Words: Dave Proudlove // @fslconsult
Etruria is one of the most important and historic locations in The Potteries, and was central to the Industrial Revolution across North Staffordshire that turned a few ragged villages and hamlets into a powerhouse and the famous Six Towns. It was here where Josiah Wedgwood brought his growing pottery business in the second half of the 1700s, buying the Ridgway Estate on the banks of the new Trent and Mersey Canal – an innovation that he was central in creating alongside the first superstar engineer, James Brindley – building his influential Etruria Works, his home – Etruria Hall – and a model village.
Wedgwood was one of the great innovators of the Industrial Revolution, particularly in terms of design and marketing, and he continues to be a great influence today. For example, he was one of the first manufacturers to open a showroom, and the techniques that he used to display his products have been mirrored by Apple in how they display theirs.
But just as Etruria was a crucible of innovation towards the end of the 1700s, it was also central to another innovation a century later. Only this one was related to sport, and in particular football, which had grown in popularity across the industrial North and Midlands.
Brick Kiln Lane, Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent - the location of the first offices of the Football League.
Photo Credit: Dave Proudlove
The name Brick Kiln Lane is perhaps the quintessential Potteries street name. The kiln was a crucial component in establishing the reputation of The Potteries as the World Capital of Ceramics, is the most famous and iconic structure across the Six Towns, and yes, they’re built in brick. But back in the late 1800s while the Brick Kiln Lane neighbourhood was best known for its tile manufactories and clay pits, it was also home to a little place that helped to underpin the football revolution and shape the game as we know it today.
As Brick Kiln Lane enters the Fowlea Valley, there once stood a row of terraced properties – Parker’s Terrace – which was built by the Parker’s Burslem Brewery Co. Ltd, who – at the time of this story – had 110 public houses. However, the most important operation in the locality was to be found at 8 Parker’s Terrace.
Born in Derby in 1855, Harry Lockett came to The Potteries at an early age overcoming personal tragedy to develop a deep love of sport, especially football, which he was to become a big part of – both locally and nationally – as a manager and administrator. These were the early days of the game’s development though, and Lockett’s day job was far less glamorous: he was a stationer and had established a business on Harley Street in Hanley.
Harry Lockett - player, manager and secretary of Stoke FC.
Photo Credit: Penny Stanley
By the mid-1880s, there was a thriving football community across North Staffordshire, and at the heart of this was Stoke Football Club, formed in 1863 – or 1865, depending on your football history sources – as Stoke Ramblers by a group of workers at the North Staffordshire Railway Company. Indeed, by this point, Stoke was the area’s biggest and most popular club.
Harry Lockett first became involved with Stoke Football Club in 1877 when he was selected to play for the club’s second XI in a fixture with Leek. But his role became more substantial in 1884 when he became their manager and secretary following the retirement of Thomas Slaney who was a major figure both at Stoke, and within football across Staffordshire.
Slaney was a tough act to follow. He was both the club’s captain and secretary from 1874 until 1883, and retired with the club on the brink of professionalism. During his time with Stoke, Slaney founded the Staffordshire FA in 1877 – becoming its secretary – and after calling time on his playing days, became a referee. Slaney was well thought of in footballing circles both in The Potteries and across the wider area, and was described as a ‘fine and dashing player’, and a ‘man of geniality, with a great sense of humour, and something of a raconteur.’ It seems that Slaney could indeed do it on a cold windy night in Stoke. As well as serving the Staffordshire FA – he eventually became president – Slaney was also the chairman of Staffordshire County Cricket Club from 1889 until 1893. In 1894, he took the decision to resign from the Staffordshire FA due to business pressures; he was a commercial traveller for the Johnson Brothers – one of the area’s biggest pottery manufacturers – in Hanley.
When Harry Lockett took the secretarial reins from Slaney, it was an interesting period in the development of the game, and at Stoke. The club had been paying players prior to the 1885/86 season – an act which was previously illegal – but for that new campaign, Stoke turned professional, and seven players became the first to be paid: Philip Birch, Tommy Clare, Edgar Mountford, Ted Smith, George Shutt, Alf Edge and Bernard Rhodes, with each of them receiving the same level of pay. However, it didn’t take long for wages to become a contentious issue for Lockett and the club. When the decision was made to introduce differential pay, the club’s senior players took strike action. The dispute was eventually resolved with an agreement to pay all players five shillings per match.
Over the next couple of seasons though, money became too tight to mention, and it wasn’t just Stoke that were feeling the squeeze. Many clubs had recognised that once their FA Cup campaign was over, then interest in their fixtures receded and gates fell, while friendlies with clubs remaining in cup competitions were cancelled further impacting on finances and the ability to pay players. One of those was Aston Villa, whose concerns were represented by Scotsman William McGregor, a committee member and administrator at the club.
Harry Lockett intensely focused on his work in his Football League office.
Photo Credit: The EFL
McGregor hailed from Perthshire, relocating to Aston – which, at the time, was located just outside the Birmingham city limits – in 1870. He came to England to start a drapery business, and on arrival, was invited to become involved with Calthorpe Football Club, which had been formed by two legal clerks based in Birmingham – John Carson, who was the club’s first chairman, and John Campbell Orr, who was secretary. And like McGregor, they both hailed from Scotland.
