Braddan A.F.C.
Braddan A.F.C. is a football club in Douglas on the Isle of Man, competing in the Isle of Man Football League. The team wears royal blue strips and plays home games at Cronkbourne Football Ground, Victoria Road, Douglas.
History 1923 to 1930
Braddan Association Football Club was founded in 1923 under the Chairmanship of Mr Frederick Clucas, and was admitted to play in the Second League for their inaugural season. A playing pitch was established on land owned by Clucas’ Laundry at Cronkbourne, Tromode, which was to be the club's home until 1995. Owing to the close links with the company which were to last for several decades, the club was soon nicknamed ‘The Laundrymen’. Blue was chosen as the club colour.Braddan's first competitive match was played on 20 October 1923 and resulted in a 6–2 victory at home to Ramsey-based club St Olave's. The team never looked back, and won the Second League title by a convincing margin in that first season. The club received great praise in the local press during the season, not only for the quality of the football played by the team but also for the standard of the pitch and surroundings at Cronkbourne.
In that era of Manx football there was no automatic promotion and relegation, but Braddan's application to play in the First League was duly accepted for the 1924–25 season, with the reserve team playing in the Second League. Several years of consolidation in the top flight of Manx football followed, and Braddan's progress attracted a steady stream of quality footballers to the club. Prominent players in the club's early years were Alan Doig, a Scotsman who was a prolific goal scorer, and goalkeeper Leslie Evans - a renowned figure in Manx sport.
In the 1929–30 season Braddan secured their first major trophy, being crowned First League champions after a magnificent campaign. It was a brilliant achievement to reach the summit of Manx football just seven years into the club's existence, and the team remained unbeaten until the last two games of the campaign - by which time they had already secured the title. This was to be the beginning of a decade of great success, during which Braddan became part of what was dubbed by the press ‘The Eternal Triangle’ of trophy winners alongside Peel and Rushen United.
History 1930 to 1939
The First League title was retained in the 1930–31 season, when Braddan also won their first cup with a 2–0 triumph over local rivals Gymns in the Railway Cup Final played at Port St Mary. Both goals were scored by team captain Wally Noble. The Railway Cup was retained the following year when four goals from legendary centre-forward Tim Tickle gave Braddan a 4-2 success over Ramsey at Peel.Tim Tickle was probably the finest player ever to pull on the blue shirt of Braddan, and such was his ability that in 1935 he left the island to play a season as a professional for Coleraine in Northern Ireland. Despite playing in a struggling team he scored 25 goals, and he was asked to stay on the following season. However he opted to return home, and resumed his career with Braddan having relinquished his professional status. In all it was estimated that he scored around 500 goals for his only local club during a career that lasted into the 1950s. He could score goals from all angles and was a superb header of the ball. His trademark was to receive the ball on the halfway line with his back to goal, turn his marker, surge forward and crack the ball into the net with power and accuracy from the edge of the penalty area.
Braddan won the Hospital Cup for the first time in 1936 with a 4–1 win over St George's at Tromode Park, helped by a hat-trick from another of Braddan best-ever players, outside left Henry Charlier. With Tim Tickle restored to the ranks for the 1936–37 season Braddan retained the Hospital Cup with a 5-1 thumping of Ramsey at Tromode Park, and were also crowned First League champions for the third time following a controversial and stormy victory at Peel in the final game. A decision to award Braddan a decisive penalty late in the game resulted in the referee and Braddan's FA Executive member needing a police escort from the ground to protect them from an angry mob.
The 1937–38 season was the greatest in Braddan's history, and at the end of it three major trophies adorned the Clucas’ Laundry boardroom. Playing highly skilful football they won their fourth First League title, and regained the Railway Cup with a magnificent 3–0 win over their greatest rivals Peel at Port St Mary. Two goals from Charlier and one from Tickle sealed Braddan's success on New Year's Day in front of a crowd of around 3,000. For the only time in the club's history Braddan secured the FA Cup, again beating Peel in the final which was played at Tromode Park. A penalty save by goalkeeper Bernard Fick was the catalyst for Braddan to surge into a 3–0 lead, with two goals from Tickle and a penalty from skipper George Bridson. Peel's late rally brought the score to 3–2, but Braddan held on to complete their greatest triumph. Only a narrow defeat in the Hospital Cup final – yet again Peel were the opponents – prevented Braddan from achieving the grand slam.
The 1938–39 season ended in disappointment and controversy. Braddan played arguably their best ever football during this campaign, and were unbeaten in the league with one match to play. That match was against their only challengers Peel, with Braddan needing just a draw to be crowned champions for the fifth time. The clubs failed to agree a suitable date for the game, which was eventually set to be played before the start of the 1939–40 season. Following the outbreak of War the match was never played, and the title was not awarded – denying Braddan a potential hat-trick of league titles.
During a decade plagued by regular controversy and bitterness in Manx football – usually involving Peel - Braddan was consistently acknowledged as a club that displayed great sportsmanship as well as footballing talent. Many Braddan players were regulars in the senior Isle of Man team throughout the 1930s. Mr Thomas ‘Tossie’ Clucas, a leading figure in establishing Braddan as a top club in Manx football, was also a highly respected representative for the club at the Isle of Man Football Association, where he served as vice president for many years and was later elevated to president.
