The matchday Battle of the brewers
A story which appeared in the Bugle back in the October 21 edition, regarding competition between Black Country breweries reminded me that this rivalry was even played out in local football publications.
It will be of no surprise to readers that I will refer to those relating to Wolverhampton Wanderers – I will leave others to explore their club connections.
The first example of brewery sponsorship that I could find in my collection was in an advertisement in Wolves’ programmes of the 1924-25 season, when Myatt’s Royal Bitter appeared above the club logo.
John Francis (Frank) Myatt founded his brewery at the Cross Keys public house in 1900, registering it as the Midland Home Brewing Co. Ltd. The premises were soon too small and Myatt acquired the Albany Brewery, changing the name of the business to Frank Myatt & Co. Ltd. in August 1902.
In 1909 the business was sold to Eley’s Stafford Brewery Ltd. leaving Frank to found another home brew house at the West End Inn. The company
became the West End Brewery on Raglan Street, Wolverhampton.
Expansion saw the public houses of the Manches
ter Brewery Co. Ltd. being acquired and ten years later they took over Old Wolverhampton Breweries Ltd. The brewery was acquired by the Holt Brewery Co. Ltd. in 1927 and is recorded as closing the year after.
Wartime
Fast forward to August 1939 and the start of the abortive 1939-40 league season, called off due to the start of World War II after just three matches. The Wolves’ fixture card for that campaign was covered with advertisements for Johnson & Phipps Ltd. They were based in Fryer Street, off Lichfield Street, Station End. They had previously been Stratton & Co. of Long Street where their Anglo Malt Brewery was located (1904). Johnson & Phipps merged with J. P. Simpkiss of Brierley Hill in 1955 and their brewery was compulsorily purchased for redevelopment the next year. I am not sure when Butler & Co Ltd. began its dominance of marketing connections with the Wolves but it was certainly in evidence before the end of the war. There were regular advertisements in
programmes (including the War Cup semi-final against Bolton Wanderers in 1945) and then in special edition brochures in 1949, 1954 and 1960.
William Butler & Co.
Ltd. was founded in Bilston in 1833 but moved to Wolverhampton in 1874 and is of course best known for its Springfield Brewery there.
It was acquired by
Mitchells & Butlers in 1960 and the brewery closed in 1991. For decades until the start of the 1968-69 season its name graced the inside front cover that showed the line-ups for each match.
Saturday August 17, 1968 saw the end of the link with Butler’s with the launch of the new Molinews match day magazine. The teams were now displayed on the front cover and advertisements found inside.
Strangely, the local Banks’s brewery (established at the Park Brewery in the town in 1875) rarely appeared in club publications, seen for the first time to my knowledge in the 1974 League Cup commemorative brochure.
Locals
Instead, programme adverts of an alcoholic nature during the sixties and seventies included those for Ansells, Brew XI, M&B, and Double Diamond. I am pleased to report that the successful 1988-89 promotion season did see the back page of programmes occupied by advertisements for both Banks’s and Hanson’s – back to the local at last!
I will now remove my anorak for a while and let readers get on with their lives.