-
The Victorian Football Miscellany
The Victorian Football Miscellany is a quirky and fascinating collection of trivia, facts and anecdotes from football’s earliest years. Delve into an absorbing world of ox-bladder balls, baggy-kneed knickerbockers and outstanding moustaches…
Read more →
-
Poached by Americans – a Victorian football sensation
It was a Victorian football sensation. Five British players – four from Manchester City plus a former teammate now at Sheffield United – were missing, presumed poached by a mysterious foreign agent. “A sudden disappearance!” exclaimed one newspaper. “A Sheffielder taken!” was the headline in another.
Read more → -
Boys against men – literally
In modern football, when a team is thoroughly outclassed, a commentator might refer to a game as being “boys against men”. In Victorian football, that expression could be used rather more literally. In Darlington in 1880, a team of boys were pitted against men – and beat them 4-1.
Read more → -
The bizarre game of pushball – football with a 6ft ball
On Saturday 4 October 1902, a curious game was played at the Crystal Palace, south-east London, between a team representing nearby Anerley and a team representing the Crystal Palace (two years before the formation of Crystal Palace FC). The game was a version of association football, and was played on the pitch used for FA Cup Finals. But this was not football, it was “pushball”, and it was played with a ball that was taller than many of the players.
Read more → -
A vigorous rub down and a visit from a doctor
This wonderful photo is another taken by footballer/photographer Albert Wilkes, who played for Aston Villa and England, and later set up a photographic agency. Taken at West Bromwich Albion’s Hawthorns ground, it shows the doctor and club trainer inspecting a “damaged leg” belonging to an unnamed West Brom player, thought to be Adam Haywood.
Read more → -
The evolution of the football field – how pitches were marked out in 1869, 1883, 1892 and 1905
This diagram shows how a football pitch was marked out in four separate years – 1869, 1883, 1892 and 1905. Of particular interest is the 1892 diagram. Note the lack of penalty areas – penalties were awarded for fouls inside the 12-yard lines, and the kick could be taken from anywhere along the line. Also unusual are the six-yard rings rather than six-yard boxes, the rings being easier to mark out using ropes tied to the goal posts.
Read more → -
Hot tub time machine – Edwardian footballers in the bath
“After exercise – Howard Spencer indulges in a hot bath,” is the caption for this photo, from the Book of Football. England full-back Howard Spencer won four league titles and the FA Cup with Aston Villa. “Hot baths are a great luxury,” the book explains. “In the old days at the Pike Lane ground at Bolton the players were content to wash themselves down in the mud round a great waterbutt.”
Read more → -
Scenes and incidents from the 1907 FA Cup Final
This fun sketch from the Yorkshire Post presents some amusing “scenes and incidents” from the 1907 FA Cup Final between The Wednesday and Everton. Interestingly, the sketch ignores the actual match (Wednesday won 2-1), and focusses on the fans, showing them “tramping it” to the ground, climbing trees, waving umbrellas, holding aloft a replica cup, and, apparently, relieving themselves and slumping down drunk against the entrance gate. A favourite detail is the “Play Up Everton” top hat.
Read more → -
Walking and skipping – how Edwardian footballers were trained
“The average man has but a dim and imperfect idea of the way in which a professional footballer fits himself for his work,” writes former England and West Brom forward William Bassett in the Book of Football, published in 1905. Alongside a photograph of the West Brom team “out for a training walk”, Bassett outlined the typical Edwardian footballer’s training regime.
Read more → -
Dr Tibbles’ Vi-Cocoa – the Lucozade Sport of Edwardian football
“This footballer uses Dr. Tibbles’ Vi-Cocoa,” says this newspaper advert from 1907. “Ask him what he thinks of it.” Vi-Cocoa was said to be a revitalizing product, marketed alongside Dr Tibbles’ Brain Feeder, and Dr Tibble’s Child Restorer. The revitalizing ingredient was said to be cocaine.
Read more → -
From Newton Heath to Manchester United
When the seminal 1905 Book of Football profiled Manchester United Football Club, the authors felt the need to add “(late Newton Heath)” after its name. That’s because the club had only recently changed its name from Newton Heath to Manchester United, in 1902. This early Manchester United team line-up, from 1905-06, includes manager J Ernest Magnall, in bowler hat, top-scorer Jack Picken, next to Magnall, and captain Charlie Roberts, sitting with football.
Read more →