In 1874, Aston Villa was formed, and three years later, William McGregor was invited to join the club’s management committee. It was a good fit for McGregor; the club was playing its football at Aston Park, which was in close proximity to his business premises, while there was a strong Scottish contingent at the club. Shortly after joining the club, he became administrator and successfully steered it through some financial difficulties, which included storing some of the club’s silverware at his premises to keep them out of the reach of bailiffs. In 1880, he became the club’s president, and joined the board of directors shortly after.
During the 1880s, as the balance of power shifted from the amateur clubs of the Home Counties towards working class teams across the North and Midlands and professionalism was finally given its grudging nod, William McGregor began to examine ways in which more regular fixtures could be secured for his club. Matters came to a head when Aston Villa had matches cancelled on five consecutive Saturdays, and on 2 March 1888, McGregor wrote to Villa’s committee and to the committees of Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Preston North End and West Bromwich Albion to propose the creation of a league competition that would provide the clubs with guaranteed fixtures, saying that, “every year it is becoming more and more difficult for football clubs of any standing to meet their friendly engagements and even arrange friendly matches. The consequence is that at the last moment, through cup-tie interference, clubs are compelled to take on teams who will not attract the public.” McGregor suggested that the clubs should meet at London’s Anderton’s Hall Hotel on 23 March, the day before the FA Cup final. One of the clubs in attendance at the meeting was Stoke, represented by their secretary Harry Lockett.
10 clubs attended the meeting, none of whom were from the south of England. A further meeting was convened for the following month in Manchester where the new competition was finalised. McGregor initially proposed that it be called ‘the Association Football Union’; however this was rejected as being too similar to the Rugby Football Union, and the clubs instead agreed on ‘the Football League’, despite opposition from McGregor himself.
The Football League had 12 founder members, one of which was Stoke. It is thought that Harry Lockett’s relationship with William McGregor was crucial in Stoke securing a place in the new competition, while Lockett’s election as the league’s first secretary may also have swung matters decisively. Lockett was able to combine his new role with his job at Stoke, mainly because the Football League chose to open their first offices at 8 Parker’s Terrace on Brick Kiln Lane in Etruria, around a couple of miles from where Stoke played their football.
The first Football League season was a disaster for Stoke, finishing bottom after winning just four out of 22 games. And their second campaign followed a similar pattern as they once again finished bottom recording a number of heavy defeats along the way, including their record loss – a 10-0 mauling by Preston North End’s Invincibles. For a second successive year, Stoke were forced to apply for re-election, only this time they failed, and joined the Football Alliance, their place taken by Sunderland.
Following Stoke’s demotion to the Football Alliance, Harry Lockett took the decision to resign from his position at the club to concentrate on his increasingly busy role with the Football League. Lockett held his position with the Football League until 1902, when he was forced to resign, accused of misappropriation of league funds.
However, Lockett wasn’t done with football. Stoke secured re-election to the Football League after a season’s absence following their title triumph in the Football Alliance, and remained in the First Division for the next 15 seasons. However, following the club’s relegation at the end of the 1906/07 campaign, the club hit severe financial difficulties as attendances plummeted. Things deteriorated further during the 1907/08 season, and in 1908, Stoke were declared bankrupt and lost their Football League status.
Harry Lockett then coordinated a rescue mission, forming a consortium that established a new company, forming a new first team from the former reserve team, entering the Birmingham and District League for the 1908/09 season, before joining the Southern League. Stoke eventually returned to the Football League in 1915, when they were re-elected to the Second Division at the expense of Glossop. However, following the outbreak of World War I, football was suspended and so Stoke’s first game back in the Football League club was delayed until 1919.
Penny Stanley’s book documents the life and times of Harry Lockett.
Photo Credit: Pitch Publishing
For many different but connected reasons, Stoke-on-Trent does not have a great track record when it comes to celebrating its heritage, less so its footballing heritage which is a particular blind spot. The Potteries was central to the development of the English game in a number of ways, and yet this is greatly underplayed and undervalued. And this can be illustrated by the story of Harry Lockett and Brick Kiln Lane.
Harry Lockett was a key figure in Stoke City’s early history, led them into the Football League, and became the Football League’s first secretary, making him one the game’s most important and influential administrators. And Brick Kiln Lane was the location of the Football League’s first offices, making it one of the most important places in the history of the game. Yet it is simply a case of if you know, you know. And many more need to know.
But things have started to change. One of the best football books to be published this year has been Penny Stanley’s exceptional biography of Harry Lockett, Harry Lockett: Football’s Unassuming, Unknown and Unsung Founding Father which documents the life and times of a Stoke and English football legend.
However, Brick Kiln Lane remains a void in the celebration of the game’s history. A walk down there today is an underwhelming experience. The old clay pits and tileworks have gone, to be replaced by a council housing project – built on former allotments – and a small industrial estate. But there is nothing to commemorate the location of those Football League offices, not even a small plaque. It is a travesty.
2025 brings up 100 years since Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status, and there is much planned to celebrate the centenary. Maybe this provides the perfect moment to also celebrate Harry Lockett, Brick Kiln Lane, and the role that The Potteries played in the development and success of English football?
Stoke City’s Victoria Ground, 1989.
Photo Credit: Paul Groundtastic
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