History 1945 to 1960
The club closed down for the duration of War, but re-established in 1945. Many of the successful pre-War players returned, and Braddan reached the finals of both Cup competitions played that season. The FA Cup Final against Peel at KGV Park in Douglas resulted in a 1–1 draw, before Peel won the replay 2–1 at the same venue. The attendances for the two matches were 4,300 and 4,290 – the two highest attendances ever recorded for matches between two local clubs. It was Braddan's day in the Hospital Cup Final though, when they gained revenge on Peel with a 3–2 win at KGV Park, the goals coming from three pre-War heroes Percy Beedon, Alf Craine and Tim Tickle.Over the next few years the team gradually declined as age caught up with many of the great players from the 1930s. A brief return to former glories came with another FA Cup Final in 1951. Braddan put up a great fight against Rushen in front of another huge crowd of 3,600 at KGV Park, but a last-minute goal gave the southerners a 2–1 victory.
Braddan's first relegation followed in 1952, but by then the club was building for the future with a strong youth policy which was rewarded by winning the Cowell Cup that same season. Braddan bounced straight back to the big time, winning the Division 2 title at the first attempt and doubling up by also securing the Hospital Cup which was contested by Division 2 clubs that season. The leading scorers were two of the stars of the previous season's Cowell Cup triumph, Brian Simpson and George ‘Jinx’ Caine. The latter, a speedy and skilful outside right, had already been selected for the senior IOM team at just 17 years of age, and the following season he was signed by Stockport County where he played for the next two seasons.
The 1st Team made a wonderful start to the 1953–54 season on their return to Division 1. They won five of their opening seven league matches, scoring 40 goals, and received great acclaim for the quality of their attacking play. They ultimately had to settle for a sixth-place finish, and over the next few years they steadily consolidated their top flight status. In 1955 it was the turn of the Combination team to take the limelight as they brought the Junior Cup to Cronkbourne for the first time. They beat Ramsey 1–0 in the Final which was played at Onchan Stadium.
The latter half of the 1950s was dominated by problems and tragedy off the field. In May 1956 the club pavilion, which dated back to pre-War days when cricket was also played on the ground, was destroyed by fire along with much of the club's property. A loan from the Isle of Man Football Association enabled the club to purchase a second-hand sectional building, which was assembled by club members and made ready for use as a clubhouse late in 1957. It served as the club's headquarters until 1988.
A dark day in the history of Braddan Football Club, and of the Isle of Man, came on 27 February 1958. Four club members – Tom Callow, Louis Cowin, Arthur Gleave and Arthur Tonkin - died in the Winter Hill air disaster which claimed a total of 35 Manx lives. The charter aircraft was taking local businessmen, mainly from the motor trade but also some from Clucas’ Laundry, on a day trip to Manchester to visit the Exide Battery Factory. A tragic navigational error in thick mist led to the aircraft crashing close to the summit of Winter Hill above Horwich, Lancashire. A memorial plaque to the four lost members is on permanent display in Braddan's clubhouse.
History 1960 to 1970
The 1960s was a decade of optimism, innovation and a new identity. In 1962 a club badge was designed and this was displayed on the team's shirts from the start of the 1962–63 season. It featured a motif of a swan and a football, inspired by the family of swans that inhabited the dam and river adjacent to the home pitch at Cronkbourne. A match report in the local press dubbed Braddan ‘The Swans’, and the new nickname was adopted and has been used ever since.In the early part of the decade it was the Combination team who provided the excitement. During that era and up until 1967, the Combination teams were split into two regional leagues, with the champions of the North and South divisions playing a decider – effectively a Cup Final - for the Combination league title. Braddan reached the decider three consecutive seasons as ‘southern’ champions. In 1961–62 they lost to Peel, but gained revenge on the westerners with a 3–2 victory after extra time to clinch the title in 1962–63. That season was doubly successful as Braddan landed the Junior Cup for the second time, beating Laxey 4–0 in the final played at the Bowl. The following year they drew 3–3 with Ramsey after extra time in the league decider, so the title was shared.
The 1st Team made a steady start to the decade, but in 1963–64 they enjoyed their best league season since the halcyon days of the 1930s. They finished in fourth place in Division 1, indeed challenging for the title for much of the season. The following four seasons were something of an anti-climax as the team returned to the lower reaches of the table, but in 1968 Braddan became one of the first clubs in Manx football to engage a manager to take charge of football matters. Wilf Southern was appointed to the position, and the effect was immediate. The 1st Team, fitter and better organised, rose to a fifth-place finish in the 1968/69 season, and club stalwart Artie Kewley was named IOM Footballer of the Year – the only Braddan player to date to receive this honour.
The 1969–70 season was magnificent as Braddan suggested that they could finally recapture some of the glories of the 1930s. The 1st team finished third in Division 1, the highest position attained since the War, while the Combination team won both the Combination 1 league title and the Junior Cup, the latter with a 3–1 victory over St George's in the final at Castletown.