Mexborough & Swinton Times – Saturday 15 March 1941

Tale of Two Denaby Players

A War-Time Coincidence

Lionel Smith, 20-year-old Denaby United centre-half, had an exciting week-end in London last week.

Lionel, whose home is at 21, Kirby Street. Mexboro’, went up to London to help Arsenal in their match with Watford, and played a prominent part in their 5-0 victory.

Considering that he spent the night before the match in a London tube air raid shelter he certainly gave a good account of himself, and finished t h e week-end well by getting  away from London in good time to avoid Saturday’s ” blitz.”

Lionel left Doncaster for London at 3-45, arriving early in the evening. Confusion in the course of a tube journey resulted in his finding himself stranded in a tube station, surrounded by underground shelterers.

He wandered round the shelter for a time and was eventually given a bunk by one of the shelter officials. This place of repose was evidently conducive to early rising, for he was at the ground at 8 a.m. next day, and after light training had dinner and later returned to help to defeat Watford.

Lionel’s comment on his London trip was, “If the people of London keep their morale as high as it is at present. Hitler will never beat them.”

A native of Mexborough, Lionel attended the Dolcliffe Road School and is at present employed at the Parkgate Steel Works. He has played for Arsenal several times during the last years and before that played with Yorkshire Tar Distillers and Manvers Main. Already he has won three cups and four medals.

It was an interesting coincidence that while Lionel Smith was doing his home town credit in London, a former Denaby United player, Gunner Jack Williams, now serving with the Royal Artillery, was enjoying seven days’ leave at his home In Mexborough.

Contacting his old club in the hope of learning whether they had a game in the district which he could watch on Saturday, Jack found out that he would be welcome not as a spectator but as a player.

His message, in fact. was the answer to the Denaby United team selectors’ prayer, and he helped to fill a gap caused by the absence of Lionel, and helped Denaby to hold Bolsover Colliery to a 2-3 draw at Bolsover in the Sheffield Senior Cup.

Jack showed that preoccupation with guns had not made him forget how to play football, and played a rattling good game.