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The Life Story of Liverpool Harriers & Athletic Club
The story has been documented in several sections, each available here as a fairly large pdf file: 1882 to World War II - the Club is born... flourishes... and then almost disappears! Download to viewWorld War II to 1970 - a time of rebuilding, some star individuals, great potential. Download to view The 1970s - a golden era in the history of Liverpool Harriers & A.C. Download to view Other sections, covering later years, exist in draft form and will be added in due course.
... but we must never forget the debt the Club owes to three key Members ...
The future of Liverpool Harriers & Athletic Club was in some doubt just after the Second World War. Sporting activities effectively stopped during the conflict. Our Club went into hibernation and there was a real risk that it would never re emerge. However, once peace had been restored, a concerted effort was made to rebuild, through advertising and the holding of athletic events. By the end of 1946 the membership had grown to 211 and the future was assured. Prime movers Charles Rice and Tom O'Mahoney had already achieved something of a miracle, but they kept on striving for more improvements for many years to come.
Our Club had no permanent home until 1993. For over 100 years, a succession of venues became temporary bases for the Club: mainly public houses around the Old Swan, Roby, Childwall and Woolton areas. This nomadic existence clearly inhibited the Club's growth, especially among the younger age groups, due to the lack of a focal point incorporating the many facilities we take for granted today. The provision of our excellent headquarters at Wavertree Park ("The Mystery") took a huge amount of planning and fund-raising. The construction involved many hours of effort by Club members, as does its on-going maintenance today. Several Club members have played major roles, but we owe the biggest debt to someone who was a great coach as well as a great organiser: Ernie Gallagher - the quiet power behind this achievement. Publication Team Arthur Fryer - Research and initial documentation; Frank Davies - Editing and structuring; Mike Holmes - Proof-reading and approval
Sources of Documentation The research principally utilised the committee minutes and newsletters of Liverpool Harriers and of Northern Counties, plus microfilmed copies of old newspapers available via the Public Library system. Where information was incomplete, or ambiguous, we used various sources to add clarity - notably: Association of Road Racing Statisticians [www.arra.net]; GBR Athletics (from Athletics Weekly) [www.gbrathletics.com] Sports Reference [www.sports-reference.com]; History of Chelsea FC [www.thehistoryofchelseafc.blogspot.com] History of Liverpool & District Cross-Country, by Leo Carroll [www.lps-athletics.co.uk/l&d] |
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Life Story of LHAC |