Bolton Wanderers’ visit to Wembley stirs memories of White Horse final

The producers, cast and volunteers at the venue on Hanover Street have launched an appeal to find relatives of the 11 players and their manager to extend them an invite to show.

Richard Leigh from the theatre was initially surprised that not many of the cup winners were actually Boltonians.

He said: “I suppose I’d assumed that most players 100 years ago simply played for their local team.

“But actually only four were from the Bolton area.”

White Horse Final

His research found that most of those who brought home Wanderers’ first FA cup were signed from all corners of the UK and some went further afield after their time at Burnden Park.

It is said that outside-right and England international Billy Butler managed Johannesburg Rangers FC in South Africa.

Closer to home, the group said The Trotters’ manager Charles Foweraker was a Welshman - like players Billy Jennings and Ted Vizard - and the club’s longest-serving gaffer stayed in Bolton until his death.

1923 BWFC team

Keen Wanderers’ fans Peter Haslam and Derek Darlington provided some more local knowledge in the bid to find relatives.

Peter said: “We knew that skipper, Joe Smith, moved to Blackpool and managed them successfully after the war.

“But we don’t know where the right-back Bob Haworth ended his days, nor Alexander Finney, who played at left-back.”

But the icing on the cake for fans would be to find out what happened to inside-foward and first goalscorer David Jack.

Peter said: “He scored in every game leading up to the final and he’s something of a hero-amongst-heroes for us.”

The play has already enjoyed runs here in recent years and director Connor O’Beirne said the April 28 show this year should be performed in front of descendants of that talented team.

The troupe had some success at Bolton Museum in their search, where excerpts of the play have been performed three times alongside LS Lowry’s ‘Going to the Match’, which is on display at Le Mans Crescent until June 25.

Richard Leigh said: “[The excerpts] went down very well. Sue Higson, who’s on the board of the supporter’s trust - she saw it [last] Wednesday and she thought it was excellent.

Members of Phoenix Theatre Company, who are co-collaborators in the production had also hoped they might bump into relatives there.

Chair Ros Bell said: “Probably not Jack Smith’s family as we know he was from Glasgow and died in Wales, but possibly Harry Nuttall or Jimmy Seddon’s, who did both stay local.”

Organisers have added a special request to the relatives guest list too as the play is not set on the pitch, but rooted in the lives of two local families in the broader context of the trip to London a hundred years ago.

Richard Leigh said: “One of the characters in the play is based on a real man…a Bolton newsagent who walked to Wembley.

“If we can find relatives of his around that would be great.”

Bolton Little Theatre chairman David Smart said they’re also looking for representatives of Bolton firms that were around at the time and still going.

Booth Industries were trading as Booths Steelwork and had a centre-page advert in the inaugural Wembley match programme.

Sales & Estimating office manager Adam Robinson said: “Booths was already a well-established 50-year-old firm by the time of the 1923 final, so we’re very much looking forward to joining in the commemorations 100 years later.”

And Did Those Feet runs from April 22 - 29 at Bolton Little Theatre. Anyone with information about relatives of the 1923 Bolton Wanderers FA Cup final team can contact the theatre, or Phoenix Theatre Company, via their Facebook pages.