1907 Sheriff of London Charity Shield (lost footage of football match; 1907)

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1907sheriffoflondoncharityshield1.jpg

Newcastle United posing with the famously large Sheriff of London Charity Shield.

Status: Lost

The 1907 Sheriff of London Charity Shield was the tenth and final running of an annual English football match pitting the Football League First Division champion or FA Cup winner against the best performing amateur club. Occurring on 9th March 1907 in front of 30,000 at Craven Cottage, the match saw First Division champions Newcastle United defeat Corinthians 5-2 to claim its sole Sheriff of London Charity Shield. Additionally, it is known the match was filmed by the Charles Urban Trading Company.

Background

The Sheriff of London Charity Shield's origins dated back to 1898, consisting of an annual match between the highest achieving professional and amateur sides.[1][2][3] It was sometimes nicknamed the Dewar Shield, named after then-Sheriff of London, Sir Thomas Dewar, who had also provided the original Shield trophy.[1][2] Newcastle United qualified for the 1907 edition after becoming the 1906-07 First Division champions, beating out Bristol City by three points.[4] As was commonly tradition back then, Corinthians were selected as the amateur representatives.[2] In fact, with the exception of the 1899 edition, Corinthians would always compete for the Shield throughout its short lifespan, winning three of them.[2]

Meanwhile, this marked Newcastle's first, and ultimately, only appearance in the competition.[2] Conflict between the Football Association (FA) and the fledging Amateur Football Association (AFA) regarding the rise of professionalism in football and need to have all clubs affiliated to respective County FAs, led to the AMA breaking away from FA control and forming its own divisions and cups later in 1907.[5][2] The FA responded by banning non-professional players from competing for its affiliated teams, while also refusing to allow its clubs to face non-FA members.[5][2] This marked the end of the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, although its vision lives on with the creation of the FA Charity Shield in 1908.[6][3][2] Now known as the FA Community Shield, it typically features the Premier League champions against the FA Cup holders, retaining the Sheriff of London's objective of reallocating all revenue generated from the game towards charitable organisations.[3][6]

The Match

The match itself occurred on 9th March with around 30,000 in-attendance at Craven Cottage, resulting in charities benefitting from around £1,000 generated.[7][8] On a rainy day, the first-half was evenly matched, with Corinthians' R.A. Young gaining his side the lead and the amateurs generally troubling the professionals in the first 30 minutes.[7] However, the Magpies' Jock Rutherford equalised just before half-time.[7] From then on, Newcastle turned the tide of the event, with the Corinthians tiring after a fast-paced half.[7]

With Corinthians' forwards fatigued, Newcastle began producing many goalscoring opportunities during the second-half.[7] This resulted in them taking the lead courtesy of Bill Appleyard, with two goals from Henry Brown enabling Newcastle to control proceedings.[7] An own goal from W.U. Timmis put Newcastle 5-1 in front, although G.S. Harris provided a consolation goal late-on.[7] Ultimately, the Magpies claimed their sole Sheriff of London Charity Shield, with The Observer reflecting they won primarily because of their greater fitness and willingness to train.[7][2] Nevertheless, the newspaper did claim that the final 5-2 score did not reflect the full game, praising certain Corinthian players, including G . N. Foster and K. R. G. Hunt, for giving the professionals a strong challenge, especially during the first-half.[7]

Availability

As detailed within the British Film Catalogue, the match was filmed by the Charles Urban Trading Company.[9] Charles Urban was a film pioneer primarily known for his documentary, news, and educational films, including most famously The Battle of the Somme.[10][11] He also worked to form Kinemacolor, which provided the first known natural colour recordings.[10] Few details are known surrounding the Charles Urban Trading Company's film of the Charity Shield match, but the British Film Catalogue notes its film length was around 440 feet.[9] Ultimately, a large portion of Urban's works have not survived the years.[10] While some can be viewed online and others via the British Film Institute archive, the 1907 match, titled "Match for the Sheriff of London's Charity Shield", no longer exists within any known archives.[12][9]

See Also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Beyond the Last Man detailing the history of the Sheriff of London Charity Shield. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Gottfried Fuchs summarising the Sheriff of London Charity Shield matches and results. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The FA noting the FA Community Shield evolved from the Sheriff of London Charity Shield. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  4. ↑ English Football League Tables detailing the 1906/07 First Division table. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 BK This and That detailing the FA-AFA split. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 British Newspaper Archive Blog detailing the creation of the FA Charity Shield and the Sheriff of London Charity Shield's decline. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 10th March 1907 issue of The Observer providing a match report. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  8. ↑ 11th March 1907 issue of Citizen reporting on the money generated for charities. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 The British Film Catalogue summarising the film of the match produced by the Charles Urban Trading Company. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Charles Urban detailing the history of Urban as a film pioneer. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  11. ↑ Charles Urban detailing the twenty most famous films produced by Urban and his company. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
  12. ↑ Charles Urban listing surviving Urban films which can be accessed online or via the British Film Institute. Retrieved 12th Dec '22
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