Football: Newport sweet shop workers taste of WW2 success

This photo was taken in 1948 when the team played Shrewsbury, Wem and Whitchurch teams

When was the last time a Welsh football club finished second in the English Football League, behind only Liverpool?

In 1943, a Newport sweet factory work team ended the season ahead of Manchester United, Manchester City and Aston Villa to finish as runners up.

Coronavirus has caused chaos in the world of football.

But during World War Two - the last time the game was thrown into such disarray - the wartime leagues created a team of unlikely heroes.

The club, pictured in 1948, was formed in 1918 by owner George Lovell

Lovell's Athletic, a works team from Newport's GF Lovell and Co sweet factory, were only admitted to the wartime leagues because neighbours Newport County had to pull out when their Somerton Park ground was requisitioned as part of the war effort.

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The club was formed in 1918 by owner George Lovell. Its home was his Rexville sporting complex, which also included tennis courts and bowls facilities, and provided recreation for his employees.

They were allowed into the wartime league partly on the back of their formidable pedigree, which had already seen them crowned Welsh League champions and three-times Welsh Amateur Cup winners during the 1920s.

Nevertheless not even they could have imagined they could go on to finish second amid the top teams.

However, Richard Shepherd, Welsh football historian and former BBC Radio Wales commentator, said their achievements had to be considered in the context of the "haphazard nature" of the wartime leagues.

"Remarkable as the Lovell's story is, their achievement is quite rightly not considered an official Football League record," he said.

"Players played for multiple clubs in the course of a season, simply turning out for whichever side happened to be closest to the army or RAF barracks where they were based."

The team was created for GF Lovell and Co sweet factory employees.

Indeed, such was the sporadic availability of players that titles were usually decided on goal average rather than points, with teams having played differing numbers of fixtures.

Amongst some of the guesting stars that turned out for Lovell's during this period were the South African Liverpool legend Berry Nieuwenhuys and Wales defender Billy Lucas, who would also go on to play for Swansea City and Newport County.

However, Mr Shepherd said there were rumours an even more illustrious name once pulled on the Lovell's shirt.

"It's been impossible to prove this, as the records simply don't exist in the way they do now in the internet age, however I've been told Bill Shankly played during the war," he said.

"The story goes that while in the RAF he'd been invited to play for Cardiff City, but once he heard that Lovell's would pay twice as much, he soon headed up the road, though his stay can't have been very long, as there's no mention of him in any of the available match reports."

After the war, Lovell's Athletic returned to the Welsh League, and for a time during the 1950s they simultaneously fielded a side in the English Southern Division.

It disbanded in 1969, after 51 years of trophy-packed action.

Mr Shepherd said: "Although many of their wartime efforts can't officially be considered as records because of the haphazard nature of wartime football, it's still a remarkable story, despite the caveats.

"I wish it was a better known tale, and if it offers any inspiration in these horrible uncertain times then all the better."