Corinthians 1-3 Newcastle United (lost radio coverage of FA Cup match; 1927)

From The Lost Media Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
Merch
Discord
Patreon
Forums
Corinthians1-3newcastleunited1.png

George Allison providing commentary for the match.

Status: Lost

On 29th January 1927, Corinthians hosted Newcastle United for a Fourth Round FA Cup match. Occurring in front of 56,338 at the Crystal Palace, Newcastle would come from behind to beat Corinthians 3-1. The encounter also has radio significance, as it was the first FA Cup match to receive live radio coverage.

Background

Corinthians, as a non-league amateur club, received a bye to the Third Round Proper of the 1926/27 FA Cup.[1] The team reached the Fourth Round by beating Walsall 4-0.[1] Meanwhile, Newcastle United was a Football League First Division member, and so automatically entered the Third Round.[2][1] The Magpies overcame Notts County 8-1 to progress to the Fourth Round.[1] Corinthians had never won the FA Cup, while Newcastle were seeking their third after winning the 1910 and 1924 editions.[3][4]

A week prior to the Corinthians-Newcastle match, the BBC had broken new ground by providing live radio coverage of a football match for the first time, which was a First Division game between Arsenal and Sheffield United.[5][6] The Corporation appointed George Allison to provide live commentary for the match.[7][8] Before he worked for the BBC, Allison had enjoyed a 30+ year career as American Weekly's European correspondent.[7] His new role as football commentator would in fact begin with the Corinthians-Newcastle match.[7] Not only did he achieve great success, being selected to provide radio coverage for the 1928 FA Cup Final, but it would also influence his later time with Arsenal, where he became a director for the club and later its manager.[8][7] As before, Radio Times provided a grid system in its issue, with each part of the pitch given numbered areas.[6][5] Whenever Allison made reference to one of these numbers, the listeners would theoretically understand where a play was occurring and thus keep track of the game.[6][5]

The match itself occurred on 29th January, with 56,338 in-attendance at the Crystal Palace.[9] The home side took the lead courtesy of Claude Ashton.[3][9] They were 14 minutes away from progressing to the Fifth Round when Newcastle's Bob McKay secured an equaliser.[3][9] Two goals from Tom McDonald sealed the victory for the Magpies.[9][3] Newcastle's celebrations would be short-lived, as they would lose to Southampton 2-1 in the Fifth Round on 19th February.[1] Newcastle has since won a further four FA Cups, the last in 1955, while Corinthians later merged with Casuals to form Corinthian-Casuals.[4][3] Meanwhile, the BBC continued with its fledging live radio coverage of football matches, which included the 1927 FA Cup Final between Cardiff City and Arsenal.[10][5]

Availability

Ultimately, the BBC's live radio coverage of the match occurred before it had viable means of recording audio.[11][12] This would not occur until it introduced a Blatterphone in 1930.[11][12] Thus, all coverage of the encounter is permanently missing. Nevertheless, surviving Radio Times issues and a photo of Allison providing commentary helped to document the event.[13][6]

Gallery

Images

  • Radio Times reporting on the match being set for live radio coverage.

    Radio Times reporting on the match being set for live radio coverage.

  • The Radio Times grid system used for the match.

    The Radio Times grid system used for the match.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 RSSSF detailing the road to the 1927 FA Cup Final. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  2. ↑ World Football detailing the 1926/27 Football League First Division table. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Independent Schools Football Association detailing the history of Corinthians, including its FA Cup matches and later merging with Casuals to form Corinthian-Casuals. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Newcastle United detailing its trophy cabinet. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 BBC Sport detailing its coverage of the Arsenal-Sheffield United game. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Bodleian Libraries detailing the early football matches the BBC provided radio coverage for, including Corinthians vs Newcastle United. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Historical Dictionary of British Radio summarising the career of George Allison and noting the Corinthians-Newcastle United game was the first he provided radio coverage for. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Spartacus Educational detailing the career of George Allison, including his time managing Arsenal. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 11 vs 11 detailing the result of the match and other statistics. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  10. ↑ The Sporting Life noting the 1927 FA Cup Final was the first to receive live radio coverage. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 BBC noting it had no viable means of recording sound until the introduction of the Blatterphone in 1930. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 BBC noting it did not start recording radio coverage until the early-1930s. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
  13. ↑ The Golden Age of Wireless providing a photo of Allison commentating on the match. Retrieved 4th Dec '22
Retrieved from "https://lostmediawiki.com/w/index.php?title=Corinthians_1-3_Newcastle_United_(lost_radio_coverage_of_FA_Cup_match;_1927)&oldid=206290"