Cod Almighty | Article
by Antony Chapman
2 December 2010
The BBC's Football Focus recently highlighted the role of Arthur Drewry – Grimsby Town director, president of the Football League and chairman of the Football Association – in bringing the World Cup to England. He had helped negotiate the entry of the home nations into the World Cup, although he soon had cause to regret it; he picked the England team that lost 1-0 to the United States in 1950. Elected the fifth president of FIFA in 1955, he opened the 1958 tournament (the only one in which a contemporary Grimsby Town player, Johnny Scott of Northern Ireland, has featured) and two years later secured the vote to have the 1966 tournament played in England. Arthur Drewry was also, evidently, a man who had time for the enthusiasms of 11-year-old Grimbarians. Antony Chapman takes up the story.
Arthur Drewry was a fish merchant, as was my father (you will surely have heard of Walwyn Chapman Ltd, Fish Merchants) and the two were acquaintances, meeting occasionally for lunch. By chance, he also lived just round the corner from us, in Eastwood Avenue. Well, having discovered that my father knew Arthur, with all the confidence of a brash 11-year-old I wrote to him asking if he could get me some England team autographs.
To my astonishment he replied with a team sheet containing those of the Great Britain team that played the Rest of Europe in the 'match of the century' at Hampden Park in 1947. What a team! They won 6-1.
Frank Swift, George Hardwick, Bill Hughes, Archie Macauley, Jack Vernon, Ron Burgess, Stanley Matthews, Wilf Mannion, Tommy Lawton, Bill Steel, Bill Liddell.
Reserve: H S Carter
Trainers: Hugh Shaw Geo Young
The following year he sent me the England team which played Scotland, in those days England's biggest annual international. Another amazing team!
Frank Swift, Laurie Scott, George Hardwick, Bill Wright, Neil Franklin, Henry Cockburn, Stanley Matthews, Stan Mortenson, Tommy Lawton, Stan Pearson, Tom Finney.
Reserve: Horatio Carter
Trainers: J Trotter, Bill Nicholson
Member of the FA in charge: Arthur Drewry
These two team sheets are framed either side of my ticket for Wembley on 30 July 1966 and the rosette I wore that day.
A year or so later Arthur came up trumps again. On a letterhead bearing "The Football League Ltd", "Maclure Street, Grimsby", "A Drewry (President)" and his home and office phone numbers, he sent me the autographs of the Tottenham Hotspur team which won the second division championship in 1949-50. Another team with an amazing reputation for playing real attacking football.
Ted Ditchburn, A Ramsey, C Withers, Bill Nicholson, H Clarke, Ron Burgess, Billy Rees, Eddie Baily, Len Duquemin, Les Bennett, Les Medley, Sonny Walters.
Manager: Arthur S Rowe
This team went on to win the first division championship the following year.
Arthur sent me Christmas cards for six years, 1948 to 1952. All were official cards, from the "President and Management Committee of the Football League" and signed personally by Arthur. Some unfortunately have ink blots on them; we didn't have ballpoint pens in those days. I have several other letters from him.
I don't remember why, but 1952 seems to have been the last of this correspondence. As I said, I never met him, but what a generous man to have gone out of his way to send such wonderful mementoes to a boy he hardly knew. I know he had two children of his own, certainly older than me; perhaps they had grown up by then, or were just not interested in football.
If only Grimsby still had players and administrators, or at least just one, who operated at the top levels of English and world football nowadays. Fenty for president!
Read more about Arthur Drewry on Town's official website or use the Cod Almighty feedback form to comment.