Who were the White Rovers?

How an English tailor sowed the 
seeds of football in France

The pioneering Parisians whose seminal club disappeared 125 years ago

The random purchase of a rare medal has led a football historian to uncover the story of a little-known English tailor who pioneered the introduction of football in France. The tailor was William Sleator and the club he founded in Paris, as engraved on the medallion dated 1897, was the White Rovers.

The proud owner of this unique item, writer and former Scottish FA head of comms Andy Mitchell, set out on a journey of discovery after picking up his prize purchase: “I’ve always been a fan of French football and often delved into its history, but I hadn’t really come across The White Rovers before,” Andy, a fluent French speaker, told Libero.

“I thought it was really intriguing, and obviously from the very early days. It turned out that the White Rovers were really important. I did all kinds of research, starting off with the British Newspaper Archive, then its French equivalent, Gallica, and then all the family trees, to work out who these people were, their ancestry, dig out details of all these individuals and work out their stories. It led to all sorts of other alleyways.”

Home turf: Football writer and historian Andy Mitchell

It’s a task to which Andy is well suited, having written several books on how the game developed – such as First Elevens: the birth of international football­ and published a wealth of material on similar subjects for his blog, Scottish Sport History, on a monthly basis since 2012.

The White Rovers, however, was relatively uncharted territory. “There had been various attempts to get football under way in France, in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris and in Le Havre, whose club was famously founded in 1872. Their players crossed the Channel to play a game in Southampton, but they weren’t really playing association football at the time, it was a kind of hybrid game. That’s the kind of tangent you go off on.”

“It was only in the 1890s that things really took off. It was partly due to the expat community in Paris, but there were also several French guys, who had been at least partially educated in schools in England, learned about football and wanted to carry it on.”

Then and now: William Sleator's corner shop in 1899 and 2024

“Initially in Paris there were just three clubs. The White Rovers were among them, but there was also Standard AC and Club Français, and it got going from there.”

The White Rovers only lasted a few seasons before disappearing exactly 125 years ago, in 1899. So who were they – and how did the club start up?

In his blog entry, The father of French football, Andy details a meeting at the Café Français on rue Pasquier in October 1891, when a group of English- and Scotsmen agreed to form the White Rovers, narrowly voting in favour of abiding by association football rules. William Sleator was nominated treasurer.

“Sleator was born and brought up in Worcester. After his father died, he, his brother and his mother moved over to Paris. He started up a high-class gentlemen’s outfitters and there are photos of his shop on a prominent street corner. He had a good business going and he seemed pretty prosperous.”

Ghost train: Bécon-les-Bruyères station, Courbevoie

It was Sleator’s diplomatic skills, however, that provide Andy’s story with its introduction, when a French customs officer wanted to impound the corner flags that Sleator was bringing over from England, suspecting they might be for political purposes.

Not only did this English gentleman explain his way out of the situation –brushing aside questions such as “Why don’t they just play the game indoors?” – but Sleator also managed to sneak in two sets of goalposts without having to pay any customs duty. Soon, these would be the first to be planted on French soil.

“For quite an obscure club, we know quite a lot about the White Rovers. Initially they planned to play at the Bois de Boulogne but there wasn’t really anywhere available, so they got a pitch at Bécon-les-Bruyères in Courbevoie outside Paris, which belonged to the railway company there.”

The club’s patron, Henry Blount, whose name also features on the medal in Andy Mitchell’s possession, was the son of Sir Edward Blount, an English banker and prominent Catholic, who had helped develop the railway network in France. He was also a member of the French Jockey Club.

Allez, Allez: White Rovers v Club Français, 1898

“In terms of the kit, they wore white shirts and blue shorts, with a Maltese cross on the chest. What the significance of that was, I have no idea. Why they were called White Rovers, again, no idea.”

“Quite a few of them had tailor’s shops, so they could have made their own kit. It would have been fairly simple to have sorted out a set of white shirts.”

“The White Rovers were always the bridesmaids, runners-up in the first four seasons of the French League, from 1894 to 1897. If you read the reports, they were the dominant club throughout much of that period – they would go through the whole season unbeaten, until they got to the final.”

“In the first two years, they lost the cup final to Standard AC. In 1896, they were runners-up again. In 1897, their last tilt at the championship, effectively, they finished level on points so it went to a decider. Standard won the first leg 3-2 though the game was annulled, and the second leg never took place.”

White Rovers medal 1897/Andy Mitchell

The reason for the cancellation isn’t clear and the only concrete evidence we have is the medal. It could be that the fixture coincided with the terrible fire in May 1897 that claimed 126 lives at annual charity bazaar organised by Rovers patron Henry Blount. Many of the victims were members of the Catholic aristocracy, including the former Duchess Sophie of Bavaria, sister of Elisabeth, the wife of Habsburg Emperor Franz Joseph.

In any case, Blount had a commemorative medal engraved, dated ‘Paris 1896-7’ and presented it to the White Rovers. “I can only assume that it was some kind of consolation prize,” says Andy.

It could even be that Blount feared that the White Rovers would soon be consigned to history. Expats come and go, according to whim and work contracts, but other factors probably influenced the club’s swift disappearance. Location was one: “I think the reason they had to leave Courbevoie was that the railway company needed the land to expand. The loss of the pitch and so many players led to the demise of the club”.

Tailor and pioneer: William Sleator

That wasn’t the end of Sleator’s long sojourn in France, however. “He stayed there throughout World War I, and probably would have spent the rest of his life in Paris, but inevitably, with the German invasion in 1940, he had to get out, so that was the end of the business.”

“Sleator came back to England during World War II. He was interviewed by various newspapers as he had been fêted by the French as being the father of football in France. He was possibly a curiosity amongst British journalists.”

“Then in 1949, decades after he had been involved, he received a prestigious honour from the French FA, a lifetime service award, in recognition of his role as the founding father.”

Sleator died in 1955. That would have been the end of the story but for a happy coincidence. “I’ve been blogging for some years now,” says Andy, “and my favourite part is when people get in touch to say, ‘Hey, you’ve just written about my grandfather!’”.

The dutiful game: William Sleator's lifetime service award

That wasn’t the end of Sleator’s long sojourn in France, however. “He stayed there throughout World War I, and probably would have spent the rest of his life in Paris, but inevitably, with the German invasion in 1940, he had to get out, so that was the end of the business.”

“Sleator came back to England during World War II. He was interviewed by various newspapers as he had been fêted by the French as being the father of football in France. He was possibly a curiosity amongst British journalists.”

“Then in 1949, decades after he had been involved, he received a prestigious honour from the French FA, a lifetime service award, in recognition of his role as the founding father.”

Sleator died in 1955. That would have been the end of the story but for a happy coincidence. “I’ve been blogging for some years now,” says Andy, “and my favourite part is when people get in touch to say, ‘Hey, you’ve just written about my grandfather!’”.

League of gentlemen: Sleator & Carter of Paris

This is exactly what happened after his blog on the White Rovers appeared on his website.

“I had the wonderful experience of being contacted by William Sleator’s grandson, Christopher Robbie, who was quite a personality himself. He had been a TV presenter, a news announcer on Southern TV, and also a role on Dr Who as the leader of the Cybermen.”

“He got in touch to say that he and his wife were coming up to Edinburgh, so we met for coffee, and shared recollections of his grandfather. It was great to have that personal connection. He went home and dug out medals and photographs.”

“I’d like to encourage other people to get out there and do more digging. There’s so much to be found about the early days. For me, it’s been a lifelong passion to explore football history – and other people can enjoy it, too.”