{"id":16385,"date":"2022-07-05T10:44:23","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T10:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/?page_id=16385"},"modified":"2025-12-08T19:16:44","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T19:16:44","slug":"at-the-football-match-last-saturday","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/folksongandmusichall.com\/index.php\/at-the-football-match-last-saturday\/","title":{"rendered":"At the football match last Saturday"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
AKA<\/strong><\/td>The Josser football team<\/td><\/tr>
First Published<\/td>1897<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Writer\/composer<\/td>Mark Sheridan<\/td>Roud<\/strong><\/td>RN16735<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Music Hall Performers<\/strong><\/td>Mark Sheridan, Jock Whiteford<\/td><\/tr>
Folk performances<\/strong><\/td>Collected from the singing of:<\/strong>
Fellows, Sid; England : Suffolk; mid-1960s<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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I'll tell you the tale of the pirate team,\nThey're the very worst players that ever were seen;\nIt all occurred on a patch of green,\nAt a football match last Saturday.\nWe started away from the town all gay,\nEach member he was ready for the fray;\nWe swore we'd win or die that day,\nAt the football match last Saturday.\n\nWe reached the ground at half past two,\nThe crowd it numbered a thousand or two,\nWe said \"We'll show them what we can do\"\nAt the football match last Saturday.\nTo be funny with me our captain tried,\nI threw him on his back and there he lied; \nThen I kicked him on his ... offside,\nAt the football match last Saturday.\n\nThe Referee \"Upon my soul,\nI took that man for a telegraph pole,\"\nSo I took his trousers for the goal,\nAt the football match last Saturday.\nWe started the game with the wind at our backs,\nOur opponents they led all the attacks,\nWhich fairly gave our captain the wax,\nAt the football match last Saturday\n\nJust then we commenced to play very fine,\nThe ball was just going over the line\nThe Referee whistled and called \"half-time\"\nAt the football match last Saturday.\nThe interval was welcome \u2013 true\nWe ate ice cream and Irish stew,\nAnd Elliman's embrocation too,\nAt the football match last Saturday.\n\nAs soon as we began the second half,\nThe crowd they all began to laugh,\nSaid one \"Lor' Lumme! Just look at his calf\"\nAt the football match last Saturday\nI thought I'd make a name of renown\nI shouted out \"That's my touchdown\"\nSomebody touched me for half a crown,\nAt the football match last Saturday.\n\nThe crowd then shouted \"Play up, all\"\nBut we could not respond to their call,\nWe found somebody had pinched the ball, \nAt the football match last Saturday.\nOur supporters were there, all staunch and true.\nThe result was thirty goals to two;\nThe air for miles around went blue,\nAt the football match last Saturday.\n\nThe Referee so kind and true,\nWe kicked him till he was black and blue,\nHe lost his watch and his giblets too, \nAt the football match last Saturday\nThat put all our team in a funk,\nSo they went to the pub and got paralytic drunk,\nThe treasurer he with the money did a bunk\nFrom the football match last Saturday.\n\nWe went to the dressing room and what you suppose:\nWe found somebody had sneaked our clothes,\nWho got them, goodness only knows,\nAt the football match last Saturday.\nWe all got keepsakes from our foes,\nThere's one man's ear, there is another man's nose;\nWe all walked home in nature's clothes,\nFrom the football match last Saturday\n\n<\/pre>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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A version of this song was collected in the mid-1960s by Neil Lanham from the singing of Sid Fellows. It features on the Helions Bumpstead CD Lavenham<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The song was originally written and performed in the late 1890s by the music hall comic Mark Sheridan (see his brief biography below). It was also performed in Britain by the Scottish comedian Jock Whiteford, and in Australia by Horace Wheatley. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A letter to the editor of The Era<\/em> from the Welsh comedian NC Bostock challenged Sheridan’s right to use the title, as he had been singing a different song called At the football match last Saturday<\/em> since 1892. (The Era, <\/em>17 April 1897)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Mark Sheridan (1864-1918)<\/strong> was a huge star in the Halls and pantomimes of the late 19th and early 20th century. He was born of Scottish and Irish parents in County Durham and worked originally on the Sunderland docks before taking up a job in the office of a Newcastle theatre. He didn’t work in the office for long and his early successes in Newcastle were followed by tours of Australia and South Africa, before establishing himself as a major star in London in the mid-1890s. His most famous song today is probably I do like to be beside the seaside <\/em>but he performed and recorded many other songs. He seemed to have suffered from mental health difficulties and sadly he committed suicide at the age of 53. A more extensive biography can be found in the archived website marksheridan.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A recording or download of this song can be purchased from Windyridge CDs.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
 At the football match last Saturday <\/em>sung by Mark Sheridan:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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