A Little Bit of History Before The Preston Game

[kushiro]

Here's another dive into Leicester history triggered by a post from @davieG .

 

A few days ago on the City of Leicester thread he posted this amazing old video entitled 'A British Policeman', pointing out that 'the anonymous city appears to be Leicester'. 

 

 

The comments after the video also recognize Leicester as the location, and if you watch it for a few moments you can confirm it for yourself.

 

It's an amazing window on the city in the late 50s - so fascinating that it was crying out for further investigation.  So here we go:

 

 

Right at the start we see 'PC Jack Edwards' helping a man who's just arrived at the old St. Margaret's Bus Station. 

 

 

Tied to the lamppost is a placard advertising that day's Leicester Evening Mail, the old rival of the Mercury. It's a bit difficult to see but you can just make out that it says 'Charnwood Motorway: Official Route and Plans'. 

 

That could help us pin down the day it was filmed. 

 

Those motorway plans were released on Wednesday September 17th 1958, and indeed, that day's Evening Mail carried the details of the route. 

 

The 'Charnwood' motorway was the Leicestershire section of what would become the M1. There had been huge controversy over the original route, as it passed very close to Bradgate Park. After a local outcry, the route through the county was shifted westwards, resulting in the well-known 'kink' in the line of the motorway as it stretches northwards.

 

The very first motorway in the UK was just about to be completed.  It was the Preston by-pass, the stretch of road that would become part of the M6, and which many visiting fans will be using tomorrow night as they head for the King Power. 

 

So -  to confirm -  we know that the fooage at the Bus Station was taken on that date - September 17th. 

 

What was happening in Leicester on that Wednesday? Anything connected to football?

 

That season, 1958/59, there were only 23 first team games played at Filbert Street. But one of them happened to be on that day.  We were playing at home in a First Division fixture - and the visiting team? Would you believe, Preston North End.  

 

Later in the video, we see PC Edwards at London Road Railway Station as a train pulls in:

 

 

It's a fine shot of an old engine looking just like Gordon from the Rev. Awdry books. And who knows, maybe as the train pulled into Leicester, jumping down onto the platform were Preston fans, heading for Filbert Street. Or maybe even the Preston team. In those pre-motorway days most clubs would travel to away games by rail. 

 

In truth, we don't know if the shots at the station were taken on the same day, It looks like the video was taken over a period of several days, or even weeks, given the number of different scenes it features.

 

That Leicester-Preston game witnessed a little piece of history. Look at the line-ups for the match, printed in the same edition of the Evening Mail:

 

 

Can you spot the player making his first ever appearance at Filbert Street?  Not Tom Finney - he was now in his mid-30s and a veteran of numerous legendary FA Cup battles against Leicester. 

 

The reference to Gordon the Big Engine was a pretty big hint.  

 

Yes - at number four for North End was 21 year old Gordon Milne, future Leicester City manager, playing against us for the first time. His father, Jimmy was also on the train. He was a former Preston player, and was now their trainer.

 

The game was a 2-2 draw, and Gordon Milne was described in the match report as 'a great worker', which is pretty impressive given the 24 hours he'd just experienced. He was doing his two years of National Service, and was selected to play for the Army in a match against Rangers at Ibrox on September 16th -  the Tuesday. After that game he dashed to Glasgow Station and got on the overnight sleeper to Preston, where he met up with his teammates for the journey to Leicester. He'd helped the Army to a 1-0 win over Rangers, and now he contributed to this 2-2 draw that left North End handily placed near the top of Division One. The following week they won the return fixture against Leicester 3-1 at Deepdale to go top.

 

There'll be much more about Gordon Milne in a forthcoming thread about the never-to-be-forgotten 1982/83 season, when he led Leicester back to the top flight. But let's get back to PC Jack Edwards. 

 

That wasn't actually his real name. His colleagues at Charles Street Police Station knew him as PC Jack Broughton, and he would enjoy an 'ee-aye-ee-aye-ee-aye-oh' rise through the ranks of the force in the 60s and 70s. 

 

Looking through the archives his name crops up frequently in newspaper reports, often in remarkable ways.

