“…Consider recent research into Manchester's earliest known club, Hulme Athenaeum, 40 and the suggestion made that the club is not significant as it struggled for opponents and did not progress beyond 1863-1872. 41 Looking at purely the individual events for that club could indeed suggest little significance, however, that view completely misses the point that a community was developed via that club which, over thirty years later, saw at least one founding member of that earliest known Mancunian club, still playing a leading role in developing and promoting regional football. 42 His club may have died, but he and some of his colleagues remained leading footballing figures in the region for the rest of their lives.…”