60 years since the death of Stalin

Today marks two notable anniversaries for which the British Pathé archive has some relevant footage. Most importantly, Joseph Stalin died 60 years ago, on 5th March 1953. Stalin, the former leader of the USSR, has gone down in history as one of the most controlling and murderous dictators the world has ever seen. His regime of fear caused the suffering of many of his own people – some estimates put deaths at 20-30 million. We included him in our recent gallery, 10 Faces of Evil, along with Adolf Hitler and other notorious criminals.

But Stalin is not universally derided. Although Russia itself has since acknowledged the awful crimes of his decades in power (indeed, see Khrushchev denouncing Stalin in 1956), there has been news coverage today concerning the opposing views about him in Georgia, where he was born in 1878. Some there revile him, but others proclaim him a “local hero”. The BBC News report can be read here.

British Pathé holds a great many films related to Stalin, but also newsreels announcing his death and footage revealing the reactions in Hungary and Czechoslovakia to their leader’s passing. You can find the relevant collection of films via this link.

The second notable anniversary concerns a great feat of British engineering. 70 years ago, the Gloster Meteor flew for the first time in the UK. Footage of the plane in flight from the 1940s on can be found in the British Pathé archive. Click here to explore.

For British Pathé’s collection of newsreels on the death of Stalin, click here.

For British Pathé footage of Gloster Meteors, click here.

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!