City F.C.
2. Forward - Bourton - Coventry City F.C.
3. Goal - A. Todd - Port Vale F.C.
That obviously, dare I say, set the ball rolling, for in the British Trade Index part two, RB.27, published not so long after in 1969, the trio is now forty-seven strong. Now this listing again numbers the cards, though they are unnumbered in actuality. That means our numbers 1, 2 and 3 above are now moved to being numbers 36, 39 and 12. However, I have retained the numbering in this instance, and the entry reads, exactly :
BRITISH CHEWING SWEETS. BR1-1 (PHOTOS OF FOOTBALLERS). 47 known : -
- A. Matt front, 7 known. Nos. 3, 6, 10, 14, 22 36 and 46.
- B. Glossy Front. 45 known. All except Nos 6 and 46.
Goal :
- T. Crilly, Northampton Town
- J. Cunningham, Walsall
- A. Dexter, Notts Forest
- Ellis, Wolverhampton Wanderers
- L. Hammond, Notts County
- W. R. John, Stoke City
- J. Kirby, Derby County
- A. McLaren, Leicester City
- Moody, Chesterfield
- Pearson, Coventry City
- H. Pearson, West Bromwich Albion
- A. Todd, Port Vale (was No.3, above)
- C. Williams, Mansfield Town
Back :
- J. Barrington, Notts Forest
- S. Bird, Walsall
- Bilsby, Coventry City
- Black, Leicester City
- A. Brown, Northampton Town
- England, Mansfield Town
- Hamilton, Chesterfield
- Lowton, Wolverhampton Wanderers
- R. McGrory, Stoke City
- G.H. Poyser, Port Vale
- G.E. Shaw, West Bromwich Albion
- G, Stimpson, Notts County
Half-Back :
- J.W. Barker, Derby County
- L. Butler, Mansfield Town
- Davison, Coventry City
- J. Dowsey, Northampton Town
- T. Graham, Notts Forest
- Rhodes, Wolverhampton Wanderers
- W. Richardson, West Bromwich Albion
- Ritchie, Leicester City
- J. Round, Port Vale
- Sliman, Chesterfield
- A. Turner, Stoke City (was No.1, above)
Forward :
- Adcock, Leicester City
- Bedford, Chesterfield
- Bourton, Coventry City (was No.2, above)
- T. Boyle, Northampton Town
- S. D. Crooks, Derby County
- Deacon, Wolverhampton Wanderers
- W. Dickinson, Notts Forest
- Mill, Mansfield Town
- T. Nolan, Port Vale
- W.C. Richardson, West Bromwich Albion
- G. Taylor, Notts County
At this point I have to mention something that you probably also picked up on, for it seems very odd that here we have a company based in Slough, in the southern half of England, not that far from London, and yet these football teams are all northern ones.
The inclusion of Chesterfield may also seem rather odd in a set of Principal Teams, but wait, for they were champions of the Midland League in 1919-20, albeit as Chesterfield Municipal - they were not named simply Chesterfield until the end of 1920. Their best ever League result is stated to be fourth, in the Second Division, in the 1946–47 season, though they did make the semi finals of the F.A. Cup in 1997, before being being knocked out by Middlesborough.
I digress, once more.
This is the last appearance of this set in our original British Trade Indexes.
They next appear in our updated British Trade Index, published in the year 2000, with a second issue. as :
BRITISH CHEWING SWEETS (LTD), SLOUGH.
Issued 1930s with "Oh Boy Gum".
- FILM STARS (A). About 35 x 20. Plain back. Name of star plus Film Co. in small letters, base of front. Unnd (22 known). See HB-169. Anonymous ... BRI-440
- PHOTOS OF FOOTBALLERS OF THE PRINCIPAL TEAMS. 1933/34. Brown varnished half-tones. 75 x 51. Unnd. (60). Four players from each of 15 teams. See HB-170. Each card given in exchange for five wrappers. ... BRI-450
This entry omits any reference to the fact that the cards can be found in matt and/or gloss, but maybe it has been discovered that all can be obtained in both formats? As for the "HB" code, that sends us to the handbook for this volume, to where the lists of unnumbered cards were removed - in order to save space in the index, and also to keep it to a manageable size. The footballers are again numbered, though, and, confusingly, they in yet another different order, omitting their positions entirely.
