ONE materialised in Accrington, a mere 190 miles up north, and now another has almost magically appeared slightly further afield… in the tiny ‘Lime City’ of Huntingdon, Indiana... around 4,000 miles away.

We are talking heavy duty clocks of the antique variety presented to members of Swindon Town’s victorious 1910/11 Southern League winning side.

History lecturer Martin Thomas recently told (22-10-14) how he ventured to the former Lancashire textile town of Accy after discovering on eBay a hefty, classically-styled clock, complete with coloured marble columns.

Intriguingly, it had been presented by Swindon fans – according to the inscription on its brass presentation plate – to Town player Peter Chambers over a century earlier to celebrate the club’s best (at the time) ever season.

However, Chambers, an experienced half-back who in later years ran The Red Lion pub in Moredon, (today’s Boundary House) only played twice during the league winning campaign.

So how come he was gifted an expensive item by the supporters, mused Town fan Martin, who coughed up £55 for the timepiece which resembles a classical temple and sits proudly on the mantlepiece at his Old Town home.

Now a similar, though not identical antique clock has turned up amidst an assortment of antiques and curios at the Henry Street Antiques emporium in the Midwest city of Huntingdon.

Acquired alongside other bygones from all over Europe and the States, the item is described as an ‘Antique Bronze Black Onyx mantel Clock, Swindon Town Soccer Trophy 1911 Temple.’ The brass plate inscription reads: “Presented to T Bolland To Celebrate Winning The Southern League 1910-1911 By Supporters of the Swindon Town Football Club.”

Bought from ‘The Wednesday’ (Sheffield), left winger Tommy Bolland made 190 appearances for Town between 1909/10 and 1920/21, scoring 15 goals.

During the championship winning season in which Swindon finished above four teams now in the Premier League (West Ham, QPR, Crystal Palace and Southampton), Bolland played 29 games, scoring twice.

It was discovered on eBay by Town fan and historian James Turner who says: “As Bolland was also presented with a clock it seems likely that all of the players in the championship winning squad received one.”

After further research James found that William Thomas Bolland died in 1967, aged 82, within the Swindon Registration District, but he has been unable to locate his grave.

“It’s interesting how the clock arrived in the USA all the way from Swindon,” adds James.

Its discovery in Indiana also revealed another Swindon connection – a tiny inscription on the face, just beneath the ’12,’ shows that it was constructed by well-established Swindon clock makers and repairers Cottell Brothers of 26 Regent Street.

This was just a few doors down the road from The Eagle Hotel (opened 1867 – demolished 1950) at 7 Regent Street which, at the time, was run by club treasurer Harry Thomas.

Harry has been credited with saving Swindon Town FC from going bust around the turn-of-the-century – having kept the club afloat during dire financial problems with a life-saving gift of £1,000. Coincidently, Harry is Martin Thomas’ great uncle (the brother of his granddad.) For some years The Eagle also revelled in the moniker “Home of the supporters of Swindon Town Football Club,” which it printed at the bottom of its advertising leaflets and bills.

It is just a thought but perhaps Town fans, dizzy with the club’s first major trophy and maybe a tad light-headed after liberally quaffing The Eagle’s “best quality wines and spirits” agreed to reward each and every one of the victorious squad with a memorial clock.

It must have been a hell of a whip-round though! And it begs the question ‘where the hell are all the other Swindon Town temple clocks?’ Give us a shout if you happen to know of the whereabouts of any of them…or even own one yourself.

 

  • GATHERING dust in the store-room of an antique dealer’s in Indiana, USA isn’t, let’s face it, a suitable place for such an historic slice of Swindon Town memorabilia.

     

    The Tommy Bolland Clock should be back in Swindon – preferably on display at the County Ground. So let’s bring it home, says James Turner.

    James was recently involved in the £2,500 project to restore the grave of Swindon’s longest-serving manager Sam Allen, who presided over the club from 1902 to 1933 during which it twice won the Southern League and reached two FA Cup semi-finals.

    A few years ago James also located and bought the only known footage of Town’s legendary England international Harold Fleming giving a footballing masterclass, which can now be seen on YouTube.

    Described as a “heavy bronze-mounted polished French black slate clock with rusty steel pillars,” the time-worn timepiece features “some nice cast details,” a porcelain dial, a working key but no pendulum.

    It clearly hasn’t ticked for a while and as Martin Thomas points out: “Some pleb has glued the topmost piece of black stone on backwards.”

    James says: “If the clock was for sale in the UK I might have been able to purchase it and return it to the club for inclusion in their trophy room, and perhaps eventually into their proposed museum.”

    However, he says the cost of the clock plus import duties and delivery would amount to around £200.

    He adds: “I am a firm believer that, where possible, items such as this should be returned to their place of origin and have their place in history. It would be a nice gesture from a local business to purchase this item and present it to the club.”

     

  • STOP PRESS: It is understood that Swindon Town have now acquired the clock from eBay and intend having it fully restored before displaying it at the County Ground EVEN by goalkeeping standards he was a very big boy of impressive girth whose hefty demeanour – depending on which account you believe – ranged from 15 to 19 stone.

     

    But what made Spurs goalie John ‘Tiny’ Joyce quiver with fear, harangue and curse his defenders and give the County Ground wags a good old chuckle?

    Why Harold Fleming, of course.

    Some fine photographs of Swindon’s free-scoring inside forward have just sold on eBay for around £50 each – which seems as good an excuse as any to recall an amusing yarn from the annals of STFC.

    The season 1909/10 – the one before they won the Southern League – saw Town embark on a memorable FA Cup run.

    Having dispatched Crystal Palace 3-1 and Burnley 2-0 they drew, as author/historian Joe Silto put it, “the famous Tottenham Hotspur” at the County Ground.

    In his book The Railway Town, Silto says: “The game, which was talked about for many years after, resulted in a grand victory of 3-2 for the Town.

    “Fleming was in brilliant form and scored all three of Swindon’s goals.

    “Tottenham had a 19 stone goal-keeper called Tiny Joyce who was a famous character in pre-1914 football.

    “After Fleming had twice weaved his way through the Spurs defence, and scored twice, Tiny became understandingly nervous whenever the Swindon player received the ball and made tracks for goal.

    “His shouts to his defenders of ‘here he comes again, somebody stop the b-------,’ caused much amusement to the crowd behind the Tottenham goal.”

    Swindon beat Manchester City 2-0 in front of 14,400 fans at the County Ground in the next round but having reached the semi-final for the first time, lost 2-0 to the eventual winners Newcastle United at White Hart Lane.

    Silto notes that thousands of Swindonians travelled to London for the big match – some dressed as Moonrakers.