I have been looking for evidence of a football team made up wholly of members of the Brawley family. My mum told me about it and I even found an article mentioning it but I had no idea when it happened or who was involved. Could it just be another family myth passed down through the generations?

But it is true. I found this match report which not only confirms the game took place but also that the Brawleys were the victors!

The game took place on Friday 17 June 1921 so who could have been playing? 1921 is a census year so I can look at all the Brawleys living in Newmains at that time.

In the 1921 census which was taken on 19 June 1921 there are 38 Brawleys living in Newmains with 19 being male. I have taken out those under 12 so that leaves 15 males aged between 14 and 56. 14 is still a child, of course, but this is 1921 and our 14 year old was already working as a labourer at the iron works.

You can see the football ground on the map above. The families all lived close by in Main Street, Manse Road and Hope Street. You can also see the Coltness works where all the men were employed at the time.

The oldest male on the census record is my great grandfather Daniel who is 56 and a fireman at the works. He has 6 sons who are possibilities for the team.

• Patrick (27)
• John (23)
• Hugh (22)
• Peter (19)
• Matthew (16)
• Michael (15)

Daniel’s brother Peter is 49 with 4 eligible sons

• Patrick (29)
• Hugh (24)
• Peter (18)
• Daniel (14)

Daniel’s brother John died in 1897 but he had 2 sons who were eligible to play

• Daniel (31)
• John (30)

And finally there is brother Matthew who was 40.

It does make it quite confusing that the names are repeated quite a bit in the family but I know that Daniel (son of John) was a good player. He left Newmains in 1927 to go to America and there is a snippet in the newspaper about him continuing to play. In fact, the newspaper reports suggest that he would have been key to the team’s success.

My grandfather Hugh (son of Daniel) was a very keen footballer and was involved with local teams as a player and coach throughout his life. I am pretty sure he would have made the team even though he’d just become a dad a few weeks before. My auntie Sarah was born on 20 May 1921. The local paper football reports also make regular mention of a P Brawley so one of the Peters or Patricks. For those that didn’t make it on to the pitch that day I am sure they were there cheering the family on. The Brawleys would have been the talk of the village. There’s no mention of a trophy or a prize but I imagine the victory and the bragging rights would be more than enough.

I think I might take a closer look at my potential players and record their stories. Watch this space.