This entry, complete with notes to changes of text, and including the former numbers, therefore reads :
HB-170. PHOTOS OF FOOTBALLERS OF THE PRINCIPAL TEAMS. Unnd. (60). Issued by British Chewing Sweets. See BRI-450.
- Adcock, Leicester City (was No.37)
- Allsop, Walsall (new discovery)
- D. Astley, Aston Villa (new discovery)
- E. Barkas, Birmingham (new discovery)
- D. Blair, Aston Villa (new discovery)
- J. Barker, Derby (was No. 26, entered as "J. W. Barker, Derby County")
- J Barrington, Notts. Forest (was No.14)
- Bedford, Chesterfield (was No.38)
- S. Bird, Walsall (was No.15)
- Bisby, Coventry (was No.16, entered as "Bilsby, Coventry City")
- A. Black, Leicester City (was No.17, entered as "Black, Leicester City")
- Bourton, Coventry (was No.39, entered as "Bourton, Coventry City"
- T. Boyle, Northampton (was No.40, entered as "T. Boyle, Northampton Town"
- J. Bradford, Birmingham (new discovery)
- A. Brown, Northampton (new discovery)
- I. Butler, Mansfield Town (was No.27, entered as "L. Butler, Mansfield Town" - but that may have been my eyes, will check)
- T. Cooper, Derby (new discovery)
- T. Crilly, Northampton (was No.1, entered as "T. Crilly, Northampton Town")
- S. Crooks, Derby (was No.41, entered as "S. D. Crooks, Derby County")
- J. Cunningham, Walsall (was No.2)
- Davison, Coventry (was No.28, entered as "Davison, Coventry City")
- Deacon, Wolves (was no.42, entered as "Deacon, Wolverhampton Wanderers")
- A. Dexter, Notts Forest (was No.3)
- W. Dickinson, Notts Forest (was No.43)
- J. Dowsey, Northampton (was No.29, entered as "J. Dowsey, Northampton Town")
- Ellis, Wolves (was No.4, entered as "Ellis, Wolverhampton Wanderers"
- England, Mansfield Town (was No.19)
- T. Graham, Notts Forest (was No.30)
- F. Grice, Notts County (new discovery)
- Hamilton, Chesterfield (was No.20)
- L. Hammond, Notts County (was No.5)
- H. Hibbs, Birmingham (new discovery)
- W. John, Stoke City (was No.6, entered as "W. R. John, Stoke City")
- J. Kirby, Derby (was No.7, entered as "J. Kirby, Derby County")
- C. Leslie, Walsall (new discovery)
- Lowton, Wolves (was No.21, entered as "Lowton, Wolverhampton Wanderers")
- R. McGrory, Stoke City (was No.22)
- A. McLaren, Leicester City (was No.8 - we now know that this is a picture of J. McLaren instead)
- Mill, Mansfield Town (was No.44 - and it is a typo, it should have read "Mee", Mansfield Town)
- Moody, Chesterfield (was No.9)
- G. Morrall, Birmingham (new discovery)
- H. Morton, Aston Villa (new discovery)
- T. Nolan, Port Vale (was No.45)
- J. Palethorpe, Stoke City (new discovery)
- Pearson, Coventry (was No.10, entered as "Pearson, Coventry City")
- H. Pearson, West Bromwich (was No.11, entered as "H. Pearson, West Bromwich Albion")
- G. Poyser, Port Vale (was No.23, entered as "G.H. Poyser, Port Vale")
- Rhodes, Wolves (was No.31, entered as "Rhodes, Wolverhampton Wanderers")
- W. Richardson, West Bromwich (was No.32, entered as "W. Richardson, West Bromwich Albion")
- W.G. Richardson, West Bromwich (was No.46, entered as "W.C. Richardson, West Bromwich Albion" - possibly my typo, will check)
- Ritchie, Leicester City (was No.33)
- J. Round, Port Vale (was No.34)
- G. Shaw, West Bromwich (was No.24, entered as "G.E. Shaw, West Bromwich Albion")
- Sliman, Chesterfield (was No.35)
- G. Stimpson, Notts County (was No.25)
- A. Talbot, Aston Villa (new discovery)
- G. Taylor, Notts County (was No.47)
- A. Todd, Port Vale (was No.12)
- A. Turner, Stoke City (was No.36)
- C. Williams, Mansfield Town (was No.13)