John Campbell Orr was an association football player and administrator, who was the most important figure of the promotion of the game in Birmingham in the 1870s.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Campbell Orr | ||
| Date of birth | 21 November 1850 | ||
| Place of birth | Glasgow | ||
| Date of death | 16 November 1921 (aged 70) | ||
| Place of death | Birmingham | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1873–1879 | B.C.A./Calthorpe | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Early life
editCampbell Orr was born in Gorbals, Glasgow, the son of John Cunningham Orr (a bookseller and printer) and Wilhelmina, née Campbell.[1] He was brought up in Cupar in Fifeshire and educated at Smeaton's School in St Andrews, recording 100% in the mathematics examinations in 1868.[2] He matriculated at St Andrews University, which was a stronghold of rugby football, that year, and he represented the university at rugby; his final rugby match recorded, against Edinburgh Academical in February 1870, featured six future rugby internationals.[3]
He did not graduate, in part due to the collapse of his father's business,[4] and instead worked for a year as a clerk to a writer to the signet.[5]
Football
editFoundation of Calthorpe F.C.
editIn 1873, he moved to Birmingham with a business partner, John Carson, who had been a member of the Queen's Park association football club. In October, Campbell Orr and Carson formed a footballing club for the young clerks in the area, and, after some discussion, Carson's view that the new club - originally called the Birmingham Clerks Association - should adopt the association code was accepted.[6]
The new club, soon renamed Calthorpe F.C. after the location of its matches (Calthorpe Park), had to hold matches between club members given the lack of opposition.[7] On 12 November 1873, the Birmingham Post published a letter from "a clerk" - almost certainly Campbell Orr, in his capacity as secretary to the Calthorpe club[8] - stating:
Administration
editThe evangelism worked as from at least 1874 Calthorpe was playing matches against other sides in the town,[10] and, in 1875, after the formation of a dozen clubs in the town, he and Charles Crump of Stafford Road of Wolverhampton pushed to form the Birmingham Football Association.[11] The Birmingham FA duly set up the Birmingham Senior Cup, which was first played for in 1876–77.[12]
Campbell Orr was the first secretary of the Birmingham FA, a position he held for 2 years, before becoming treasurer;[13] he took the secretaryship once more in 1886, after the previous secretary Joe Cofield died,[14] and held the post until his death, as well as posts on the Football Association committee.[15] Throughout his tenure the chair was held by Crump.[16] The two normally worked in parallel, but one difference between them was in the legalization of professionalism in 1885; Crump was strongly against it, but, despite the Calthorpe stance, Orr was in favour.[17]
The Campbell Orr Shield, played off between members of the Birmingham County Inter-League and Association, and Birmingham & District Works Association, was one of his last innovations in football; he introduced the trophy in October 1921, a month before his death.[18]
As a player
editThe Calthorpe club, with strong links with Queen's Park, remained a staunch amateur side, unlike Aston Villa which adopted a hidden professionalism before the 1870s were out. Campbell Orr played for Calthorpe in the first Senior Cup, the club beating Royal in the first round but losing to Wednesbury Town in the second; the club captain was Carson.[19] He did not however play in the club's first FA Cup tie in 1879–80, when Calthorpe was the first side from Birmingham to take part in the competition; he was one of the players who was attending "a great Conservative gathering at Birmingham" instead.[20] Orr would never play in the Cup - his final recorded match had been against Rushall Rovers a couple of weeks before.[21]
His highest profile matches for Calthorpe were in annual friendlies against Queen's Park, although the disparity in status of the teams meant that the Queen's Park XI was a reserve side. Campbell Orr scored the opening goal in the first match in Birmingham, in February 1877 at the Calthorpe ground, but the visitors won 4–3.[22]
As one of the pioneers of association football in Birmingham, he played in the Birmingham FA's first inter-association match, against the Sheffield Football Association at Bramall Lane in January 1876, but the experience of the Sheffield side was far too much for the Birmingham side, the final score being 6–0.[23]
He was considered a good-quality forward, his rugby skills helping in a more physical era when charging between opponents was a more valuable attribute.[24]
Personal life
editCampbell Orr's football responsibilities ran alongside his professional life as a director of the firm of J. C. and W. Lord, general merchants based in the Horse Fair in Birmingham.[25]
He married Ellen Marsh in Harborne on Christmas Day 1880.[26] He died on 16 November 1921, as a result of complications from influenza. He left five sons and two daughters; his wife had pre-deceased him in April 1920.[27]
References
edit- ^ Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950
- ^ "Mr Smeaton's Educational Establishment". Fifeshire Journal: 8. 6 August 1868.
- ^ "Football - Edinburgh Academical v University of St Andrews". Fife Herald: 3. 10 February 1870.
- ^ "Taylor (Orr's Trustee) v Tullis". Fifeshire Journal: 5. 24 February 1870.
- ^ 1871 Census (Edinburgh)
- ^ "The passing of Campbell Orr". Athletic News: 1. 21 November 1921.
- ^ "Telegraph Challenge Cup". Midland Daily Telegraph: 3. 30 September 1893.
- ^ Alcock, Charles (1876). Football Annual. Ward, Lock, and Tyler. p. 144.
- ^ "Correspondence". Birmingham Daily Post: 5. 12 November 1873.
- ^ e.g. losing 2-0 to the Birmingham club in November 1874; "Football". Birmingham Mail: 7. 23 November 1874.
- ^ "Football Time Line". Retrieved 5 September 2016.
- ^ Carr, Steve (2000). The History of the Birmingham Senior Cup 1876 to 1905 (1st ed.). Grorty Dick. ASIN:B00L3AL7YE.
- ^ Alcock, Charles (1877). Football Annual. Ward, Lock, and Tyler. p. 83.
- ^ "Football". Sportsman: 4. 10 September 1886.
- ^ "The Football Association". Burton Daily Mail: 4. 28 May 1898.
- ^ "Happy Birthday Charles Crump!". Llangollen Advertiser. 19 December 1919.
- ^ "Midland notes". Athletic News: 7. 6 January 1885.
- ^ "Senior Cup "Breeze"". Birmingham Daily Gazette: 6. 14 October 1921.
- ^ "Wednesbury Town Football Club v Calthorpe F.C. (Birmingham)". Midland Examiner: 5. 17 January 1877.
- ^ "report". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 4. 27 October 1879.
- ^ "Rushall Rovers v Calthorpe". Walsall Observer: 3. 11 October 1879.
- ^ "Calthorpe v Second Queen's Park, Glasgow". Birmingham Daily Gazette: 3. 7 February 1877.
- ^ Alcock, Charles (1876). Football Annual. Ward, Lock, and Tyler. p. 89.
- ^ "Twenty-five years of football service". Sports Argus: 4. 12 May 1900.
- ^ "A domestic tragedy". Birmingham Gazette: 6. 17 November 1921.
- ^ Select Marriages 1538–1973, FHL Film Number 1520000, Reference ID it 183, p 78, n 155
- ^ "A grand old man". Birmingham Gazette: 6. 17 November 1921.