1915-1916

Competitive football had now been suspended for the duration of the war, and several clubs were unable to participate in the County Leagues which had been formed owing to the depletion of their playing strength. Clubs were not allowed to make any payment to their players.

Leeds were fortunate in that they were normally able to field something approaching a representative side, and most of the players on the register were able to turn out quite regularly. Joe Brittain, stand-off, who had shown exceptional promise with the ?A? team for a number of seasons, made his debut in the opening match against Batley at Headingley and quickly established himself in the First Team. Brittain was to have a distinguished career and to make 210 appearances over a period of nine seasons. Another half-back, J. Thomas, was introduced into the team for the match against Hull at Headingley in October. Tommy Harkness, previously on ?loan? to York, returned to Headingley.

Several ?guest? players assisted the club from time to time, the more famous amongst them including Harold Wagstaff and Albert Rosenfeld. The season opened with eight consecutive victories, and the first defeat came at The Boulevard on November 6th, Leeds being badly handicapped through injuries sustained by Webster and W. H. Davies. Undefeated in the next sixteen games, Leeds held a commanding position at the head of the ?Emergency League Table? at the end of March, but April saw a transformation.

Swinton came to Headingley on April 1st to inflict the second defeat of the season on a Leeds team, weakened through the absence of W. A. Davies, Campbell and Chilcott. A convincing victory over Hull followed, but Dewsbury, who also were making a strong bid for the League leadership, were too good at Crown Flatt for a Leeds team which included Wagstaff and Rosenfeld. .

Everything now depended on the outcome of the last four matches. Barrow presented no difficulties and were heavily defeated by 33 points to 2, but Wigan, at Central Park, before an excellent war-time attendance of 10,000, gained a narrow victory by 5 points to 3, the winning goal being kicked three minutes before the close. Thus more valuable ground had been lost, and there was tremendous interest in the vital match with Dewsbury at Headingley. Leeds had obviously gone ?stale? and never looked capable of gaining the winning points, so that Dewsbury coasted to a comfortable ten points victory, and snatched the leadership from Leeds, who had held first place from September. Although our closing match, versus Hull, brought a comfortable win, Dewsbury made no mistake in their last game at Craven Street, and we had to settle for second place.