Max Woosnam

H H

hullfan

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29 Aug 2013
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Hi fellas,

I'm sure most of you have heard of Max Woosnam, who played for Man City for six years (1919-1925) and captained the team during that time. For those of you who aren't aware of Woosnam, he is often regarded as Britain's, if not the world's, greatest all-round sportsman. He won an Olympic gold, won the doubles at Wimbledon, compiled a 147 break in snooker, scored a century at Lords, captained Man City and England at football and the Davis Cup team at tennis.

In total, he played 96 times for City, with a serious leg break ruling him out for over a year, and Woosnam often struggling to find time to play given his multitude of sporting commitments. His original contract stipulated that he was only required to play home games, but this condition was later changed after a shock FA Cup defeat in Woosnam's absence highlighted his importance to the team. He helped City to a second place finish in the 1920-21 Football League season. Woosnam refused to ever sign professional terms, playing only as an amateur, describing the idea of being a 'professional' sportsman as "vulgar".

I just thought some of you might be interested in this article on his life and career:

http://ahalftimereport.com/2015/08/28/britains-greatest-sportsmen-part-1-max-woosnam/

All the best for the season and congratulations on your strong start. Cheers.
 
I just used the search forum and although there are numerous references to Max, amazingly there appears not to be a thread about him, so thanks for starting one!
His book is fascinating with all of his exploits on the sporting fields and also on the battle front at Gallipoli in WWI too.
Seemed to pass away a lonely figure, having not been close to his children......
If you haven't read the book it is very well recommended. He is described as an amateur player, which officially he was... but the reality was City's directors employed him at Crossley's factory in Openshaw... and he didn't really put a shift in there..... if you catch my drift.
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Bloody hell, what an athlete he must of been to achieve all of that.

To be honest i've never heard of him, although I remember reading years ago about one of our former players who had been involved at an high level in alot of sports... might be this guy.
Memory is awful.

Respect to Max Woosnam
 
Lots of great stuff about Max over the years, but also some negative stuff. Many City fans never forgave him for breaking the General Strike and an angry mob appeared outside his house. Part of the reason I think his name isn't as well known amongst City fans as some of our other legends. Of course, he did have a street named after him, which is still a relatively unusual occurence for City stars - none of our 50s stars have streets named after them yet (though worth noting that Manchester council have a policy of not naming streets after someone who is alive).

He was given the honour of captaining City in their first game at Maine Road - and that was influential when we decided to make Goater capt for the final game in 2003.

Max was a strict amateur though, as Mad Eyed points out, he was employed at Crossleys but not by City by a City fan. Max did work hard there and missed City games for his work, until his City supporting boss told him off! He also became a significant figure locally in what became ICI, but for many his strike breaking activities in 1926 damaged his name for good. Not certain how we'd feel today, but imagine if Silva did something similar a couple of years after retiring. How would we react if his actions were perceived as not supportive of us? We only have to look at the criticism a 'hero' like Niall Quinn gets when he gives a negative view of our team/squad/performance to realise that Woosnam must have suffered, but then so did the thousands of people who saw the General Strike as their only option.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Gary James said:
Lots of great stuff about Max over the years, but also some negative stuff. Many City fans never forgave him for breaking the General Strike and an angry mob appeared outside his house. Part of the reason I think his name isn't as well known amongst City fans as some of our other legends. Of course, he did have a street named after him, which is still a relatively unusual occurence for City stars - none of our 50s stars have streets named after them yet (though worth noting that Manchester council have a policy of not naming streets after someone who is alive).

He was given the honour of captaining City in their first game at Maine Road - and that was influential when we decided to make Goater capt for the final game in 2003.

Max was a strict amateur though, as Mad Eyed points out, he was employed at Crossleys but not by City by a City fan. Max did work hard there and missed City games for his work, until his City supporting boss told him off! He also became a significant figure locally in what became ICI, but for many his strike breaking activities in 1926 damaged his name for good. Not certain how we'd feel today, but imagine if Silva did something similar a couple of years after retiring. How would we react if his actions were perceived as not supportive of us? We only have to look at the criticism a 'hero' like Niall Quinn gets when he gives a negative view of our team/squad/performance to realise that Woosnam must have suffered, but then so did the thousands of people who saw the General Strike as their only option.
Click to expand...

what was this strike mate?
 
He put his name to a range of tennis rackets, this is from 1924. Wonder how much that deal made him?

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