Thanks for the clarification Paul.

I knew about the fact that some player(s) were called up in an emergency to play
in a position which was not their own, or that someone from the crowd was picked
to make the team complete, certainly back in the old days.

But you additional information regarding the name Bestwick and what you could
find in papers certainly helps a great deal.


Ciao
Stef,

--- In soccerdatauk@yahoogroups.com, Paul Crankshaw <paulc@...> wrote:
>
> "Bestwick" is clearly a surname which is relatively common in and around
> Long Eaton.
>
> I am currently looking at the archive of the Derby Mercury newspaper
>
> The first reference I can find to the goalkeeper is
>
> 15 Oct 1884 "Bestwick" is in goal for LER against "Aston Villa (an
> Eleven)". The umpire is "Mr B Bestwick"
>
> In the following week (v Ockbridge & Borrowash) the keeper is named as
> "T H Bestwick" and the umpire remains "Mr B Bestwick"
>
> In the team selected for Derbyshire v Cheshire (Nov 28 1885) the
> goalkeeper is given as "J Bestwick, Long Eaton Rangers". However, on
> that same day H Bestwick plays for Derby County v Blackburn Rovers and
> another keeper plays for Derbyshire. In the previous week "Luntley" was
> Derby County's keeper and he had been a regular so it would seem Nov 28
> 1885 was T H Bestwick's debut. However Luntley is in goal through
> December and most of January before Bestwick makes another appearance.
> The impression from the reports is that Luntley is Derby's first choice
> goalkeeper with Bestwick just making occasional appearances whilst also
> making appearances for LER..
>
> Bestwick appears to be Derby's regular keeper in 1886-87. Thereafter,
> unfortunately, the Mercury goes into less detail in its reports.
> However, Derby's regular keeper becomes Marshall.
>
> Still - going back to your question it's almost certainly the same
> player. If a team were a man short it would be normal to recruit
> someone, sometimes from the crowd, and stick them out on the wing.
> Perhaps Bestwick was around when someone failed to turn up.
>
>
> Stefaan Degryse wrote:
> > Hello all,
> >
> > I have a question regarding Thomas Harold Bestwick the goalkeeper who played
one League game for Derby County in the first ever season of the Football
League.
> >
> > Bestwick came from Long Eaton Rangers and according to the excellent site of
Mike Joyce (since1888.co.uk) he suppossedly also returned to Long Eaton Rangers
after he left Derby County.
> >
> > In the new book about the Football Alliance (thanks Mick, Keith, Tony and
all others who worked on this) Long Eaton Rangers had a player TH Bestwick
fielded in the game at Birmingham St Georges on November 2th 1889. He played as
outside right during that game.
> >
> >
> > So now the obvious question is, is this the same person who played in goal
for Derby County?
> >
> >
> > Thanks in advance for any help on this.
> >
> >
> > Ciao
> > Stef,
> >
> >
> >
>