It’s welcomed generations and famous faces in the last century
Liverpool has long been a city associated with sport and through the generations, we’ve produced a catalogue of talented athletes at both amateur and professional levels. But many owe their success and friendships to one athletic club which has been at the heart of its community for a century.
Located on Mossley Hill Road off Rose Lane, Mossley Hill Athletic Club (MHAC) was founded back in 1924 and for the last 100 years has been a magnet for locals and sports teams in Liverpool and beyond. Today, the club has facilities for eight sport sections – football, rugby, tennis, bowling, running, hockey, archery and cricket – a massive growth from its humble beginning.
In its time, MHAC has welcomed famous faces such as footballers Curtis Jones and Toni Duggan who played there in their youth. But they’ve also established themselves as a vital part of the community through their social club, offering regular activities and events for different ages and interests.
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As part of the Liverpool ECHO’s How It Used To Be series, we spoke to MHAC about their centenary and being at the centre of their community for generations. Chairman Arthur Carson, 67, told the ECHO: “It started in 1924 when the local vicar decided that he wanted to have a cricket match and a cricket team on the main pitch.
“He asked Emma Holt could he do that because she owned the land and she said yes. The club started to save money up to buy the actual land off Emma, but during the war the church was bombed and the roof was ruined, so all the money he had saved up, he couldn’t use to buy the ground.
“Originally, when you came up years ago to be a member, you were interviewed by the church and if you were a draughtsman for instance and they had too many they’d refuse your entrance and say, well, we’ve already got one, so thank you very much.
“For quite a long time they had a little wooden pavilion at the back of the club which was used for people to get changed and also a clubhouse. So for a long, long time they existed as a parish club with the community of Mossley Hill attending on a regular basis.”
In the 1960s, the club introduced archery, followed by rugby and football in the 1970s, then a running club in the 1990s, to today offering eight sports sections to members who span generations. Arthur has been chairman for two decades, but his time at the club goes back much further.
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Arthur said: “I started 37 years ago when my son wanted to play football and Rob Wells introduced me to a team. Rob – he’s done an awful lot for football, for ladies football, disability football, football in general.
“He took me on the back pitch, took the 20 best players and left me with 20. They couldn’t play and we got beat 25-0 in our first game and all my little players were crying and all upset with the fact they got beat.
“After the first 15 games, we got a corner, but we didn’t know what to do with it so they were all standing there and after 21 games, we scored a goal. We came into the club and stayed all night celebrating the fact we got a goal.
“They won the treble the year after and they’re grown up now, but I still see them. My fondest memories are when I meet somebody that I coached as a child and the first thing they do is they come up to you with a warm hug and say, all those days were fantastic, weren’t they.”
In the last century, generations from the area and wider Merseyside have been a part of the club’s illustrious history, which has grown and developed with both the times and its members. Arthur said: “We have seven and eight year olds out here playing football in a non competitive environment, which was started 25 years ago and the FA only started it 10 years ago.
“Children can just come up, enjoy the sport, enjoy the day, make friends, socialize and then they’ll go home happy without worrying about the scores. But there’s people who’ve been coming here 40, 50 years and have seen it develop, grow and change. In terms of membership, we’ve got about 1800 members.”
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A huge part of the club is also its social section, as the building on site boasts a dedicated lounge with large HD TVs and a function room with a state of the art 4K projector, big screen and kitchen. The club runs and facilitates numerous events and activities through the year to suit different ages and interests, as well as give back to the area.
And they say this part of Mossley Hill is a “unique” hub in itself, as opposite you’ll find museum and gallery Sudley House and next door, Mossley Hill Parish Church. The athletic club also has a productive link with Mossley Hill Residents Association, who all combined want their relationship to continue to grow and benefit the area.
On site, a number of them told the ECHO what the club and area means to them. Bar manager Martin Keatley has worked at the social club for almost 25 years.
He told the ECHO: “There’s a lot of clubs that have closed down and it’s important that we always look at new stuff. You need to regenerate, you need to think about where the club’s going.
“It’s the best job I’ve ever had and it’s one of the nicest environments to work in.” Dave Thomas, 60, and husband and wife Dave and Brenda Roberts, 61 and 64, are all part of the Mossley Hill Residents Association and have been working closely with the club to offer more events to the community than ever before.
Brenda told the ECHO: “I think we’re very lucky here. Between Arthur and the club, Rev. Rachel Arthur with the church, Sudley House, the Residents Association – it’s quite a unique little patch here, it’s so close.
“I think the club’s very welcoming. The club has grown but the old fashioned standards and morals are very much still imprinted in their constitution and that carries forward, so I love it.”
Mum-of-four Grace Adams-Short, 39, runs holiday provision Active8 on site through the year, offering multi-sports and performing arts to children across the city. She told the ECHO: “It’s such a warm, inviting atmosphere and when the children attend they absolutely love it.
“The facilities are fantastic and I think it’s where a lot of children start their active journey whether it be football, running, tennis, dancing with me. It really is a place where all ages can enjoy, where it doesn’t matter if you’re six years old or 60 years old – there’s something here for everyone.”
This year marks the clubs 100th anniversary and to celebrate the milestone, a festive event with carol singing, Father Christmas and their official Christmas tree light switch on is taking place from 6.30pm at MHAC on December 14.
A time capsule full of documents, photographs and club treasures has also been created to unveil and then seal at the event. Head of events and marketing at MHAC Mike Davies first joined with the running club around a decade ago.
Mike, 47, told the ECHO: “It’s keeping the club’s history alive for future generations. Without Mike and Joe and West, we wouldn’t have any of this, it would be lost, because Mike’s Dad was the secretary and he kept most of this stuff safe.
“The stand out for me is the tennis sections book, which dates all the way back to the very first year, 1924. We’ve got cards signed by a lot of the members as well to include and we’re going to try to get more signature on the night.”
Chairman Arthur said he is incredibly proud of their centenary and everyone who has been part of their legacy. He said: “It’s not just people at the top who run the organisation, it’s people who are cleaning, it’s people who are running sections – every section has a chairman, secretary and a bookkeeper.
“Then you look at those who are taking the people on Saturday mornings to matches, to games, all the parents, all volunteers and they’re giving their time freely. Mine’s a little job when you look at the club as a whole, what goes on.
“It’s essential. It’s at the heart of the community – there’s no doubt about that. It provides such a valuable asset to the community that we’d be worse without.”
To find out more about Mossley Hill Athletic Club, you can visit their website here.
