Scotland v England 1884

Played at Cathkin Park 15.03.84.
This was the inaugural season of the British Home Championship and the Scotland England clash was always likely to be the decider. This was the 13th meeting between the 2 sides. Scotland had won 8 of the previous 12 matches and England had not beaten them since 1879.
For the first time in international football admission was by ticket only.
Dr John Smith scored the only goal of the game in the 8th minute to give Scotland a 1-0 victory.
The illustration shows 'A Bailey' but it is in fact Norman Coles Bailey, while E.C Bambridge Swift is E.C Bambridge of the club The Swifts. Francis Marindin , here acting as Umpire for England was so well known as to be recognizable only by the title The Major.
The contrast in stature between the illustrated English and Scotch (sic) players is worthy of note. The era of the gentleman amateur was drawing to a close, but the England approach was still largely based on the muscular public schools approach whereas Scottish football was more tactically refined.

The final table:

	P	W	D	L	F	A
Scotland	3	3	0	0	10	1
England	3	2	0	1	12	2
Wales	3	1	0	2	7	8
Ireland	3	0	0	3	1	19

The Two Referee System

Sheffield Independent 15.11.34 

 Whereas nowadays we debate the use of video technology to assist referees the concern in the 1930s was that referees could not keep up with the pace of the modern game. At this time Stanley Rous, inspired by continental referees such as John Langenus, introduced the diagonal method. This now universally adopted system maximized collaboration between  the referee and linesmen.

Aberystwyth Town v West Bromwich Albion 1895

South Wales Daily News  26.09.95 

Jack Edwards had joined Bury from Aberystwyth  in 1894. He only made 2 league appearances. At West Bromwich he made no competitive first team appearances and returned to Aberystwyth in 1896.

FA Cup Winner's Parades

Athletic News 04.04.83

Manchester United, 1909

Blackburn Rovers, 1928

As the first non-metropolitan team to triumph in the FA Cup it is unsurprising that Blackburn Olympic were also the first to be feted on their return 'home'.

The tradition endures, although the brake pulled by a team of 4 greys is sadly no longer a feature. 

Everton Vina Del Mar

Is it a coincidence that the Chilean Everton was founded in 1909, the year in which the English Everton toured South America?
The founders, youths of 15 years old, were largely of English descent. David Foxley's grandparents moved from Liverpool to Valpairiso in 1859.

...too fierce a character to be popular

Sporting Life 05.12.63

A letter supporting the initiative of the Football Association to unify the laws of the game goes on to make a prediction that football played by grown men would never catch on.

Southampton & Sheffield United, 1902

April 19th, 1902.
Sheffield United were to face Southampton at Crystal  Palace and The Sporting Life was jam packed with statistics on the Cup Final teams.

	Age	Weight		Height
Foulke	25	21 st	133 kg	6 ft 2 1/2	1.89
Thickett	28	14 st 7	91 kg	5 ft 8 1/2	1.74
Boyle	25	12 st 7	79 kg	5 ft  9	1.75
Johnson	24	12 st  5	78 kg	5 ft  9	1.75
Wilkinson	22	10 st 9	67 kg	5 ft 5 1/2	1.66
Needham	29	11 st 3	71 kg	5 ft  6	1.67
Bennett	28	13 st 3	84 kg	5 ft  7 1/2	1.71
Common	21	13 st	82 kg	5 ft 9	1.75
Hedley	24	12 st 5	78 kg	5 ft 11	1.80
Priest	27	12 st 12	81 kg	5 ft  8	1.72
Lipsham	24	11 st 5	72 kg	5 ft  9	1.75

	Age	Weight		Height
Robinson	32	13 st 7	85 kg	5 ft 11	1.80
Fry	20	13 st	82 kg	5 ft 10	1.77
Molyneux	23	11 st 13	75 kg	5 ft 10 1/2	1.79
Meston	31	11 st 11	74 kg	5 ft 9	1.75
Bowman	30	11 st	69 kg	5 ft 7	1.70
Lee	23	13 st	82 kg	6 ft	1.82
A Turner	25	11 st 11	74 kg	5 ft 9	1.75
Wood	34	13 st 1	83 kg	5 ft 10	1.77
Brown	23	11 st 8	73 kg	5 ft 11	1.80
Chadwick	32	10 st 11	68 kg	5 ft 6	1.67
J Turner	29	11 st 5	72 kg	5 ft 7	1.70

The game finished 1-1, Harry 'The Wolf' Wood (playing in his 5th Cup Final) scoring a controversial equalizer for Southampton in the 88th minute. Wood was in an offside position when the ball came to him, reportedly tying his bootlace. The referee, Mr Kirkham, adjudged that the ball had come off a United player. Then followed the  legendary incident in which a naked Foulke berated Mr Kirkham who had to hide in a cupboard to escape the goalkeeper's attentions.

Leagues

Nottingham Evening Post 24.09.89

In the same way in which the FA Cup spawned many imitators, the foundation of the Football League gave rise to the establishment of any number of similar organizations. 

As the above cutting shows, these developments didn't take long to trickle down to 'grass roots' level. 

... a less rough and dangerous game ...

Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette 19.10.71

John Charles Thring was instrumental in developing two sets of rules during the pre-history of football.

 The Cambridge Rules of 1848 were an attempt at a compromise / unified code based on the games played at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, Winchester, and Thring's old school, Shrewsbury.

In 1862 Thring was a master at Uppingham School when he developed 'The Simplest Game' (also known as  'The Uppingham Rules').

These rules had some influence on the Football Association when they began formulating the Laws of the Game in 1863.

Of course, whilst giving us the greatest and most popular game in the world, the Football Association ultimately failed in their goal of unifying football.

Debates as to the relative merits, safety and propriety of football and Rugby feature widely in newspaper correspondence in the 19th century.

Thring's appeal here went unheeded, and the west of England became something of a Rugby stronghold. 

The Wanderers' Last Match

December 18th, 1883. Kennington Oval. The great Wanderers, the dominant force in early Association football, 5 time FA Cup winners, play their last ever game, the annual match with Harrow School.

Sheffield Wednesday At The Seaside

The seaside preparation paid off as Wednesday beat Grimsby Town 5-1 at Owlerton on 16th January, David McLean scoring 4.
The clubs official name was The Wednesday Football Club up until 1929, but the press often referred to them as Sheffield Wednesday.

...the heaviest lady footballer weighs eleven stone

The Globe, 01.02.95

There's an article about the enigmatic Ms. Honeyball (Nettie, not Nellie) here.

*For those unfamiliar with the archaic UK system 11 stone = 69 kg, or if you're  from the USA 154 lbs