[Lord Snooty]

https://greatwarreflections.co.uk/2020/0...great-war/

This is a great read for anybody interested in Huddersfield Town's old days and the First World War. It's by Wayne McDonald, who I follow on Twitter. He's @TerrierMcD if you're interested in following him.

[theo_luddite]

Thought you'd gone off on another research job for a minute there Snoots.

I was beginning to think that although you're on furlough you must be on and intravenous drip full of Red Bull or summat similar.

[Lord Snooty]

No, nowt to do with me this one.

[Lord Snooty]

A great article about Larrett Roebuck from the Western Front Association.

http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/o...t-roebuck/

[Lord Snooty]

Thought I'd re-post the bit I wrote about the Edwardian playboy Dr Leigh Richmond Roose, seeing as it's Remembrance week...... He was one of the names on the Roll of Honour which appeared in the Millwall programme last week. It was just a few names, not much else. Lest we forget an' all that.



Leigh Richmond Roose only played 5 games for us, all in 1911. One of them was our record victory at the time, a 7-1 win at Leeds Road against Birmingham. Before that, he had had two spells as Stoke's goalkeeper. He was an amateur, in a time when most footballers were professional, but was widely regarded as the best goalkeeper around.

In a game much different to today's soft arses, keepers were allowed to elbow opposing forwards and vice versa keepers being bundled into the back of the net whilst holding the ball was all well within the laws of the game. They were also allowed to handle the ball anywhere in their own half, a rule which Roose (known as Dick) used to dribble the ball, basketball style out of his area all the way to the halfway line to set up the attacks.

He was born in 1877 in Holt near Wrexham and was taught at school by novelist HG Wells among others at a school that preferred football to rugby. After school he went to the University of Aberystwyth and studied medicine. He joined the university footy team and became a bit of a celebrity with his ability to punch the ball further than most could kick it and his interactions with the crowd, which were unheard of back then. He was signed on by Aberystwyth Town and then earned his first call up to the Welsh national team in 1900.

Leigh Richmond "Dick" Roose

He wanted to be a doctor though and left Wales for London and a place at King’s College Hospital, joining London Welsh FC to keep his hand in. His name as a keeper though was getting around and when Stoke approached him, he agreed to join them, with them paying all his expenses, meaning he was a professional in all but name.

The people of Stoke had never seen owt like it. He entertained them by swinging on the crossbar and would interact with them during play. He also used to do the old jelly legs when facing penalties, but most of all, results on the pitch improved. He was so popular that fans would follow his hansom cab all the way from the station to the Victoria Ground when he travelled up from London for games.

Things weren't going well for Stoke off the pitch though and his extravagant expenses were a bit too much for the board of directors and they reneged on the deal, which saw him return to London and announce his retirement from the game at the age of 26. In London he got his Bachelor of Medicine and continued to live the London playboy life, but missed the footballing life and when Everton approached him in 1904, he was back. The Toffees were in contention for a league and cup double but ended up runners up in the league and lost in the cup semis.

After a half season on Merseyside, returned for a second spell at Stoke before he signed for Sunderland and helped them avoid relegation. He also helped Wales win the British Championships for the first time in 1907 before a broken wrist kept him out injured for a while. His antics were getting crazy now, including one instance where he climbed onto the crossbar when facing a corner and his name would appear in the gossip columns when he started a relationship with music hall star Marie Lloyd. He also received a 14 day ban for beating up and hospitalising a Sunderland director. Fourteen days? He would be imprisoned and banned for life if he did that now!

He had one game up in Scotland for Celtic as a guest player. It was a Scottish Cup semi final against Clyde and his eccentricities were on show again as he chased the Clyde goal scorer to the halfway line, just to congratulate him. Celtic lost the match and he wasn't invited back after he had a blazing row with their fans afterwards.

So he went back to the calmer waters of the Potteries and signed for Stoke's rivals Port Vale. He played against Stoke when Vale beat them 2-0 and he had to run away from an angry mob of Stoke fans, jumping into the river to escape. He bust his wrist again, but when he was fit again, he moved to the West Riding of Yorkshire and played those five games for Huddersfield Town in what was our first season in the Football League. They were the final five games of the season and after draws against Lincoln City and away at Hull, we beat Chelsea 3-1, then that 7-1 win against Birmingham before he moved on again after we lost at West Brom 0-1. The crowd for that Chelsea game at Leeds Road was treble the average attendance so maybe the news of the eccentric keeper had got around.

He signed for Aston Villa and then Woolwich Arsenal and retired soon afterwards in 1912. The FA had by now changed the rules on keepers handling the ball outside the area, which was definitely down to curbing the antics of a certain ex Stoke and Huddersfield goalie.

But then in 1914 the war broke out and LR Roose joined the Royal Army Medical Corps, serving in Gallipoli. He was listed as dead due to an administrative cock up as he had been wrongly recorded as LR Rouse. After Gallipoli he joined the Royal Fusiliers and went off to France where he became a father figure to his much younger comrades. He used his goalkeeping skills and in particular his strong throwing arm to rain grenades down on the enemy and he was awarded the Military Medal.

Sadly though, just a few days later, he and most of his regiment were killed in the final days of the Battle of the Somme on the 7th of October 1916, his body never being found. And to add to the family's woes, that administrative cock up meant that he was listed as LR Rouse on the Thiepval Memorial monument in northern France and the truth would remain uncovered for 87 years until a Welsh football historian discovered the mistake. That spelling error was eventually corrected and then in 2016, 100 years after his death, a plaque was unveiled at Wrexham's ground, his local club but one he never played for, to celebrate his life.

---

And here's my bit about Ralph Shields.......

Ralph Shields, scored twice against Arsenal on the 21st of November 1914. He also died on that date, 30 years later. He signed for us from Newcastle Utd and was leading scorer in the 1914/15 season with 16. During the war he served as a bombardier and after the war, played his part in our promotion to the first division.

He made a total of 47 League and FA Cup appearances for the Town, but missed out on a place in the side for the 1920 FA Cup Final. His goal tally stood at 22, with his final two coming in a First Division win at Leeds Road against the reigning champions West Bromwich Albion. However, following a 0-3 defeat against the same opponents in the following week, he was transferred to Exeter City.

He later played for Brentford, but then he retired in 1927 and emigrated to Australia. When war broke out again, he lied about his age, telling them he was 40, when he was actually 48.

In 1942, while serving with the Australian Army Service Corps in Malaya, he was captured by the Japanese and became a POW in Sandakan Prisoner of War Camp, North Borneo. He died of malnutrition and beriberi on the 21st of November 1944 and was buried at the Labuan War Cemetery in Malaysia, aged 52.