Football Programmes Centre

Flaming Pie · Joined: 26 Nov 2016 Posts: 972

Currently for sale on eBay under the heading Unusual Football Photograph. No info from the seller , but it does look like a pro- team, probably 1920s or 30s. It looks like the players are gargling. A bit of a weird one ?

Pete’s Picture Palace · Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2025 3:42 pm Post subject:

That's been going round & round on eBay for a while now, I contacted seller about it and there's no info on it at all. Put me off it. 10 players lined up, all wearing goalkeepers' sweaters. Nothing else visible, no stands, terraces etc, so impossible to identify, which is a great shame as it's an unusual shot, as the description says.

Flaming Pie · Joined: 26 Nov 2016 Posts: 972

Could it be Major Buckley’s Wolves team from the 1930s? Didn’t he have them on monkey glands to pep them up? Perhaps they are all high while enjoying a nice cup of tea. Mind you, l think Wolves had the injections just before kick off. I know a post second WW Sweden team were on the pep pills before playing England at Wembley. Could it be a press photo of a team advertising a sore throat/ cold / flu medication ? When was that flu epidemic that swept through Europe after World War One?

Pete’s Picture Palace · Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2025 8:55 pm Post subject:

Spanish flu was 1918-20 and killed more people than WW1. To be honest these 10 blokes could all be picked up from the dole queue. Why all in keepers' roll-neck sweaters? We'll never know but it's fun to speculate.

Kvaratschelia · Joined: 20 Aug 2010 Posts: 49

Check out the Sunderland Daily Echo, 12 January 1933 on BNA. Photo of footballers gargling - looks like it could be the same guys.

East Lower · Joined: 11 Sep 2020 Posts: 14

I've seen this photo before, possibly in Backpass Magazine. They are definitely wearing 'training kit' from the 1930s.