I had this really interesting query from Andrew Huggins. Not sure if I can fully answer it for him, but here is my best attempt. If anybody else wants to add anything, feel free......
To be absolutely certain, I would need to have knowledge of the exact legal constitution of Norwich City Football Club as a business pre and post World War One, and the regulations of the Southern League at the time regarding member finances. Of course I have no understanding of either. It is also safe to assume that there is no living person who may have been involved in the dealings, therefore we have to rely on what little has been recorded by historians, together with a few 'best guesses'. I have highlighted the key dates as the timing of the events do have relevance to the story.
Norwich City played their final Southern League match in May 1915 and football was closed down the following summer. Some clubs decided to shut there and then - life in Britain faced being ripped apart by war and the only reason to continue playing to any kind of fixture list was the notion that spirits would be lifted by attending a match or two.
Norwich took the latter course, meeting teams made up of servicemen. These games produced no profit as such. It should be said that the club had never been wealthy even before the war (nor indeed throughout history), getting by year to year, but only just ! We had wealthy investors for sure, but nothing like the big clubs in England, many of whom were also established a good twenty years before us, and could therefore ride out a period when income dropped to nothing. Some Norwich directors wanted to close the doors in 1915, at least as far as playing was concerned, but anyway, in the end, friendlies were arranged.
It would appear that the cost of these matches was not excessive, but nevertheless, the financial position of the club worsened. A meeting took place on the 10th of December 1917 and it was decided that the business would be put into voluntary liquidation. The largest external creditor was the bank. Money was owed to other clubs, but they also owed Norwich City. The main losers were the shareholders - the local men who had put personal money into the club over the years and had lost the lot. The Nest would be shut down, and left standing empty. In his book Canary Citizens, Mike Davage records the period by means of a newspaper cutting. Accumulated losses were £7328 but of more interest perhaps were the words of the club president, Mr Charles Watling, who told the meeting "There is really no reason why one of these days, when circumstances will become more favourable, the old club should not be started again, and have a glorious future". Chairman Mr W.T. Blyth went on to add that perhaps some day it (the club) would revive, and if so he would be in it.
I think it is safe to assume that the decisions taken that night were not of desperate men heavily in debt. It was merely a pragmatic course of action - directors cutting their losses. It must be remembered that nobody had any idea how long World War One would last, and whether football would ever be the same again in terms of competitions, when it ended.
Full closure of Norwich City Football Club did not occur until the 6th of November 1918, with no money coming in during the eleven months after the first meeting. But once again overtures were made that all involved hoped that one day, the club could be re-formed. Just five days after that second meeting, the Great War ended. And on the 15th of February 1919, a third meeting took place, after the former directors had received a letter from the Southern League, reminding them that Norwich City were still members of the competition. Canary Citizens tells us that £5000 was required to get the club off the ground once more with the formation of a new company. Over a third of that amount was pledged on the night !
The world may have changed as a result of war, but on the field and terraces, Norwich City were back to what they always had been. The trading name may well have changed but the team name did not. The Southern League clubs from before the war did not get the money owed to them by Norwich City, but they also never paid what they owed, so it was probably as broad as it was long. Many of the same investors put their hands into their pockets for a second time to get the club going again.
The resolve of the Southern League to also get up and running was high, with matches resuming in August 1919. Representatives from the organisation were as keen to see Norwich involved as they had been in 1905. These were days long before the advent of the professional game in Peterborough and Cambridge, and Ipswich would not have the stomach for anything other than the amateur game for nearly twenty years. Norwich City truly were the only ones flying the flag for East Anglian football, something the Southern League wanted to see continue. After just one season, the Southern League ostensibly became the Third Division of the Football League, so it's a good job the business brains behind our club reacted as quickly as they did.
So, to answer Andrew's question, why do we not refer to 1919 as being our year of formation? The answer I guess, is that although the business affairs of the original club were closed down, nothing actually changed. No seasons were missed, because the entire sport was closed down. Many of the same directors returned. The club played in the same league, at the same ground, with roughly the same colours and certainly the same nickname. The company name no doubt changed slightly, but not the playing name. And therefore, there has never been any need, other than in strict legal terms, to acknowledge our history in two parts. Time has consigned the entire liquidation episode to just a few rather sketchy paragraphs in our long and complicated story. A bridge over troubled water that the directors had to cross to give football in the city of Norwich a chance of survival.
There were no penalties to serve such as starting all over again five divisions lower and under a new title, because the structure of football did not go that deep. And in any case, there was no reason for any football club to be hounded in such a manner. The joy felt by a society free from the awfulness of death and despair meant that those who had loved football pre 1915 wanted things to get back to normal.
There were victims of the situation. Croydon Common FC, who also played in the Southern League before the war, were also wound up in 1917, and they did not reappear - the only club in the competition to cease. But Leicester Fosse, who played in the Second Division of the Football League, ran into financial trouble in 1919, and immediately re-formed as Leicester City FC. Interestingly, City have taken on the history of the old club despite the name change. Leeds City were also dissolved in 1919, though in their case they were expelled from the Football League for breaking rules on player payments during the war. The Leeds United club we know today was formed as a consequence, but is very definitely a different entity.
These examples show that had the Canaries gone bust in the conventional sense of the word, or broken any regulations or laws, or made enemies as a result of their actions, a new club, together with a new playing name, would have had to be formed. Obviously the Southern League had no problem with any financial dealings Norwich City may have been involved in during the war. Nor did the member clubs of the day. We had no creditors knocking at our door, and despite the daunting ground in which we played our home matches, Norwich City were well liked, respected, and well supported.
I for one am glad that those pioneers who saw us through from 1902 to 1915 are recognised for the part they played in our history, and not written off as being a different club. The course of action taken by the Board of Directors in 1917 and 1918 may not have been entirely necessary with hindsight, but at the time, nobody knew how long the sport would remain closed. We can only guess at what deals were done with the bank, but it is clear that at all stages, the intention was there for the club to rise again, just as soon as the world situation allowed. And without doubt, the bank must have supported this action.
Had there been any need for a name change, I guess history would be written slightly differently. Something along the lines of "Norwich Athletic were originally known as Norwich City before WW1, and changed their name after the original club shut down" !
Thankfully there was no need and we have always had the same name. Which is just as well, because nothing else would sound as good, now would it ?
Do you have a question regarding Norwich City Football Club history or trivia ? Maybe a memory that you can't quite piece together due to missing information ? The solution of course may already be on Sing Up The River End! but if you want to contact me either by the comment facility or e mail (address at bottom of the blog) I will try to publish you an answer.
Many questions are likely to be beyond me. So, if I don't know the answer, I will put out a request to see if any other readers can help. It's amazing what people know and remember and it may just give you what you are looking for.
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