1938: Bob Meacock, £3,000 (£180,000)
Destination: Birmingham
By June 1938, £3,000 was enough to establish a new City record as Bob Meacock moved to Birmingham. A centre-half who could also operate at right-half or inside-right, Meacock had arrived at Sincil Bank in 1935 after spells with Torquay United and Tranmere Rovers, and became a regular during his three years with the Imps. He made 116 appearances in all competitions for City before Birmingham, then a First Division club, paid the record fee to take him to St Andrew’s.
The move did not lead to a long spell at the top level. Meacock made 14 appearances in all competitions for Birmingham during 1938/39, a season which ended in relegation, and subsequently joined Bristol City. The outbreak of the Second World War effectively brought his professional playing career to a close, although he later returned to football as a coach in the Netherlands with Racing Club Haarlem in 1946, as Ted Savage did.
Again, the increase in City’s record fee had been relatively modest: across the first 25 years covered here, it had risen from £1,500 to just £3,000, and the years immediately after the war initially suggested that pattern would continue.
You must be logged in to post a comment.