Philip Bach (September 1872 – 30 December 1937) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played at full back. He played his club football for various teams including

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and made one appearance for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1899. He was later the chairman of Middlesbrough F.C. for a total of 18 years.

Playing career

Bach was born in

Ludlow Ludlow () is a market town in Shropshire, England. The town is significant in the history of the Welsh Marches and in relation to Wales. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road which bypasses the town. The t ...

, Shropshire, but moved to

as a child. He was signed by the local club,

, then an amateur club, straight from school. In 1895, he moved to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and spent two seasons with the club playing in the Southern League, before returning to the

north-east The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

to join

in June 1897. He made his Sunderland debut in a 1–0 victory at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

on 4 September 1897. In his first season at the

Newcastle Road Newcastle Road was a football ground in the Monkwearmouth area of Sunderland, England, and was the home ground of Sunderland A.F.C for twelve years, between 1886 and 1898. It was the sixth ground at which the club had played. Also called ''As ...

club, Sunderland finished as runners-up in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

with Bach making twenty appearances. On 18 February 1899, Bach made his only international appearance against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The match was played at

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; ...

, Sunderland's new ground and ended in a 13–2 victory for England, with four goals from Gilbert Smith and three from

Jimmy Settle James Settle (5 September 1875 – 1 June 1954) was an English professional footballer. A fast-paced inside or outside right, he could have chosen sprinting if he had not taken up football. Settle played for Bolton Wanderers and Bury before joi ...

. The scoreline in this match is the record number of goals scored by England in a single match, and also the highest aggregate goals (15) in a game involving England. While England were playing at Roker Park, Sunderland were away to

. In Bach's absence on international duty,

Andy McCombie Andrew McCombie (30 June 1876 – 28 March 1952) was a Scottish international footballer who played at right back for North East England rival clubs Sunderland and Newcastle United. He won the Football League championship with both clubs, and ...

took over at right-back in a 1–0 victory. Bach was unable to regain his place, making only two further appearances. Two months later, in April 1899, he signed for Middlesbrough again, but failing to break into the first team he was on the move again a year later joining

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. Bach made his debut for Bristol City in the Southern League at right back in a 1–0 win at Swindon Town on 1 September 1900. Bach made 29 appearances in the Southern League, 10 appearances in the Western League and 3 appearances in FA Cup ties during 1900–01 as Bristol City finished runners up in the Southern League. Bristol City gained Football League status for 1901–02 but in the summer of 1901 manager

Sam Hollis Sam Hollis (1866 – 17 April 1942) was an English football trainer and manager. Born in Nottingham as Samuel Woodroffe Moore, he had comparatively little football experience, having previously worked in the local registry and as a landlord i ...

signed Billy Tuft from Walsall who established himself as the regular right back for the next four seasons. Bach spent four years at Ashton Gate after helping City gain

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

status in 1901 making only 3 League appearances in 1903–04. Bach made his football league debut for Bristol City at right back in the 5–0 win v Glossop on 12 September 1903. In 1904 he was re-instated as an amateur, turning out for

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

.History of Cheltenham Town
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Later career

He developed hotel interests in

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

and later

. He returned to Middlesbrough F.C. for the third time becoming a director in February 1911. In July he was appointed chairman in place of the disgraced Thomas Gibson-Poole. He was charged with rebuilding the club following the match-fixing scandal involving Gibson-Poole and manager Andy Walker. He appointed Thomas H. McIntosh as the new manager, who guided the club to their highest ever league position – third in the First Division in 1913–14 – but with a potential championship team taking shape his plans were interrupted by the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During the war, Boro released their players and closed down, while

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and r ...

was used as a munitions store. Bach served as chairman until 1925, and again from 1931 to 1935. He later served on the

FA Council The FA Council consists of 92 elected representatives, from the FA Premier League, the Football League, County FAs, and the non-executive board of The Football Association. The council meets to decide the major policies of The FA, which is the g ...

from 1925 until his death in 1937 and was on the international selection committee from October 1929. He was also on the Football League Management Committee and President of the North Eastern League.

References

External links

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Full details of Sunderland career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, Philip 1872 births 1937 deaths Sportspeople from Ludlow English footballers Association football defenders England international footballers Middlesbrough F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Reading F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players Middlesbrough F.C. directors and chairmen