What would it take to tempt a footballer into the lion's den? A gold medal was on offer for those who were brave enough, and no fewer than five Scots were up for the challenge.
   In a curious sideline to some research I was doing about internationalists, the same story came up several times over three decades. I decided to bring the players together for the first time.

The first was Liverpool captain Andy Hannah, the Scotland internationalist. He had just led his team to a 2-1 victory over Notts County in November 1893 and for his Saturday night entertainment he went to the circus which was pitched right outside Anfield. For a bet he went into the cage and the promoters gave him a gold medal.
   There does seem to have been an arrangement at the circus for customers to show their bravery by going into the cage and touching one of the lions, even pulling its tail. Quite how brave you had to be is open to question, and it is likely the lions were doped or restrained, but it was good publicity when someone famous did the trick.
   It was not until 1908 that another footballer took up the challenge, and this time it was Billy Fulton, who had played for Sunderland, Derby County and Bristol City. He was now running a pub in his native Alloa, and just like Hannah he was awarded a gold medal. What is more, he repeated the feat in 1910 the next time the circus came to town, this time with five lions in the cage, to collect a second medal!

Just a couple of weeks after Fulton's exploit, Bobby Templeton of Kilmarnock (and formerly of Newcastle and Celtic) agreed in advance to attend the circus, which allowed Bostock & Wombwell to advertise in advance. He played for his club against Celtic in Glasgow then hurried back to Kilmarnock where, in front of a crowded house he calmly patted the lion on the back and turned its tail, to widespread applause. It has to be said that the local paper commented 'the animal seemed to be quite unconscious of the honour which was being conferred upon it'.

The final act of 'bravery' came in 1922 with not one, but two, goalkeepers. Jimmy Brownlie of Third Lanark and Charlie Shaw of Celtic visited the menagerie next to Kelvin Hall and under the watchful eye of the trainer they both went into the cage together. According to one report they were photographed with the lion but I have yet to find any photos which record this event, or any of the previous acts.

And what of the gold medals? None have come to light, as far as I know, but they do appear to have been genuine. I found the photos below from another excursion into the lion's den in 1907 (which you can read about here). The medal is hallmarked as gold, and suitable engraved, so it does seem that Wombwell's had a stock of medals to reward the rare person brave enough to face the lions.

If you want to read more about the Bostock and Wombwell menagerie, I can point you to a couple of fascinating articles. One is on the Arthur Lloyd site about the Scottish zoo, another on the National Library of Scotland about travelling zoos.
   And if anyone does have any photos of footballers with lions, or a medal, or can tell me about more examples (surely it was not only Scottish players?), please get in touch through my contacts page. 

Black football players were a rarity in the Victorian era. Some have become well known in recent years, notably Andrew Watson and Arthur Wharton, but the others can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Little is known about them: Watson’s teammate Robert Walker at Parkgrove in the 1870s, then two decades later the tragic John Walker of Leith Athletic, Hearts and Lincoln City, and possibly Emma Clarke of the British Ladies FC (although her identity is still debated). But that seems to be about it.
   Black players are rare enough in 19th century football for the discovery of another one to be worth noting. Recently I was reading the jubilee history of the Hampshire FA, published in 1937, and was surprised to see in a team photo from 1893 that one of the players stood out because of his colour: V Ledger of Bournemouth Wanderers.

A bit of research turned up a fascinating story: Victor Ledger was a first generation immigrant to England, born in Vienna to an African-American lion tamer and a Prussian mother. Yet in contrast to his exotic heritage, he spent his adult life working for the local council.
   His father Joseph was an archetypal showman who went by the stage name Delmonico. Originally from Philadelphia, or perhaps Delaware, he told so many amazing stories about his life that fact is hard to separate from fiction. Talking to incredulous journalists, as well as describing his dangerous exploits in the circus he claimed to have been wounded in the American Civil War and to have been awarded the Légion d'Honneur in the Franco-Prussian War. Rather than repeat what has been written elsewhere about him, I suggest reading this blog by Phil Martin which gives a flavour of the enigma.
   Victor's mother Anna, born in Poznan in what was then Prussia, was daughter of a showman herself and after meeting the lion tamer on tour in Leipzig they apparently eloped to England where they married in 1866.
   After a spell in England, during which he performed at the Crystal Palace and toured the country, they departed for the continent and their son Victor was born in Vienna in 1873. Then they spent some time in Paris where Delmonico performed at the Folies-Bergère and other venues, which gave rise to some magnificent posters, three of which have survived in the French national library, along with a short biographical sketch.

While Delmonico continued to tour with circuses and in the theatre, the family set up home on the Hampshire coast, and that was where young Victor was introduced to football. He is first mentioned in a local newspaper report in April 1888 when he was only 14 years old, playing for Bournemouth Wanderers against Poole Albion. He went on to be an almost constant presence in the team over the next two decades, at left half and centre half.
   From small beginnings the side known locally as the 'Wonders' grew in stature and was moderately successful in local competitions. With Victor in the team they won the Hampshire Minor Cup in 1892 and were finalists in the Hampshire Junior Cup the following year.

His only year away from the club was the 1896/97 season, a few months after he had advertised in a local paper: 'Vic Ledger of the Bournemouth Wanderers offers his services to any Football Club finding him suitable employment.' If the advert was an attempt to become a professional player it didn't work, but he did spend a year with local rivals Bournemouth FC, who were trying to make an impact in the inaugural season of the Hampshire League (NB this was an amateur side, not the same as the present day AFC Bournemouth, then known as Boscombe FC).
   The following summer, he was back with Wanderers, who entered the newly created Dorset and District League in 1898/99, winning the title that season and again in 1905. From 1903 they also competed in the Hampshire League as it was possible to play in both counties because of their geographical position.
   Meanwhile, Victor was good enough to play for his county, picked twice for Hampshire Juniors in 1893, and finally he earned a full county cap for Hampshire against Dorset in February 1900. He also played for a Bournemouth and District select in 1899 in a glamour friendly against Southampton, then Southern League champions.
   After hanging up his boots in 1908, he remained on the Wanderers committee until the club closed down on the outbreak of WW1. They did not reappear after the conflict.
   Given his unusual background and his colour, it may have been difficult for Victor to fit into the football scene and Bournemouth life in general, but there is little evidence of any overt racism in newspaper reports. I have found just one passing reference to 'that dark young gentleman'.

There was only one occasion when he may have been typecast because of his race. In the summer of 1901, perhaps encouraged by his father who had come to stay, he was persuaded to compete in a football contest against an elephant when Sanger’s Circus visited Bournemouth. The local papers advertised it as a 'great novelty, Elephant v Man' for the prize of a 'massive cup' but although Victor duly won the match by a single goal the reports give no further detail.
   A few days later, he had more serious issues to contend with when his father died suddenly. According to newspaper reports, 'Joseph Ledger, aged 57 years, a coloured gentleman, was for many years engaged as a lion tamer … but latterly he had been employed as a traveller in a commercial business, and for the past few weeks had been staying with his son at 170 Malmesbury Park Road.'
   Victor gave evidence to the inquest that at 2am he found his father had fallen out of bed and struck his head on the dressing table; he died a few hours later of a cerebral haemorrhage. For the man known as Delmonico, who had dallied with wild animals and (if his stories are to be believed) fought in several wars, it was a sorry way to go.
   The exotic adventures of Joseph Ledger were in stark contrast to his son who never experienced the glare of publicity apart from a few football match reports. Victor spent his life working for Bournemouth Corporation as a house painter and lamplighter, ​and died in the town in 1943, aged 69. He left a wife called Emily, one son and seven daughters.