Can't believe they've done this again!
I've been in touch with them in the past to ask them to remove my words from the programme and to play some of the other stuff I said at the time.
Research moves on. We've always known that the men's footy team evolved out of the cricket team but the origins of the cricket team were unclear. At the time the Radio4 programme (about 5 years ago now!) was made anecdotal evidence based on Tony Heap's research in the 70s suggested the cricket club was formed in 1879 with William Beastow a key figure. Beastow was also a key figure with the Working Men's Meetings set up by Anna a year or so earlier. The assumption was that the cricket activities came out of those meetings.
If that were true then Anna created the meetings so, indirectly it could be argued, she created the cricket team and that created the footy team. BUT.........
We now know much more about the cricket team and have reports from the 1860s. In addition the crucial period of growth for the cricket team came in the 1870s - Anna was working in Preston as a Governess during the 1870s, returning to Gorton around 1878 when her dad was suffering (we still don't have full facts of her time away from Manchester and when she returned however).
I explained this in the 2nd edition of "Manchester A Football History" published 2010, in the MCFC match programme (Nov 2010), in various interviews, and on Bluemoon dozens of times, but the message still isn't getting out there.
To set the record straight I've written much more in "Manchester The City Years" and go back to the 1850s in my quest to detail the facts.
The Connell family are important in setting the tone in West Gorton, but Anna's involvement looks to have been no more (possibly less) than Georgina and Arthur. In fact as rector Arthur was undoubtedly the leading figure behind all the church's community activities - without his support none of them would have been allowed to develop.
Factually it's difficult to prove who came up with the idea of playing football (I explain some theories in my new book), but the evidence we now have suggests that saying Anna founded the Club is a bit like saying Bernard Halford scored the goal that won us the League title - there's a link and the Connells were very significant in setting the tone, but I don't believe any individual should be credited as founder.
Incidentally, Peter Lupson (the main guy on the radio 4 prog) got in touch with me 2 months ago and he now believes Anna was not the founder (he believes it was William Beastow) as well. Like me he does view her as important, together with her sister and father, for setting the community tone, but not in founding a football/sports club.
-- Fri May 18, 2012 11:22 am --
trotsky said:
The "founder" thing was the angle which Radio 4 took.
Whatever it's great that we're being mentioned and our history is on worldwide display. I especially liked the guy who spoke about the first ever Manchester Derby - St. Mark's Vs Newton Heath. When asked who won, he replied "City, of course".
That was me.
