The sad tale of sammy wightman
By Roger Wash
The Town lurched from crisis to crisis in the Edwardian era, not least when a gale took off part of the roof of the Lane (Beech Hill Path) stand causing damage to a nearby house. This sort of unfortunate accident simply added to the costs of retaining a professional football team with the directors forever on the lookout for finance and regular coming up with schemes to raise money.
A plan to allocate two turnstiles for those supporters willing to pay 1 shilling (5p) for entrance rather than the normal sum of half that was shelved after two games through lack of use. The players were asked to forego part of their wages which, of course, went down like a lead balloon and finally, in March 1911, it was resolved that all 46 players would be placed on the open to transfer list.
The vultures were soon circling, leading to the transfer of the club's crown jewels Tommy Quinn and John Smith to rivals Millwall for a 'considerable' sum. This, of course, gave rise to the directors being tagged with a selling club mentality for the first, and certainly not the last, time.
Rather than use some of the money to replace Quinn and Smith, and perhaps even strengthen the side, the directors instead merely re-signed most of the existing players on increased wages.
In hindsight this decision proved misguided and the Town struggled from the start of the season of the 1911-12 season, not helped by a raft of injuries, and it soon became increasingly likely that relegation from Southern League Division One, where the club had been since 1894 when they were founder members, was on the cards.
The Town had four games left to play when they travelled to Brighton on Easter Monday, April 8th 1912, and after going a goal down shortly after the interval, right-back Sammy Wightman went into a challenge with Brighton winger Fred Goodwin. Wightman had cleared the ball into touch a split second before Goodwin clattered into him with his foot raised in an attempt to block the clearance.
Wightman received a boot in the stomach which sent him to the ground. After treatment from trainer Billy Lawson he had to leave the field, taking no further part in the game and leaving the Town down to ten men in those far off days before substitutes. Significantly, neither the referee or linesman deemed it a foul and awarded a throw-in to Brighton.
Wightman was examined by two Brighton doctors who felt he was fit to travel home, but on the train he was in some discomfort and had to lie across the seats. At Victoria he was rushed across London in a horse-drawn cab to St Pancras where his condition deteriorated.
Back in Luton he was examined by a Dr Rose who sent him home to 66 Reginald Street to bed, but on seeing him the following morning made arrangements to admit him to the Bute Hospital, where later that day he was operated on by a surgeon who had travelled up from London.
It was discovered that Wightman had peritonitis following a rupture to his small intestine with little hope of recovery. He passed away at 1.15pm the following day, remaining conscious until the last few minutes.
Below: Sammy Wightman
Sammy Wightman was born in Whitehaven in Cumbria on 2nd November 1887 and after playing school football was taken on by Workington before moving to Merthyr, where he made a name for himself as a tough tackling right-back who used his height of six feet and weight of 13 stone to good effect.
A subsequent big move to Middlesbrough did not work out so he was glad to sign on for the Town in December 1910 to help shore up a defence that had been leaking goals at an alarming rate. He steadied the ship immediately and soon became a big crowd favourite remaining ever present (apart from one game), between the time he signed until the time of his death.
A great number of Luton supporters gathered at 8.00am on the Friday morning at Bute Street station to see the coffin loaded on a train to Whitehaven. The hearse had been followed by a cortege of Luton Town players and directors who then stood in silence on the platform as the train pulled out.
The Town, unsurprisingly, lost 3-0 at home to Swindon the following day in a sombre atmosphere. All spectators, with hats doffed, remained in the ground at the end of the game to hear the Luton Red Cross band play Chopin's Funeral March. Town director Ernest Gibbs and club captain Bob Hawkes then caught an overnight train to Whitehaven to represent the club at the funeral, which was held on the Sunday.
The inquest was held at the Luton Court House on Tuesday 23rd April presided over by Deputy County Coroner Mr G Whyley, who read out a deposition signed (with a cross) by Wightman shortly before he died. The deposition, witnessed by magistrate Colonel Carruthers, his clerk AF Barnard and a police officer stated that, 'I was kicked maliciously by him (Goodwin) and make this declaration and statement with the knowledge and fear of immediate death before me.'
Luton inside-forward Bob Walker, who had lodged with Wightman in Reginald Street, was then called. He maintained that Goodwin put his foot up wilfully as Wightman cleared the ball in an 'attempt to put him out of action.' When asked why he nor any of the other Luton players had appealed for a foul he said, 'it would have been no use as referees seldom take any notice.'
Luton supporters Fred Mullett and Alvena Inwood, who witnessed the incident at the Goldstone Ground could see no intent with the collision and did not think it was a foul. The opinion was echoed by an Inspector of the Hove Borough Police, who was on duty as he had been on scores of occasions without 'receiving a penny from them', as if to say that he was not in the pocket of the Albion.
The referee Mr Arthur Shallcross said that it was a closely contested, clean game and was adamant that it was not a foul, and confirmed that he had said to Goodwin, "if I had the least doubt I would have sent you off."
Finally, questions were asked of Goodwin who, as expected, said that he hardly knew Wightman and that he simply went to challenge for the ball just as it had been kicked into touch. 'I am very grieved, sir. It was a pure accident. I had no intention whatever, only to play the ball.'
Below: Fred Goodwin
The Coroner then addressed the jury to say that the bulk of the evidence went to show that it was an accident in the course of the game, and that only real evidence against was the deposition of Wightman and that a dying declaration has to be taken with a great deal of caution.
The jury then retired to consider their verdict which came back seven minutes later as 'Accidental Death.'