150 Years of the F.A.

The winners of the 1914 FA Cup Final, Burnley.

Earlier in January, the Football Association kicked off celebrations to mark its 150th anniversary.

The FA was established in 1863 and codified the modern rules of that great English sport. Not too long after, in 1871, the very first FA Cup match was held. Sadly, this was too early to be captured by motion picture cameras and the first FA Cup material photographed by British Pathé seems to be some shots of the winning 1914 Burnley team (they beat Liverpool 1-0). The earliest actual in-game footage, though, appears in the clip “ASTON VILLA WIN English Cup for the sixth time – defeating Huddersfield in Cup Final by a lucky goal after extra time”. The film dates from 1920. Almost all of the Cup Final matches were covered by British Pathé from that date on, until the company finished newsreel production in 1970. A collection of the films can be explored here, in date order.

Blackpool v Bolton, 1953.

As well as coverage of the FA Cup, the British Pathé archive holds a wealth of other great games and classic football moments. Simply searching for “football” on our website brings up an astonishing 2333 clips – far too many to detail here! But some particularly interesting material can be found via these links:

1966 World Cup Final

That cherished World Cup win for England was filmed in colour and a special 9-minute newsreel summarised the game for cinema audiences. Re-live the match by watching it here.

You can also see a selection of some of our other favourite World Cup films, with a focus on the 1966 matches. Earlier World Cup coverage can be found by filtering these results.

England’s 1966 World Cup victory. Click the still to watch coverage of the match.

A Football Legend – Pele, Brazil v Sweden, 1958

Brazilian footballer Edison Arantes do Nascimento (or “Pele”) performed so well at the 1958 World Cup Final v Sweden that it was documented in an episode of A Day That Shook The World. Click here to view the episode.

A Great Goal – Helmut Rahn, West Germany v Hungary, 1954

The late Helmut Rahn of Germany scored the winning goal in the 1954 World Cup final. He was playing for West Germany against Hungary. Click here to view the film.

Another Great Goal – Ferenc Puskas, England v Hungary, 1953

The year before, it was the Hungary team which was scoring with exceptional skill. Ferenc Puskas, that legendary player and coach, was playing against England when he scored this terrific goal. Click here to view the film.

Documentary footage on how a football is made

Filmed in 1966. Click here to watch.

Blue Is The Colour

The Chelsea team sing “Blue Is The Colour” in this 1970 film.

Chronicle of Women’s Football

Newsreels from 1918 onwards document the attitudes towards women’s football and illustrate its growing popularity over time. Click here for a collection.

The 1928 FA Cup Final (Blackburn v Huddersfield).

Visit British Pathé’s collection of FA Cup Final coverage, 1920-1970, here.

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Search the archive for more football clips. If you find some worth highlighting, leave us a comment below!

Football History: England Against Wales

“However much they try the English can’t get that goal, the Welsh defence resist all attacks!”

Wales defeat England 2-1 (1955): http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=39923

It was the first times Wales has beaten England in over 17 years. An exciting piece of 1950s football footage with great crowd shots conveying the anxiety and ecstasy of the fans, in the hectic match Welsh centre-forward John Charles even scores an own-goal with his head at one point.

 

“Even the war hasn’t affected the billiard table smoothness of the Wembley grass… Wales are buzzing around the English goal like bees round a honey pot”

Wales defeat England 1-0 at Wembley (1940): http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=25137

Bryn Jones scores the only goal in this match, good shots of England missing a penalty and a very jolly brass band soundtrack from Pathé mixed in with the live cheering.

 

“Every minute the fight is getting tougher! Then England fade away and give Wales another win”

Wales defeat England 4-2 in Cardiff (1938): http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=20773

After a fairly equal start Wales suddenly smash Britain with goal after goal. A brilliant 1930s football reel from Pathé with great quality close-up shots for the period. Some of the details are fantastic too – look out for the giant cigarettes advert on the stadium’s roof!

 

Wales defeat England (1926): http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=24695

A mute clip of course as we’re now way back in the 1920s! Lovely shots of the teams coming out of the tunnel, and of players congratulating and cordially shaking hands with the Welsh player upon scoring a goal.

 

MORE WALES Vs. ENGLAND FOOTAGE:

There are considerably more reels of Wales being defeated by England, and so rather than go into them individually we’ve put them all together for you on this page here:

http://www.britishpathe.com/workspace.php?id=13811

ALSO:

General Welsh history enthusiasts might also like this archive footage collection of Wales: http://www.britishpathe.com/workspace.php?id=6079