52 The Official Fulham FC Matchday Programme
unsuccessfully, to merge the
two clubs. Norris was able to
repeat his miracles at Arsenal,
getting the Gunners promoted
into Division One of the Football
League at the expense of
Tottenham Hotspur despite them
only finishing in fifth place in
Division Two. Norris continued
to operate on the murky side of
football throughout his time at
Arsenal, appointing a manager
who had previously been banned
from football for making illegal
payments - Herbert Chapman -
and enticing the famous Charlie
Buchan to the club, again with
the judicious use of the ubiquitous
brown envelope.
Norris was also instrumental
in moving the Gunners out of
South London and across town to
Highbury, which was where the
Second Round of the Victory Cup
was played. Fulham ran out easy
winners - 4-1. And that’s when
the nasty stuff hit the fan.
Fulham were accused of fielding
a number of unregistered players
- the rule allowing this having
been rescinded at the end of the
war. The main bone of contention
revolved around the inclusion of
George ‘Cocky’ Hunter, the first
Indian-born footballer to play in
the Football League and a figure of
enormous controversy, who was
in between clubs at the time.
Arsenal,
naturally,
complained
about the result,
the case being
heard by the
Committee of
the London
Combination,
with Norris
speaking on
behalf of the
Gunners.
He asked for
Arsenal to be
awarded the
tie and Fulham
disqualified.
The Committee
decided
against this,
but ordered
the game to be
replayed. Before
that could
happen though, Fulham appealed
against the ruling. The Committee
reversed their earlier decision,
awarding the tie back to Fulham.
Norris knew nothing about the
appeal and went apoplectic when
he found out, writing an open
letter to the influential Athletic
News, moaning bitterly about
Fulham’s transgression and
accusing them of violating “all the
canons of true sportsmanship”.
A bit rich coming from someone
like Norris, and distinctly odd
behaviour considering he was still
a director of the club. Inevitably,
it would signal the end of his time
at Fulham.
Undeterred, Fulham moved
blithely on to the Semi-Finals,
putting Tottenham to the sword
2-0 at Stamford Bridge in front of
a very healthy crowd of 45,000.
Chelsea beat Crystal Palace 4-0 in
the other Semi.
Unfortunately for Fulham, the
Final, as a sop to Norris, was
played at Highbury. In front of
an extremely hostile crowd of
36,000, Fulham lost 3-0. There
were plenty of Arsenal fans in the
George Hunter
Jock Rutherford
Harry Russell was ever-present
in the Victory Cup run
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