Footie clubs on fast track

QUESTION Were Man United and Man City founded by railway workers?

Manchester United started out in 1878 as newton heath LYr (Lancashire and Yorkshire railway) Fc, founded by workers in the carriage and wagon department. the strip was green and gold to match the company livery.

It joined the Football alliance, which became part of the Football League.

In 1902, when it faced bankruptcy, four businessmen each invested £500 and renamed it Manchester United Fc. In 1910, the club moved to a new ground at Old trafford.

Manchester city started in 1880 as st Mark’s (West Gorton), a church side. It is probable the team emerged from a cricket team. a move to hyde road prompted a change of name to ardwick association Fc in 1887. two years after it joined the Football League in 1892, it was renamed Manchester city.

the club moved to Maine road in 1923 and then to the etihad stadium in 2003.

Robert Sutherland, Northampton.

In addItIOn to Manchester United, eight other clubs in the Football League started as works teams.

doncaster rovers was formed in 1879 by albert Jenkins, a fitter at the town’s Great northern railway works, to play a match against the Yorkshire Institute for the deaf and dumb.

stoke city was started by workers at the north staffordshire railway company in the 1860s. It became stoke ramblers in 1868 and stoke Fc in 1870.

arsenal was established as dial square in 1886 by 15 workers from the Woolwich royal arsenal Munitions Factory. It was named after the sundial on top of the factory entrance. after a change of name to royal arsenal, it became the first London club to turn professional.

West ham United was founded as thames Ironworks Fc in 1895 by arnold hills, owner of the thames Ironworks and shipbuilding company, and his foreman, dave taylor.

It folded in 1900 but reformed under the name West ham United Fc. the team is still nicknamed the Irons.

West Bromwich albion was founded in 1878 as West Bromwich strollers by workers from George salter’s spring works. It was renamed in 1880.

coventry city was known as singers Fc because it was formed by workers of singers cycle company in 1883. Millwall was founded in 1885 as Millwall rovers by workers from Jt Morton’s canning and preserve factory on the Isle of dogs.

Wycombe Wanderers was set up in 1887 by furniture tradesmen.

Jim Kay, Keswick, Cumbria.

QUESTION Why did Wolseley motors have 4/44 and 14/60 after their names?

thIs was due to a difference between taxable and actual horsepower.

In 1910, the Government decided cars should be taxed according to the power of the engine. the rac worked out a formula based on the dimensions of the engine: it squared the cylinder diameter in inches, multiplied by the number of cylinders, then divided by 2.5.

this was based on the assumption of a mean piston speed of 1,000 ft per second, a mean pressure on the piston of 90 lb per square inch and a mechanical efficiency of 75 per cent.

the stroke of the piston was catered for by the piston speed. It was assumed that short-stroke engines would operate at a higher rpm than long-stroke engines.

the formula was reasonably accurate and cars were often named according to the rac rating of their engines, such as the austin 7.

Improvements in design, lubrication, fuel and materials meant that by the 1930s engines were producing considerably more than their rac rating. car names frequently quoted both figures, such as Wolseley 14/60 and alvis 12/70.

an unfortunate side-effect of the rac rating was that it encouraged the production of low-revving, small-bore, long-stroke engines to attract a lower rate of tax. the way ahead required highrevving, large-bore, short-stroke engines fitted with overhead valves.

the Government abandoned the rac system in 1947 in favour of a tax on cubic capacity and then a flat tax a year later.

Denis Sharp, Littlehampton, W. Sussex.

QUESTION My grandmother referred to ‘February fill dyke’. What other weather sayings are there?

FUrther to various weather sayings, according to scottish lore: ‘If it rains on the sunday before mess (Mass), It will rain all the week, more or less.’

It’s also said if the raven cries first in the morning, it will be a good day; if the rook, the reverse, hence the proverb: The corbie said unto the craw, ‘Johnnie, fling your plaid awa’ ’ The craw says unto the corbie, ‘Johnnie, fling your plaid about ye.’

Will Murray, Edinburgh. an OLd saying was that ‘if the ice in november could hold a duck, the rest of the winter would be sludge and muck’.

another is about weed control in fields: ‘cut thistles in May, they’ll grow in a day; cut them in June, that is too soon; cut them in July, then they will die.’

Brian Ree, Much Cowarne, Hereford.

IS THERE a question to which you want to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question here? Write to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Scottish Daily Mail, 20 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6DB; or email charles. legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection is published, but we’re unable to enter into individual correspondence.