The last day of the the season...

 On the morning of Saturday April 29th, 1899 the top of the First Division table looked like this:

		P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS	GA
1	Aston Villa	33	18	7	8	71	40	43	1.775
2	Liverpool	33	19	5	9	49	28	43	1.750

In a thrilling climax to the season the two sides were due to play each other that afternoon at Villa Park.
Back in October Villa had beaten Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield.
 There were unpleasant rumours circulating about the results of Villa's 2 previous games, in which they had beaten Notts County 6-1 and West Bromwich Albion 7-1. 

 41,000 spectators saw Villa win the decider 5-0.

Aston Villa		Liverpool
Billy George	G	Bill Perkins
Howard Spencer	RB	Archie Goldie
Albert Evans	LB	Billy Dunlop
Tommy Bowman	HB	Rabbi Howell
Jimmy Cowan	HB	Alex Raisbeck
Jimmy Crabtree	HB	Charlie Wilson
Charlie Athersmith	OR	Jack Cox
Jack Devey	IR	John Walker
Billy Garraty	CF	George Allan
Fred Wheldon	IL	Hugh Morgan
Steve Smith	OL	Tommy Robertson

Devey opened the scoring after 4 minutes and in fact all the goals came in the first half. Devey added a second. Freddie Wheldon and Jimmy Crabtree were the other scorers, Wheldon getting the third and fifth. 
It was the first time in the 11 season history of the League that the title had been decided in this dramatic manner, and Mrs Bentley (wife of the President of the Football League ) was on hand to present the trophy to Jack Devey at the end of the match. Mr Bentley himself joked that he hoped Villa wouldn't loose this trophy (a reference to the theft of the FA Cup in 1895).

Aston Villa captain Jack Devey, 21 goals in 30 games in the 1898-99 season.

Yuzovka

Yuzovka

The city of Donetsk was founded in the 1860s by a Welshman called John Hughes, The settlement was originally called Yuzovka (Yuz= Hughes). 
Football developed alongside the growth of industry and the influx of foreign workers and executives.  
The Hughes owned Novorossiysk Association steelworks was the focus of the Yuzovka. Sports Society. The first record of the football branch of this club came in 1901, the team being made up of English workers.

England lose to Spain, 15.05.29

Prior to May 15th, 1929 England had played 24 matches against non British teams (Ireland was a part of the UK) won 23,drawn 1 for 121, against 27.
In the summer of 1929 the FA sent an international XI to play France, Belgium and Spain. It was considered a strong side. Camsell's absence was noted and unusually a non league amateur (Edgar Kail) was included, the last non-league player to play for the full England team.
France and Belgium were duly beaten. There was acknowledgement in the lead up to the game that Spanish football was improving and that England were unlikely to find the hosts a push over (various contemporary newspaper reports).  
The match was broadcast live on Spanish radio and members of the royal family were amongst the 30-40,000 crowd at Atletico Madrid's Estadio Metropolitano. The queues were reportedly a mile long and tickets were said to have changed hands for the astronomical equivalent of £10

The temperature was high and England ran out of steam as the game progressed.  Lazcano's equalizer prompted a mass pitch invasion that was dispersed by sword wielding Civic Guards. When Goiburu, the  only amateur in the Spain team, scored the winner the crowd again flooded onto the pitch. 

Spanish football's day of triumph was tempered with tragedy- Snr Jose Maria Acha, president of the Bilbao FA, was killed in a car crash on his way to the game.

                           Spain                                                                England

Ricardo Zamora	RCD Espanyol	G	Ted Hufton	West Ham United
Félix Quesada	Real Madrid	RB	Tom Cooper	Derby County
Jacinto Quincoces	Deportivo Alavés	LB	Ernie Blenkinsop	The Wednesday
Francisco Prats	Real Madrid	HB	Fred Kean	Bolton Wanderers
Martín Marculeta	Real Sociedad	HB	Jack Hill (c)	Newcastle United
José María Peña	Real Madrid	HB	Joe Peacock	Middlesbrough
Jaime Lazcano	Real Madrid	OR	Hughie Adcock	Leicester City
Severino Goiburu	CA Osasuna	IR	Edgar Kail	Dulwich Hamlet
Gaspar Rubio	Real Madrid	CF	Joe Carter	West Bromwich Albion
José Padrón	RCD Espanyol	IL	Joe Bradford	Birmingham City
Mariano Yurrita	Real Sociedad	OL	Len Barry	Leicester City

Joe Carter - put England 2-0 up in 22 minutes.

Bradford headed England's third.

'El Rey' Gaspar Rubio started the Spain comeback

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Jaime Lazcano scored twice to level things with 3 minutes remaining...

Seve Goiburu  sent the crowd wild with his 88th minute winner

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The Emperor's Cup

A 1919 newspaper report-at the instigation of British Diplomat William Haigh, the Football Association have presented the Japanese with a silver trophy. 
This will go on to serve as the original trophy for  the All Japan Championship Tournament .
A knockout competition based on the model of the FA Cup, the initial tournament attracted only 4 entrants. By 1925 there were upwards of 40 entrants with regional winners progressing to the finals. 
Japanese football was strictly amateur. 

The teams were largely drawn from educational establishments or 'Old Boys' clubs. Some were what we might call 'city selections' drawn from a number of smaller clubs. 

Tokyo Shukyu-dan  

1921	Tokyo Shukyu-dan	1	0	Mikage Shukyu-dan
	Tokyo Soccer Club was comprised of graduates from various Tokyo teaching colleges. The British Ambassador Sir Charles Eliot presented the trophy to  Yamada, captain of Tokyo.
1922	Nagoya Shukyu-dan	1	0	Hiroshima Koto-shihan
1923	Astra Club  (Tokyo)	2	1	Nagoya Shukyu-dan
1924	Rijo Shukyu-dan  (Hiroshima)	4	1	All Mikage Shihan Club
	The Hiroshima side was an high school alumni club who took their name from the local castle.
1925	Rijo Shukyu-dan  (Hiroshima)	3	0	Imperial University of Tokyo
1926	Not held (Death of Emperor)
1927	Kobe-Ichi Jr. Highschool Club	2	0	Rijo Shukyu-dan (Hiroshima)
1928	Waseda University WMW	6	1	Kyoto University
	Waseda is one of Japan’s leading Universities.
1929	Kwangaku Club	3	0	Housei University
	A club from Kwansei Gakuin University (A Christian University)
1930	Kwangaku Club	3	0	Keio University BRB
1931	Imperial Univ. of Tokyo LB	5	1	Kobun Jr. Highschool
1932	Keio Club	5	1	Yoshino Club
	Another University side.
1933	Tokyo Old Boys Club	4	1	Sendai Football Club
1934	Not held (Far Eastern games)
1935	Seoul Shukyu-dan (Korea)	2	0	Tokyo Bunri University
	Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910. The Seoul club was later known as Kyungsung FC.
1936	Keio University BRB	3	2	Poseung College (Korea)
1937	Keio University	3	0	Kobe Shogyo University

Nagoya Shukyu-dan  

Astra Club 

Rijo Shukyu-dan 

   

 Kobe-Ichi Jr. Highschool Club

 Imperial University of Tokyo LB  

 Seoul Shukyu-dan