 

On April 28th 1953 this headline appeared in the Mercury: City Detectives Hung On To Stolen Car. The report told us that as a stolen car was racing down East Street in Leicester, 'Detective Constable Broughton jumped onto the nearside running board and Detectice Constable Bestwick mounted the offside running board'. Between them they forced the car to slow down and 'collide with scaffolding outside the Lansdowne Garage'. 

 

On August 28th 1964, the headline on page one of the Mercury was 'Sergeant Disarmed Man With Gun'. The report started like this: Police Sergeant Jack Broughton approached a man in Leicester's Clock Tower area who, he knew, was not only armed with a revolver and ammunition, but was possibly carrying a knife. As he drew near, the man thrust his hand into his pocket, but after a scuffle, the sergeant disarmed the man of both the gun and the knife.

 

He could also deal with football hooligans. On August 23rd 1969,  Leicester beat Norwch 3-0 at Filbert Street, and after the game a group of Leicester fans 'confronted a smaller group of Norwich fans in Buttermere Street'.  'The Leicester youths were throwing pieces of brick, and both groups were shouting obscenities' a court was told, but Chief Inspector Jack Broughton 'arrested all nine of them'. 

 

Wow. On his own? 

 

Reading these reports, it's no wonder he was promoted so rapidly through the ranks. He sounds like something out of a supercop cartoon series. The makers of that old video really should have receated some of his real-life capers rather than using those twee scenes of cats in factories and boys with toy guns.

 

Broughton stayed with the Leicester police for 35 years and finally retired in May 1984:

 

 

 

That same week in 1984, Gordon Milne, now Leicester boss, told Gary Lineker that he had been called up to the England squad for the first time. Milne had got us promoted, then kept us up. Preston, meanwhile, were heading for Division Four.  

 

Gordon's still going strong at 86 - and he's actually got a book coming out soon about his amazing career, which I can't wait to read. Who knows, he may even be there tomorrow night, supporting both teams at once.

 

Edited 3 October 2023 by kushiro

[Trav Le Bleu]

Weirdly, I'm assuming because of the old b&w video and pics, I read this in a Mr Chumley Warner voice

 

[SuperMike]

I reckon that Preston's other half-back (No 6) also became a LCFC manager!

A certain Mr Frank O'Farrell!

[Jobyfox]

2 hours ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Weirdly, I'm assuming because of the old b&w video and pics, I read this in a Mr Chumley Warner voice

 

Hate to be the spelling police, but that would be:

 

Mr. Cholmondley-Warner

 

You’re welcome 

[KingsX]

“A little bit of history” from @kushiro  =  “An exhaustively researched, well illustrated, brilliantly written doctoral dissertation on a little bit of history” 

 

 

But please don't change    Even from across the pond, I greatly enjoy these pieces.

 

As long as they don't interfere with your day job, mind.

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, Jobyfox said:

Hate to be the spelling police, but that would be:

 

Mr. Cholmondley-Warner

 

You’re welcome 

I looked it up on Google and thought to myself cos I was sure it was one of those funny English names that is spelt completely different to how it's said, like Mainwaring. I was also certain it was longer then Chumley.

 

Don't trust the internet.

 

[FoxFossil]

Reference to the railway engine stories interesting, as I'm sure you know these were printed in Leicester. 

[Free Falling Foxes]

6 hours ago, kushiro said:

Later in the video, we see PC Edwards at London Road Railway Station as a train pulls in:

 

 

 

I'm not 100% but that may be the Great Central station.

[kushiro]

33 minutes ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

I'm not 100% but that may be the Great Central station.

It does look like it. Good spot.

[Plastik Man]

4 hours ago, SuperMike said:

I reckon that Preston's other half-back (No 6) also became a LCFC manager!

A certain Mr Frank O'Farrell!

When searching the team lists I noticed his name and did wonder. Amazing 2 of them later managed us.

 

Just an observation but the PC's beat did seem awfully big! 🤣

[Bayfox]

Opened this expecting it to be some advice on. Which PNE player hasn't scored Iin 9 years. Therefore being able to lump on and earn some good money.

 

Disappointed

 

[kushiro]

Here's some of my favourite scenes in the video.

 

1)  Cycling Proficiency Practice:

 

 

In the background you can see the old cattle market clock tower. The cycling practice is taking place in the cattle maeket car park, which you can see in the top right of this shot from the Historic England aerial photos collection. Football, rugby and cricket venues all visible too:

 

 

2)  Not far from there, a gas holder in Aylestone Road:

 

 

I think that's Swanscombe Road. Here's another aerial shot to show where in the photo they're standing.

