(reflections from Dave Harris, Midland Railway Study Centre Coordinator)

Numerous railway football teams enjoy long histories (none more so than Newton Heath LYR FC who became Manchester United in 1902) but here is the story of the long defunct Derby Midland FC whose origins will be immediately apparent.

The Study Centre assisted in a small way Peter Seddon, author of The Men Who Made the Rams: Origins and Who’s Who of Derby County Football Club 1884 to 1888, published by Soccerdata in 2013, a copy of which is in the Society’s library.

Since then, in pursuing some research into Midland Railway personalities, I have come across William Morley, whom Peter mentions in passing in his piece. Without in any way decrying Peter’s work and research, it is interesting how his write-up cast the upstart Derby County club as the villains in the tale. Contemporary reporting would suggest otherwise. I cite this from the Derby Mercury of 05 November 1890 p8 in reporting on a presentation dinner…

Mr. WILLIAM MORLEY proposed “The Midland Club”. He stated that he was one of the oldest members of the club, which commenced its existence some 30 years ago in a very small way, Mr. Swanbrick was then the president and they possessed no county club; the only clubs in the town, in fact, were the Midland and the Town. The resources of the club, the ground, and in fact the whole financial position was secured by the kindness of the Board. Since the County team had been started the Mid’s had been of the greatest help in recruiting the eleven (Hear, bear). There was Mr. Wright, Mr. Page, Mr. Harry Evans, Mr. J. Evans, and Mr. Storer, and there was no doubt that the help the Midland had given to the County had been immense. At one time he was slightly antagonistic in regard to football (laughter), but whatever his feeling had been with regard to the County, and it bad been very strong, he had always been pleased to do whatever he could for the Mids (Hear, Hear), and he might deny that the same would be the case as long as he lived in Derby and was employed under the Midland Co. (Hear, Hear.)

As for William Morley, he is a much more prominent character, both in the Midland Railway realm and the sporting history of Derby than Peter perhaps presents. The same can be said of his son (of the same name and so all his life seems to rejoiced with the suffix Junior added to his name) as he followed in his father’s footsteps. William Senior was for many years Chief Clerk to the Secretary of the Midland Railway Company, and on his death in 1912 his obituaries were fulsome and plentiful in the newspapers. One of which records this about the subject Peter discusses…

Derby County Football Club was formed in 1884, as an offshoot of Derbyshire County Cricket Club. Derbyshire, which had formed in 1871, had just embarked on a disastrous cricket season, losing all ten of its Championship matches, and was looking for methods of generating extra revenue.  With the increasing popularity of football in the areas becoming apparent (Derby Midland had formed the previous year, and 1884 Derbyshire Cup Final had attracted 7,000 spectators, the biggest crowd in the area to ever watch football), William Morley Sr., a bank clerk at the Midland Railway, and several other enthusiasts, saw the establishment of an associated football team as an opportunity to both generate extra revenue and give supporters a winter interest. They approached the Derbyshire FA, formed the previous year, proposing the name “Derbyshire County”, to emphasise the connection to the cricket club. This was rejected as being too long, and the name “Derby County” was instead settled upon, with home games to be played at the County Ground. For his sterling efforts William Morley Sr. secured the privileged sobriquet of ‘Founding Father’ and became first Chairman.

As late as 1923, in the long running “Town & Country Gossip” column, in discussing the Morley family, the Derby Daily Telegraph reported this lovely snippet of Midland Railway folklore…

Like his son, he was in the Secretary’s Department of the Midland Railway Company, and often related the story of that memorable day when “King” Hudson was deposed from the Chairmanship and bade farewell to the headquarters of the Company at Derby. Morley was the last man with whom he shook hands as he left the offices, and remembered perfectly how jaunty he was, bearing himself as though he had not a care in the world “One of the most charming men I ever met,” was Morley’s commentary on the once-famous magnate of the railway world.

– Derby Daily Telegraph 19 February 1923

William Morley Senior reached the ripe old age of 90 and is buried in Derby’s Uttoxeter New Road Cemetery.

Dave Harris

8^th October 2024

Photos:

Derby Midland team photo. Date and source unknown.

Book cover of ‘the Men who made the Rams’ by Peter Seddon