Lest we forget, today is Remembrance Sunday.
With Fabian Delph set to return to Villa Park this afternoon, it is understandable that fans are focused on the former Aston Villa captain’s treachery.
However, I would suggest that today should be about other men from the club’s history. This afternoon, fans should remember the Villans who served in World Wars One and Two rather than a mercenary modern footballer.
Franklin (Frank) Buckley was born in Urmston, Lancashire, on October 3rd 1882. His father, John, was a sergeant in the British Army.
After leaving St. Francis Xavier’s College in 1898, where many talented footballers were schooled, Frank Buckley worked as a clerk and served as a member of the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the Manchester Regiment.
In February 1900, aged seventeen, Buckley, following in his father’s footsteps, signed up for a twelve-year engagement with the 2nd Battalion of the King’s Liverpool Regiment.
Expecting to be sent to South Africa to fight in the Boer War, Buckley was surprised to be stationed in Ireland. There he represented his regiment in various sports and quickly rose to the rank of Corporal.
By 1902, he was a Lance-Corporal.
After three years in Ireland, Buckley was spotted by a scout from Aston Villa, who advised him to have trials with the Birmingham club.
Heeding the scout’s advice, Buckley paid £18 to buy himself out of the army and headed back to England, where he had a successful trial with Aston Villa, then one of the most successful clubs in the country, having been crowned the English champions in 1900. Due to the quality of the players already at the club, centre-half Buckley struggled to break into the first team.
He left the club in 1904, moving initially to Brighton and Hove Albion before spending short spells with both Manchester clubs and finding some stability at Birmingham City, where he made fifty-six appearances.
His brother Chris, also a centre half, made one hundred and thirty-six appearances for Aston Villa between 1906 and 1914 before joining the board and becoming the club’s chairman.
In response to public pressure, Home Secretary William Joynson-Hicks, the Viscount of Brentford, formed the Football Battalion on December 12th 1914 at Fulham Town Hall. Frank Buckley, by then an England international, having made his international debut in 1914, aged thirty, when he was nearing the end of his playing career, was the first man to join the newly-formed Football Battalion.
The Football Battalion reached the front line of the Western Front on January 15th 1916. During their first two weeks in the trenches, four members were killed and thirty-three wounded. Frank Buckley was one of those seriously injured, when shrapnel punctured his lungs. He was sent to a military hospital in Kent, where the shrapnel was successfully removed from his lungs.
He returned to active service on the Western Front with the Football Battalion a year after his injury. Unfortunately, the first offensive he was involved in saw the Germans attack the Football Battalion with mustard gas at Argenvillers and Buckley’s weakened lungs were unable to cope so he was once again sent home to recuperate but not before being mentioned in dispatches for his bravery during the offensive.
Having recovered, Buckley saw more active service and went on to lead the Football Battalion as its Major, keeping invaluable records about all the officers and men of the Football Battalion. Buckley’s records show that a startling 83% of the members of the Football Battalion were killed in action or as a result of their wounds.
After the war, the thirty-six-year-old Buckley, unable to play football, turned his attention to management and became recognised as a man who nurtured young talent during his brief spell at the helm of Norwich City. With the club in serious debt, Buckley found himself at odds with the board and left the club in 1920.
He then worked as a traveller for Maskell’s confectionery company and seemed happy in his role but a chance meeting with Albert Hargreaves, one of Blackpool’s directors, led to him joining Blackpool. There he signalled a vibrant new era for the club by changing the colours to the distinctive orange still worn by the Seasiders. Buckley used his military experience to introduce strict training, fitness and dietary regimes and proved to be a man ahead of his time, also drawing on the services of physiotherapists long before other managers thought to do so.
After four years at Blackpool, then regarded as the fittest team in the Second Division, and with a reputation for buying players wisely, Buckley moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1927. There he became known as an eccentric with a no-nonsense approach; one humiliating defeat saw him force his players to train in the town centre. Wolves’ legend Stan Cullis, brought to the club by Buckley, once said, “I soon realised that Major Buckley was one out of the top drawer. He did not suffer fools gladly. His style of management in football was very similar to his attitude in the army.”
In 1937, having been approached by a chemist called Menzies Sharp, Buckley reportedly injected himself with monkeys’ testicles for three months before treating his players in this unusual manner, which was said to have inspired some incredible results, including a 7-0 win over Everton and a 10-1 victory over Leicester City. His methods were investigated by the Football League following the 1939 FA Cup final.
Leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1944, Buckley went on to manage Notts County for a wage of over £4,000 a year, unheard of at the time, and later took charge of Hull City, Leeds United and Walsall.
Major Frank Buckley died in Walsall on December 21st 1964, having made an indelible mark on English football.
In April 2015, Buckley was posthumously awarded the prestigious ‘Contribution to League Football’ accolade.
Of course, Major Frank Buckley was only one of many men connected to Aston Villa Football Club who served in the armed forces.
World War One:
W. Bowker (killed) W. Kimberley (died, 1918) A. Rogers (killed) Dr. L. Roose (killed)
J. Watkins (killed) W. Battersby R. Black L. Bowker R. Chandler A. Cross A. Davis
A. Dyke W. George H. Hampton A. Hall S. Hardy W. Harris H. Kilner A. McLachlan
J. Merrick W. Morris F. Moss E. Parkes E. Parsons C. Stephenson J. Stephenson
F. Suddes C. Wallace W. Walpole H. Wells T. Weston J. Windmill E. Woods D. York
World War Two:
M. Armstrong (killed) J. Barker R. Beresford J. Browne H. Brain B. Cobley T. Cullen
A. Grosvenor J. Harper A. Hickman E. Houghton R. Jones A. Kerr L. Latham G. Lunn
J. Martin A. Moss F. Moss F. O’Donnell F. Osbourne J. Rutherford A. Sockett
R. Spensley
Today, and always, we shall remember them.