 

 

 

3)  Lorry sheds its load at Leicester Market:

 

 

In the market stalls you can see through to where the Lineker fruit and veg stall is located.Back then, in the late 50s, Gary's dad Barrie would've been working on the stall. Of course, it would be too fantastic to imagine that Barrie appeared in the video.

 

Here's the crowd that gathered round to see what was happening: 

 

 

That guy in the middle looks a bit like him, doesn't it?   

 

Probably not.

 

 

4)  Medway School

 

Recall that story above about PC Jack Broughton disarming the guy with a knife and a gun near the Clock Tower  - well the guy lived in Upper Tichborne Street in the Highfields. A street that is featured in the video:

 

 

Love that shot of Medway school. My brother used to live just round the corner.

 

5)  Cycling down Jersey Road:

 

 

He even put his bicycle clips on.

 

Edited 4 October 2023 by kushiro

[mozartfox]

19 hours ago, kushiro said:

Here's another dive into Leicester history triggered by a post from @davieG .

 

A few days ago on the City of Leicester thread he posted this amazing old video entitled 'A British Policeman', pointing out that 'the anonymous city appears to be Leicester'. 

 

 

The comments after the video also recognize Leicester as the location, and if you watch it for a few moments you can confirm it for yourself.

 

It's an amazing window on the city in the late 50s - so fascinating that it was crying out for further investigation.  So here we go:

 

 

Right at the start we see 'PC Jack Edwards' helping a man who's just arrived at the old St. Margaret's Bus Station. 

 

 

Tied to the lamppost is a placard advertising that day's Leicester Evening Mail, the old rival of the Mercury. It's a bit difficult to see but you can just make out that it says 'Charnwood Motorway: Official Route and Plans'. 

 

That could help us pin down the day it was filmed. 

 

Those motorway plans were released on Wednesday September 17th 1958, and indeed, that day's Evening Mail carried the details of the route. 

 

The 'Charnwood' motorway was the Leicestershire section of what would become the M1. There had been huge controversy over the original route, as it passed very close to Bradgate Park. After a local outcry, the route through the county was shifted westwards, resulting in the well-known 'kink' in the line of the motorway as it stretches northwards.

 

The very first motorway in the UK was just about to be completed.  It was the Preston by-pass, the stretch of road that would become part of the M6, and which many visiting fans will be using tomorrow night as they head for the King Power. 

 

So -  to confirm -  we know that the fooage at the Bus Station was taken on that date - September 17th. 

 

What was happening in Leicester on that Wednesday? Anything connected to football?

 

That season, 1958/59, there were only 23 first team games played at Filbert Street. But one of them happened to be on that day.  We were playing at home in a First Division fixture - and the visiting team? Would you believe, Preston North End.  

 

Later in the video, we see PC Edwards at London Road Railway Station as a train pulls in:

 

 

It's a fine shot of an old engine looking just like Gordon from the Rev. Awdry books. And who knows, maybe as the train pulled into Leicester, jumping down onto the platform were Preston fans, heading for Filbert Street. Or maybe even the Preston team. In those pre-motorway days most clubs would travel to away games by rail. 

 

In truth, we don't know if the shots at the station were taken on the same day, It looks like the video was taken over a period of several days, or even weeks, given the number of different scenes it features.

 

That Leicester-Preston game witnessed a little piece of history. Look at the line-ups for the match, printed in the same edition of the Evening Mail:

 

 

Can you spot the player making his first ever appearance at Filbert Street?  Not Tom Finney - he was now in his mid-30s and a veteran of numerous legendary FA Cup battles against Leicester. 

 

The reference to Gordon the Big Engine was a pretty big hint.  

 

Yes - at number four for North End was 21 year old Gordon Milne, future Leicester City manager, playing against us for the first time. His father, Jimmy was also on the train. He was a former Preston player, and was now their trainer.

