| Match Pictures | Matches: 1924 – 1925 | 1925 Pictures |
Trivia
- Billy Meredith’s last match, age 50.
- Played at Maine Road, Manchester.
- Program sold at auction for £400 in 2008 [Convery Auctions]
Review
29th April 1925 – Billy Meredith’s Benefit Match played at Maine Road Manchester
William Henry “Billy” Meredith (30 July 1874 – 19 April 1958) was a Welsh footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United.
He won each domestic trophy in the English football league and also gained 48 caps for Wales, for whom he scored 11 goals. 22 of these international appearances were gained while playing for Manchester City, while 26 were gained while playing for Manchester United. His favoured position was outside right.
Teams
Lancashire Select 2
Albert Gray (Oldham)
Billy Richardson (Stockport County)
James Calderwood (Manchester City)
Samuel Sharp (Manchester City)
Neil McBain (Everton)
Charlie Pringle (Manchester City)
Billy Meredith (Manchester City)
Bob Kelly (Burnley)
Frank Roberts (Manchester City)
Horace Barnes (Preston North End)
George Mee (Blackpool)
Goals: Bob Kelly 18 Mins, Horace Barnes 20 Mins
Celtic/Rangers Select 2
Peter Shevlin (Celtic)
Willie McStay(Celtic)
Billy McCandless (Rangers)
Robert Ireland (Rangers)
Arthur Dixon (Rangers)
John “Jean” McFarlane (Celtic)
Sandy Archibald (Rangers)
Patsy Gallacher (Celtic)
Jimmy McGrory (Celtic)
Tommy Cairns (Rangers)
Alan Morton (Rangers)
Goals: Tommy Cairns 25 & 49 Mins
Ref:
Att:
Links
Articles
MEREDITH’S XI V. RANGERS & CELTIC XI., WILLIE MEREDITH’S TESTIMONIAL MATCH PROGRAMME, 29/4/25
horizontal and vertical folds, match played at Maine Road; and Derby County v. Sunderland, match programme, 9/9/36 (2)
Maine Road 100 – Day 59
Day 59 of my posts counting down to the centenary of Maine Road’s opening game is the story of the day Celtic and Rangers played a game at Maine Road as a combined Glasgow XI. That day was the great City player Billy Meredith’s testimonial.
It was played on 29 April 1925 and saw a MEREDITH XI versus RANGERS & CELTIC XI.
A series of benefit matches and events were organised for Billy Meredith following his retirement in 1924, with this match being the most significant event. Somehow Meredith had convinced Rangers and Celtic to form one side to take on a team of Lancashire based players selected by Meredith himself. The Meredith side, playing in red and white, contained City favourites Frank Roberts and Charlie Pringle, plus of course Meredith, and former City star Horace Barnes – a Preston player at the time of the match. City’s legendary trainer Jimmy Broad trained the team.
The Glasgow side, playing in blue and white, contained five Celtic players – including Jimmy McGrory – and six Rangers men. Former City full-back Johnny McMahon was one of the linesmen, while the other was an ex-United star George Wall, who incredibly smoked a pipe throughout the match.
Meredith testimonial programme, as seen in From Maine Men To Banana Citizens by Gary James
According to the Manchester Evening Chronicle report: ‘Many old friendships were renewed at Maine Road on Wednesday night, and we all laughed at Meredith trying the old backheel to the half-back business with very little success. Incidentally the main image above is of Meredith a couple of years earlier with the Hyde Road ground in the background.
A few moments from the match, including the teams posing for photographs. The footage concentrates on Meredith pre-match, and also shows the Popular Side (later Kippax) and Platt Lane end. The camera was placed in front of the Platt Lane end, close to the goal for much of the action (Platt Lane is the stand numbered 4 & 5 in the image below, although that stand was still unroofed back in 1925).
You can view that film via this link:
https://www.nwfa.mmu.ac.uk/viewVideo.php?token=4509agw35419Hq72304ZYm1563b49