Donald Gow

Sunderland full-back Donald Gow looks bemused at being photographed against a rather palustrine backdrop. The best years of Gow's career were divided between Glasgow Rangers and Sunderland. He won 2 League Championships with Sunderland. 

Glasgow Rangers 1885-91
Sunderland 1891–92
Glasgow Rangers 1892-93
Sunderland 1893–1897.
He captained  Scotland in a  5-0 defeat at the hands of  England in 1888, his only international.

Football Described by Giants of the Game (1904)

There's a link to a PDF of this 1904 booklet on Andy Mitchell's fantastic Scottish Sport History blog.


http://www.scottishsporthistory.com/uploads/3/3/6/0/3360867/football_by_giants.pdf

Swansea Town v Arsenal 1926

Joe Sykes and mascot 06.03.26.
http://gottfriedfuchs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/swansea-town-v-arsenal-1926.html

Harry Cursham

Between 1877 and 1888 Harry Cursham played in 43 FA Cup ties for Notts County. He scored  49 goals, more than any other player has ever managed in the competition. County were semi finalists in 1883 and 1884.
Cursham also represented England 8 times (1880-84) scoring 5 goals. 

Ten Days Off

Enjoy the Copa and the  Euros, if at all possible...

Football Madness

Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough 10.02.91

Trinidad and Tobago

I love the way that this team group is set up in the 2-3-5 pyramid formation.
Test cricketer Ellis Achong is at outside left.
It's also good to see a player in spectacles at left half.

Singer's FC

1885-86

Singer's was a bicycle factory in Coventry. The works team was founded in 1883. 

In 1892 they won 3 cup competitions (The Birmingham Cup, The Wednesbury Cup and The Walsall Cup).

In 1894 the club joined the Birmingham League (finishing 13th out of 16 in each of their first 3 seasons).

Singer's first entered the FA Cup in the 1895-96 season, losing to Burton Swifts.

In 1898 the name of the club was changed to Coventry City. 

Newton Heath's first competitive match

Three pence was the price of admission to the North Road ground on 27.10.83 to witness Newton Heath LYR's first competitive match. Three pence to see the FA Cup holders? That seemed to be the deal as the visitors for the first round of the Lancashire Cup were Blackburn Olympic.
Olympic, however, fielded a reserve team.

The Athletic News 31.10.83

The Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser 29.10.83

The Oval, 1869-70 season

Having secured the use of the Surrey County Cricket ground at Kennington Oval The Wanderers put it to good use for the 1869-70 season.
Contemporary reports reveal that the Association game was still very much in its infancy. More than one of these fixtures was played between unevenly matched teams who failed to field eleven players.
Of the 19 known matches to have taken place at The Oval that season Wanderers featured in 15. They won 9 of these games and scored 29 goals.
The Wanderers had not yet reached their zenith. During the following 2 years football would undergo significant advances with the introduction of the FA Cup and international matches. The Oval would then assume the mantle of England's premier football venue.
Let's take a look at the first season:

09.10.69	Wanderers	0	2	West Kent
23.10.69	Wanderers	0	2	Old Etonians
27.10.69	Wanderers	3	0	Rochester
06.11.69	Wanderers	2	1	Upton Park
10.11.69	Wanderers	2	1	Royal Engineers
13.11.69	Civil Service	0	1	West Kent
20.11.69	Wanderers	0	0	Gitanos
01.12.69	Wanderers	4	2	Civil Service
04.12.69	Wanderers	2	0	Hampstead Heathens
11.12.69	Wanderers	1	2	Crusaders
14.12.69	Wanderers	1	2	Desperadoes
18.12.69	Civil Service	1	2	Old Harrovians
15.01.70	Wanderers	1	1	Gitanos
19.01.70	Wanderers	1	0	Harrow Pilgrims
22.01.70	Wanderers	3	0	Civil Service
29.01.70	Civil Service	0	2	West Kent
26.02.70	Wanderers	7	0	Forest
05.03.70	English	1	1	Scotch
	This was the first 'Alcock International'
19.03.70	Wanderers	2	1	Hampstead Heathens

Postponements/ cancellations:

24.11.69	Wanderers	P	P	Crystal Palace
05.02.70	Civil Service played a scratch team instead of the advertised match with Old Etonians
12.02.70	Civil Service	P	P	Old Harrovians
	English v Scotch was arranged for this date…
12.02.70	English	P	P	Scotch
	Postponed due to frost.
19.02.70	Wanderers	P	P	West Kent

Result or whether played unknown:

18.12.69	Gitanos	?	?	Harrow Pilgrims
05.03.70	Civil Service	?	?	Crusaders
14.03.70	Civil Service	?	?	Royal Engineers

Advertised but not played:

21.12.69	Gitanos	v	Bedouins
	Played at Blackheath.
08.01.70	Wanderers	v	Brixton
12.01.70	Wanderers	v	Bedouins