 

The game was a 2-2 draw, and Gordon Milne was described in the match report as 'a great worker', which is pretty impressive given the 24 hours he'd just experienced. He was doing his two years of National Service, and was selected to play for the Army in a match against Rangers at Ibrox on September 16th -  the Tuesday. After that game he dashed to Glasgow Station and got on the overnight sleeper to Preston, where he met up with his teammates for the journey to Leicester. He'd helped the Army to a 1-0 win over Rangers, and now he contributed to this 2-2 draw that left North End handily placed near the top of Division One. The following week they won the return fixture against Leicester 3-1 at Deepdale to go top.

 

There'll be much more about Gordon Milne in a forthcoming thread about the never-to-be-forgotten 1982/83 season, when he led Leicester back to the top flight. But let's get back to PC Jack Edwards. 

 

That wasn't actually his real name. His colleagues at Charles Street Police Station knew him as PC Jack Broughton, and he would enjoy an 'ee-aye-ee-aye-ee-aye-oh' rise through the ranks of the force in the 60s and 70s. 

 

Looking through the archives his name crops up frequently in newspaper reports, often in remarkable ways.

 

On April 28th 1953 this headline appeared in the Mercury: City Detectives Hung On To Stolen Car. The report told us that as a stolen car was racing down East Street in Leicester, 'Detective Constable Broughton jumped onto the nearside running board and Detectice Constable Bestwick mounted the offside running board'. Between them they forced the car to slow down and 'collide with scaffolding outside the Lansdowne Garage'. 

 

On August 28th 1964, the headline on page one of the Mercury was 'Sergeant Disarmed Man With Gun'. The report started like this: Police Sergeant Jack Broughton approached a man in Leicester's Clock Tower area who, he knew, was not only armed with a revolver and ammunition, but was possibly carrying a knife. As he drew near, the man thrust his hand into his pocket, but after a scuffle, the sergeant disarmed the man of both the gun and the knife.

 

He could also deal with football hooligans. On August 23rd 1969,  Leicester beat Norwch 3-0 at Filbert Street, and after the game a group of Leicester fans 'confronted a smaller group of Norwich fans in Buttermere Street'.  'The Leicester youths were throwing pieces of brick, and both groups were shouting obscenities' a court was told, but Chief Inspector Jack Broughton 'arrested all nine of them'. 

 

Wow. On his own? 

 

Reading these reports, it's no wonder he was promoted so rapidly through the ranks. He sounds like something out of a supercop cartoon series. The makers of that old video really should have receated some of his real-life capers rather than using those twee scenes of cats in factories and boys with toy guns.

 

Broughton stayed with the Leicester police for 35 years and finally retired in May 1984:

 

 

 

That same week in 1984, Gordon Milne, now Leicester boss, told Gary Lineker that he had been called up to the England squad for the first time. Milne had got us promoted, then kept us up. Preston, meanwhile, were heading for Division Four.  

 

Gordon's still going strong at 86 - and he's actually got a book coming out soon about his amazing career, which I can't wait to read. Who knows, he may even be there tomorrow night, supporting both teams at once.

 

Is that a young Bielsa on the platform??

[The Fox Covert]

I was puzzled by what an Eastern Region loco might be doing at London Road and I am pretty certain the station was Leicester Central. The black and white picture has the same style stanchions on the canopy.

The engine in the picture is not Gordon. Gordon the engine in Awdry's books, like all of his creations, is based on a real locomotive and was an A3 Pacific, like Flying Scotsman (a much larger engine than the one in the picture).

The engine in the picture was most likely a B1 or a B17. I can't say for definite because I can't see the wheels and running plate for all the people standing on the platform.

Just thinking ... it might have been 61665 Leicester City. Many of these engines were named after Football League teams, mostly in towns and cities served by the Eastern Region. There is even a Hornby model of 61665.

Interesting post and a good look into Leicester's past.

[kushiro]

This has been updated over on The Fosse Way, including the helpful comments from @Free Falling Foxes  @SuperMike and @The Fox Covert

 

https://www.thefosseway.net/viewpoint/leicester-city-british-policeman-preston-connection

[Spudulike]

What was happening in Leicester on that Wednesday? Anything connected to football?

 

My mother went into labour that day in Bond Street. Hello world! I've got the programme for the Preston match. My Dad would've been really annoyed with the timing as it stopped him from going down the City. He could've been one of those half time announcements telling him to go to the hospital as his wife had gone into labour!

 

 

[HesNotGudjonsonn2]

Wow, Walsh really did play for us for a long, long time.