Bedford Town 1-2 Arsenal (partially found footage of FA Cup match; 1956): Difference between revisions
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Latest revision as of 21:50, 24 January 2023
On 12th January 1956, Southern Football League club Bedford Town hosted Football League First Division side Arsenal at The Eyrie for a replay of an FA Cup Third Round match. The match ultimately saw the visitors win 2-1, with the Gunners eventually being eliminated in the Quarter-Finals. The match is notable for being the first FA Cup match to be televised live by ITV.
Background
Bedford Town, as a Southern Football League club, successfully qualified for the First Round Proper.[1][2] It overcame Leyton and Watford to reach the Third Round.[2] Meanwhile, Arsenal was a Football League First Division member, and so its campaign began in the Third Round.[3][2] The teams were paired against each other, and initially clashed on 7th January 1956 at Arsenal's Highbury Stadium.[4][5] It was here Bedford pulled a surprise by holding Arsenal to a 2-2 draw, thus earning a replay at its ground The Eyrie.[6][4][5] By this point, it was the last non-league team in the tournament.[4]
Meanwhile, ITV had broken new ground by televising its first live football match, the 1956 Southern Junior Floodlight Cup Final, on 3rd January that same year.[7] Thus, ITV aimed for a more ambitious broadcast, with franchise Associated Rediffusion deciding to televise the Bedford Town-Arsenal encounter nine days later.[7] Because The Eyrie lacked floodlights, kick-off was moved to a Thursday afternoon to ensure optimal visibility.[7][8] The game's broadcast certainly generated hype among fans of both sides, with thousands reported to have booked annual leave to watch the live coverage.[7][6] Particularly, a British Pathé newsreel humorously claims many officer workers were "burying their grandmothers" on the day of the match, forcing the town of Bedford to shut down.[9][6] Ultimately, the broadcast proved disastrous, as while the first half was known to have been televised, the cameras malfunctioned during halftime.[7] In contrast, ITV Football and Online Gooner state that ITV exclusively televised the second half live.[8][6] Regardless, only 45 minutes of the game was aired.
The Match
The match itself occurred on 12th January, in front of 15,306 fans.[10] In another competitive match, Bedford again came close to pulling off an upset, when Harry Yates shot pass Arsenal goalkeeper Jack Kelsey to make it 1-0.[9][5][6] Bedford also had another two goals ruled offside.[5][9] With just four minutes remaining, the Gunners equalised courtesy of Vic Groves, who headed the ball in.[9][5][6][10] In extra time, Arsenal proved more aggressive, with the visitors hitting crossbar early on.[9] Eventually, Arsenal secured the winning goal after a Groves cross was converted into a header on-goal by Derek Tapscott.[9][5][10] Arsenal held on to win 2-1, progressing to the Fourth Round.[9][5][10][2][6] After defeating Aston Villa and Charlton Athletic, Arsenal would be eliminated in the Sixth Round by Birmingham City 3-1.[2]
Availability
Ultimately, the match was televised live in a period where telerecordings were rare until videotape was perfected in the late-1950s.[11] The broadcast has yet to resurface, but footage from various newsreels remains publicly available.
Gallery
Videos
See Also
- 1937 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1937)
- 1938 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1938)
- 1939 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1939)
- 1947 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1947)
- 1948 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1948)
- 1948 Summer Olympics (partially found television coverage of London Games; 1948)
- 1949 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1949)
- 1950 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1950)
- 1951 FA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1951)
- 1955 Scottish Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1955)
- 1956 Southern Junior Floodlight Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1956)
- 1966 FIFA World Cup Final (partially found original colour film of international football match; 1966)
- 1971 WFA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1971)
- 1973 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1973)
- 1974 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1974)
- 1976 WFA Cup Final (partially found footage of football match; 1976)
- 1977 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1977)
- 1978 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1978)
- 1979 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1979)
- 1982 WFA Cup Final (lost footage of football match; 1982)
- 1985-1986 WFA Cup (lost list of entries for football tournament; 1985)
- Arsenal 1-1 Sheffield United (lost radio commentary of football match; 1927)
- Arsenal 7-1 Hibernian (lost footage of charity football match; 1952)
- Arsenal vs Arsenal Reserves (lost footage of early BBC televised football match; 1937)
- Atlético Madrid 1-1 Real Madrid (lost footage of El Derbi Madrileño La Liga football match; 1958)
- Barbados 4–2 Grenada (partially found soccer match footage; 1994)
- Barnet 3-2 Wealdstone (lost footage of Athenian League football match; 1946)
- Brian Clough's Football Fortunes (lost DOS port of football management game; 1987)
- Carlisle United 2-1 Plymouth Argyle (partially found footage of Football League Third Division match; 1999)
- Charlton Athletic 1-0 Blackburn Rovers (lost footage of FA Cup match; 1947)
- Chelsea 2-0 Sparta Prague (lost footage of international football match; 1957)
- England 0-1 Scotland (partially found footage of international football match; 1938)
- England 1-0 Scotland (lost footage of Schools' International football match; 1952)
- England 1-1 Scotland (partially found footage of international football match; 1947)
- England 1-3 Scotland (partially found footage of international football match; 1949)
- England 2-0 Italy (partially found footage of international football match; 1949)
- England 3-0 France (partially found footage of international football match; 1947)
- England 3-0 Rest of Europe (partially found footage of international football match; 1938)
- England 6-0 Switzerland (partially found footage of international football match; 1948)
- Falkirk 3-2 Newcastle United (lost footage of football match; 1953)
- FIFA Soccer 2002 (lost build of cancelled Game Boy Advance port of football game; existence unconfirmed; 2001-2002)
- Hallo! Bundesliga (lost GolTV series; mid 2000s-mid 2010s)
- Juventus 1-7 A.C. Milan (partially found footage of Serie A football match; 1950)
- Manchester United Championship Soccer (lost build of Sega Mega Drive port of football game; 1995)
- Real Madrid 1-0 Barcelona (partially found footage of El Clásico La Liga football match; 1959)
- Real Madrid 3-0 Racing Santander (lost footage of La Liga football match; 1954)
- Scottish Universities 1-1 English Universities (lost footage of international football match; 1952)
- Serbia vs Albania (found footage of abandoned UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match; 2014)
- United! (lost British soap opera; 1965-1967)
- Walthamstow Avenue 0-2 Queen's Park (lost footage of friendly football match; 1951)
References
- ↑ English Football Stats detailing the 1955/56 Southern Football League table. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 RSSSF detailing both clubs' FA Cup campaign from the First Round Proper onwards. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22
- ↑ English Football Stats detailing the 1955/56 Football League First Division table. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Bedfordshire Archives Service detailing the original encounter between the clubs. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 A History of Arsenal summarising both FA Cup encounters. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Online Gooner summarising the match and the ITV coverage. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 From the Back Page to the Front Room detailing ITV's broadcast of the match. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Archived ITV Football summarising the coverage and claiming the second half was exclusively televised. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 British Pathé summarising the match itself and providing footage of it. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 11 vs 11 detailing the result of the match and other statistics. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22
- ↑ Web Archive article discussing how most early television is missing due to a lack of directly recording television. Retrieved 23rd Aug '22