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Edwardian Football
The beautiful game, Edwardian style, in some of the earliest ever film of League, international and amateur football
The rapid advances in football at the start of the 20th century make it a familiar but still strange land. But it's one that comes alive for us thanks to the cameras of Blackburn-based filmmakers Mitchell and Kenyon. Their primary goal was to film the growing crowds so as to draw them to paid screenings. But there's plenty of interest for today's football fan in these mini-match reports, not least the earliest known footage of Manchester United, the first Merseyside derby on film, and a literal sporting giant in the shape of behemoth goalkeeper William 'Fatty' Foulkes. The collection also features an English Football League XI against their Irish counterparts and a contest between Wales and Ireland - probably the earliest 'international' games recorded on film. Football was then, as it is now, a game of two halves. But with only a few hundred feet of film in the camera and a screening due the same evening, Mitchell & Kenyon usually only captured the first. And with much less mobile cameras than today's they were lucky if they recorded a goal. Yet amid the frantic hat-waving and brass bands these films captured far more than a shadow of the modern game.
Everton v Liverpool (1902)Everton v Liverpool (1902)
Non-Fiction 1902 5 minsSilent Location: Liverpool
The earliest surviving Merseyside derby on film catches two of Everton's goals in a 3-1 home win.
England v Ireland at Manchester (1905)England v Ireland at Manchester (1905)
Non-Fiction 1905 2 minsSilent Location: Manchester
An Edwardian contest between teams representing the English and Irish Football Leagues, with plenty of goal-line action.
Burnley v Manchester United (1902)Burnley v Manchester United (1902)
Non-Fiction 1902 2 minsSilent Location: Burnley
First-ever footage of Manchester United in a tense Edwardian football fixture.
Sheffield United v Bury (1902)Sheffield United v Bury (1902)
Non-Fiction 1902 2 minsSilent Location: Sheffield
Sparkling images of fans and players at an Edwardian fixture at Sheffield's Bramall Lane.
Everton v Newcastle United (1902)Everton v Newcastle United (1902)
Non-Fiction 1902 8 minsSilent Location: Liverpool
The camera is a welcome distraction to the spectators of a home defeat at Goodison Park.
Preston North End v Aston Villa (1905)Preston North End v Aston Villa (1905)
Non-Fiction 1905 2 minsSilent Location: Preston
Early football giants Preston and Villa face up in an epic Edwardian contest.
Wales v Ireland at Wrexham (1906)Wales v Ireland at Wrexham (1906)
Non-Fiction 1906 3 minsSilent Location: Wrexham/Wrecsam
International football action in front of an enthusiastic home crowd in Wrexham.
Everton v Newcastle United (1903)Everton v Newcastle United (1903)
Non-Fiction 1903 3 minsSilent Location: Liverpool
None of the goals but plenty of action in a 4-1 home win to Everton.
Sunderland v Leicester Fosse (1907)Sunderland v Leicester Fosse (1907)
Non-Fiction 1907 7 minsSilent Location: Sunderland
A resounding win for Sunderland in the FA Cup, urged on by an enthusiastic band.
Rotherham Town v Thornhill (1902)Rotherham Town v Thornhill (1902)
Non-Fiction 1902 2 minsSilent Location: Rotherham
A ropey pitch and worse goalkeeping in a typical non-league football derby in Edwardian Yorkshire.
Preston North End v Notts County (1904)Preston North End v Notts County (1904)
Non-Fiction 1905 2 minsSilent Location: Preston
Preston triumph at Deepdale in an Edwardian contest between two of England's oldest football teams.
Moss Street v St Philips Football (1907)Moss Street v St Philips Football (1907)
Non-Fiction 1907 2 minsSilent Location: Blackburn
Schoolboy footballers fight it out at Ewood Park.
Bolton Football 2 (c.1900)Bolton Football 2 (c.1900)
Non-Fiction 1900 1 minsSilent Location: Burnden Park, Bolton
Spectral images of a football match at Bolton's Burnden Park.
Burnley Football (1903)Burnley Football (1903)
Non-Fiction 1903 2 minsSilent Location: Turf Moor
A large and lively crowd watches an Edwardian Second Division football match at Burnley's Turf Moor ground.
Newcastle United v Liverpool (1901)Newcastle United v Liverpool (1901)
Non-Fiction 1901 7 minsSilent Location: Newcastle upon Tyne
An Edwardian football match at Newcastle's St James' Park ground.
Football Match Between St Stephen's Football Club and Moss Street School (1904)Football Match Between St Stephen's Football Club and Moss Street School (1904)
Non-Fiction 1904 1 minsSilent Location: Blackburn
The proud winners of a Blackburn school football match pose for posterity.
Hull City Football (c.1905)Hull City Football (c.1905)
Non-Fiction 1905 3 minsSilent Location: Kingston upon Hull
Hull City football club plays a friendly match in their inaugural season.
Preston North End v Wolverhampton Wanderers (1904)Preston North End v Wolverhampton Wanderers (1904)
Non-Fiction 1904 5 minsSilent Location: Preston
The Lillywhites take on the Wolves at Deepdale, watched by a large crowd and the club mascot.
Liverpool v Small Heath (1901)Liverpool v Small Heath (1901)
Non-Fiction 1901 1 minsSilent Location: Liverpool
Early league football, with the team who will become Birmingham City losing at Anfield in a relegation year.
Sunderland v Middlesbrough (1904)Sunderland v Middlesbrough (1904)
Non-Fiction 1904 1 minsSilent Location: Sunderland
A hard-fought North East derby in the Edwardian First Division.
Blackburn v... (1904)Blackburn v... (1904)
Non-Fiction 1904 0 minsSilent Location: Ewood Park, Blackburn
Blackburn Rovers play at home at Ewood Park to an unidentified team in an Edwardian football fixture.
Bradford City v Gainsborough Trinity (1903)Bradford City v Gainsborough Trinity (1903)
Non-Fiction 1903 9 minsSilent Location: Valley Parade, Bradford
Bradford City's first ever home league game after switching from rugby to football in 1903.
Notts County v Middlesbrough (1902)Notts County v Middlesbrough (1902)
Non-Fiction 1902 7 minsSilent Location: Nottingham
The game is held up for the camera to do a full tour of the cheering crowds at Trent Bridge, Notts County's home until 1910.
Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa (1904)Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa (1904)
Non-Fiction 1904 2 minsSilent Location: Ewood Park, Blackburn
The entry of the teams and action from both halves of an Edwardian football game at Ewood Park.
Bolton v Burton United (c.1904)Bolton v Burton United (c.1904)
Non-Fiction 1904 2 minsSilent Location: Burnden Park, Bolton
Bolton Wanderers overpower the shortlived Burton United at Burnden Park under rainy skies.