Links With The Past: Elisha Scott Photograph
This original 96-year-old photograph in the Club’s archives has strong Leicester City and Liverpool connections. It was taken on 12 March, 1927 during a First Division match at Filbert Street between the two sides, which resulted in a 3-2 victory for the Foxes.
The handwritten caption in pencil on the back of the photograph states: ‘Dad scored against E. Scott at Leicester.’
‘Dad’ was Leicester City’s diminutive left-winger Harold Wadsworth. He is the player wearing the light shirt in the centre of this photograph. He had arrived at Filbert Street from Liverpool in June 1924 and played a total of 106 games before leaving the Club in April 1927.
He was described at the time as: ‘A trifle on the small side. He has capital ball control and can centre with the best. He is an elusive and tricky winger who possesses plenty of football craft and who defeats opposing backs by many tricks at which he is adept.’
The ‘E. Scott.’ referred to in the pencil caption was Liverpool’s Belfast-born Ireland goalkeeper Elisha Scott. He has been judged by many to be the greatest ’keeper in Liverpool’s history.
In this match against Leicester City, Scott faced two of his ex-Liverpool team-mates. One was Wadsworth, the scorer of the goal. The other was the Leicester City goalkeeper Kenny Campbell, who had kept the Irishman out of the side in Scott’s early days at Liverpool.
Scott had two spells at Liverpool. The first was from 1912-1915. The second was from 1919-1934, when he played in a total of well over 400 games for the Reds. During this time, he won the league title twice: in 1922, when he missed only three games, and in 1923, when he was an ever-present in the side.
Scott was a cult figure at Liverpool. He had a superb rapport with the fans, which he acknowledged after his last game before retirement when he thanked the Anfield crowd for inspiring him throughout his career.
We are very privileged to have this unique and original 96-year-old photograph in our archives. It was donated to the Club by Harold’s family earlier this year.