Frederick Rinder
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Frederick William Rinder (July 1858, Liverpool – 25 December 1938, Harborne, Birmingham) was a committee member and later chairman of Aston Villa during the club's 'Golden Age'. Known as the 'Grand Old Man of Aston Villa'; he is widely regarded as one of the greatest association football directors. He was largely responsible for the design and development of Villa Park.
Rinder arrived in Birmingham in 1876 at the age of 18 and became a member of the club in 1881. He first came to the fore in 1887 when Villa built the Grand Stand at Perry Barr, as he was by trade a surveyor for the Birmingham City Corporation and his expertise and contacts proved invaluable to the club. He became the club's financial secretary in 1892, and set about installing turnstiles at Villa's Perry Barr ground. Gate receipts immediately increased from £75 to £250. He introduced many other good business practices to the club, it was his idea to make Aston Villa a limited company.
Rinder was also the instigator of the infamous Barwick Street meeting in February 1893, at which he swept away the men who were running Villa into the ground, criticizing the board's tolerance of ill discipline and players' drinking. Subsequently all fourteen members of the committee resigned and were replaced by a committee of five led by Rinder. The following season saw Villa win their first League Championship.[1]
Rinder became chairman in 1898, he demanded the very highest standards of discipline and dedication from the players, but saw to it that they had the finest facilities in the land. The grand Byzantine-style red brick buildings the club had inherited when it moved into the Aston Lower Grounds were converted into palatial club offices, with a gymnasium, steam rooms, an X-ray machine, billiard hall and recreation room, designed to keep the players out of the pubs.
During Rinder's time at the helm the Villa established themselves as the most successful football club in England winning no fewer than 6 League Championships and 5 FA Cups. In his capacity as chairman Rinder assisted George Ramsay in the acquisition of new players including club greats such as Steve Smith and Billy George.
Much of the credit for the design of Villa Park must to go Frederick Rinder, who as a trained Surveyor, is said to have laid down every ‘level and line’ of the ground himself before construction began.[2] He had visualised its eventual appearance from a number of sketches he had made and passed on to a well-established architects of the day, E B Holmes and later Archibald Leitch. Detailed plan were drawn up in 1914 for the development of the ground to hold 130,000 people, but the interruption of World War One meant that the plan was only partly realised after the war, with the impressive Trinity Road stand being opened to the public in 1923. The Oak Room in the Trinity Road stand was the first restaurant at a British football ground.[3]
He led the club with an iron will until his resignation in 1925, when he stepped down largely due to the criticism he received for the cost of the new Trinity Road Stand, which had spiralled to nearly £65,000 (at a time when the country's costliest player cost £5,000).[4] However, Rinder's view was that nothing but the very best was good enough for Aston Villa with its stained glass, Italian mosaics and grand frontage. He said:
Finance is important, but we should never forget that we are not talking about a mere business. This is the Aston Villa football club, and it deserves nothing short of the best.
— The Little Book of Aston Villa - Dave Woodhall – page 13
Fred Rinder in his capacity with the FA, was responsible for the innovation of singing "Abide With Me" at the FA Cup Final of 1927. It has been a traditional feature of cup finals ever since. [5]
He was elected to the Management Committee of the Football League in 1917 and held a seat on the Council of the FA from 1929. He was appointed to the FA International Selection Committee in 1931.
Following Aston Villa's first relegation in 1936, the 78-year-old Rinder was brought back after an 11-year absence. On his return he said:
Villa have been a great club, are still a great club, and always will be a great club.
His first act was to introduce a coach whom he met whilst on FA duty at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Jimmy Hogan, who led Villa to the Second Division championship in 1937/38.[1]
Rinder died on Christmas Day, 1938.
References
- ^ a b Goldstein, Dan (1999). The Rough Guide to English Football: A fans' handbook 1999–2000. Rough Guides Ltd. pp. 17–21. ISBN 1-85828-455-4.
- ^ Inglis, Simon (2005). Engineering Archie. p. 140. ISBN 9781850749189.
- ^ "Last Rites for the Holy Trinity". The Guardian. 14 May 2000. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
- ^ "Last Rites for the Holy Trinity". The Guardian. 14 May 2000. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
- ^ "Abide With Me at the FA Cup Final". Derby Daily Telegraph via British Newspaper Archive. 23 March 1946. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
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