THE GREAT FULL-BACKS OF MY TIME
— W. I. Bassett | 15/11/1907 —

Although I have adopted a somewhat pessimistic attitude in regard to some phases of football during the run of these articles, I have never said anything against the defensive tactics of the present generation of footballers. Goals are probably more difficult to score now than at any time in the history of football, and this is mainly due to the improvement there has been in combination of defence. Candidly, I do not think the backs of the present day are the superiors of the great defenders of the same type I knew. But there are many very fine players before the public now, and while individuals are not greater, defensive tactics are on the whole very sound. I have often thought that we don't see such fine volleying as we did.

NICK ROSS UNLIMITED.

But so far as individual brilliance was concerned, some of the great full-backs of my time were really wonderful men. The first great back I remember, and I was called upon to meet him in the English Cup Final of 1888, when I was quite a youth, was Nicholas Ross. The more I think of Nick Ross, the more convinced I am that he was the greatest full-back I have ever seen. He had a wonderful judgement and unlimited dash. It was this rare blend of discretion and dash that made him such a successful defender. I have seen much bigger men, much heavier men, and much stronger men than Nick Ross on the football field, but I have never seen a man who was so dreaded by opponents. Dozens of times I have seen men who, if they had gone for the ball for all they were worth, must have got it, literally quail before Nick's glance. When Ross went for the ball he meant to get it, and he got it at all hazards. It mattered little to Ross what happened to the other man. A more fearless player never appeared before the public, for he was not of the build of many of the full-backs playing to-day. He was a masterful fellow, though, and all his adversaries knew it.

HOWARTH AND HOLMES.

Bob Howarth and Bob Holmes made a fine pair of backs for North End after Nick Ross had gone to Everton. Howarth was a sound, reliable player, while Holmes was a perfect master of skill and finesse. He always showed up well against fleet right-wingers. He used to trouble Athersmith far more than most of the men who played against that flying forward. Holmes had a career of remarkable length, and right up to the finish his form was good, while he retained everyone's goodwill and respect, in addition to coaching boys at some of the leading Northern public schools, he was for some time the official trainer for the English International teams.

TWO FAMOUS SCOTCH PLAYERS.

Another fine back was Andrew Hannah, of Renton. Hannah was one of the men who made the Renton eleven famous throughout the world, being contemporary with McColl, Neil McCallum, MdNee, and John Campbell (of Sunderland). Hannah and Dan Doyle, when playing for Everton, formed on the finest pair of backs the game has known. Both were wonderful kickers and wonderful tacklers. Dan Doyle I met many times in inter-club strife, and several times in International games. He was a quaint, humorous fellow, with a merry twinkle in his eye, and I shall never forget the warmth of his greeting when I met him comparatively recently at a big match at the Crystal Palace.

"WATTY" ARNOTT.

Perhaps, however, after mentioning Nick Ross I should have gone straight on to the next finest back I remember, and perhaps some will think that Walter Arnott ought to be at least bracketed with Nick Ross. Walter Arnott was, indeed, as accomplished as any back I have watched. His play was masterly in every particular. He appeared on ten consecutive occasions against England, and I was often in the team which England put in the field against the Scots during the course of his career. But Arnott, with all his skill and polish, accuracy and judgment, had not that abandon which Nick Ross, more than any other man I have ever seen on the football field, possessed; that is to say, in a very important game I think I would rather have had Nick Ross on my side than any other player in the world. But Arnott was a model of all that a full-back should be, and he, too, will always be remembered as not only a great but also a chivalrous player.

THE BROTHERS WALTERS.

Perhaps the two most dangerous backs in conjunction I have ever known were the brothers A. M. and P. M. Walters. They were in their prime at the time that the bulk of the greatest Corinthian forwards were also in their prime, and the Amateurs in their day had a most brilliant and formidable eleven. I shall never forget what a sensation there was when the Corinthians played their first match of any importance in December, 1884. They beat Blackburn Rovers, the holders of the Cup, at Blackburn, by 8—1. The Walters did not play in that match, but they came on the scene immediately afterwards, and for years they held an unquestioned supremacy, A. M. playing against Scotland five times and P. M. six.

NICK ROSS'S JOKE.

The sardonic Nick Ross once paid one of the brothers the greatest compliment he probably ever paid a man in his life. He once said to A. M. Walters, "You are not such a good back as your brother." "Am I not?" replied A. M. genially, for he understood Nick Ross as well as most men. "No," said Ross incisively, "there is only one better back in the world than your brother." "And who is he?" asked A. M. "Why me, of course," said Ross bluntly. He was about right, although very few men would have cared to express it in that way. The Walters played a somewhat hazardous kind of game, but they understood each other so well and were so fast that they could afford to take liberties. They were adepts at the practice of putting a man offside. Scottish crowds did not take kindly to their methods, but there can be no doubt that they played the game in a most scientific way. 

ANOTHER NICK.

Nick Smith, of the Rangers, was an able back for Scotland, too. He and Dan Doyle made an excellent pair. One of the most dangerous backs I played with in the latter part of my career was W. Williams, of West Bromwich Albion, a man who resembled Nick Ross in many of his methods. Strong and bustling, and a heavy charger, he was at the same time a scrupulously fair player as far as intention went. W. J. Oakley was another masterly back. He and F. R. Pelly, although not quite maintaining the reputations of the brothers Walters, were excellent together. Of late the Corinthians have produced no such defenders. Tom Brandon, who played in the first International in which Anglo-Scots appeared — and the last in which I played against Scotland — was a magnificent kicker, and was as fearless as any full back need be.

VALIANT DEFENDERS — PAST AND PRESENT.

Another fine old back gifted with keen judgment was John Forbes, of the Vale of Leven and Blackburn Rovers, while two superlatively fine men of a later date were James Crabtree and Donald Gow. Crabtree was, I think, the greatest all-round footballer I have ever seen. At his best he was a superb back, but he was equally good in other positions. Another notable name which occurs to me is that of Howard Spencer, whose merits were probably not done full justice to by his country, although the League Committee had a great opinion of his prowess, for he played five times against the Scottish League. The three best backs of the present time are McCombie — a little past his best now — Robert Crompton, of Blackburn Rovers, the soundest defender we now have, and Herbert Burgess, of Manchester United.