West Auckland, European Champions
A team of amateurs gave Europe’s finest a drubbing.
1909-1911
King Edward VII 1901-1910
A team of amateurs gave Europe’s finest a drubbing.
1909-1911
King Edward VII 1901-1910
THE Lipton Trophy, a short-lived European soccer competition, was won - twice - by little West Auckland, a team of plucky amateurs from County Durham.
IN 1909, Sir Thomas Lipton, a Scotsman of humble background who had made his fortune in tea, decided to organise a football competition for the best sides in Europe.
The sniffy FA refused to take part, so Lipton’s men invited West Auckland FC, a team of miners from County Durham, to appear on behalf of the cream of British football.*
Why they got the nod instead of neighbouring Bishop Auckland, regular winners of the prestigious Northern League, remains unclear. But they did, and on 12th April that year they ran out two-nil winners in Turin, helped by an outrageous dummied penalty against Swiss Super League champions FC Winterthur.
Remarkably, they repeated the feat two years later, playing a much-admired passing game to thrash Italian giants Juventus six-one in the Final on 17th April, 1911.
The trophy was immediately pawned to help pay off the club’s debts. Although it was redeemed many years later, in 1994 it was stolen, and has never been recovered.
West Auckland FC: The miners’ football team that won big (BBC Video, 4m 56s)
Martin Connolly from West Auckland presents a brief look at the historic victory in Turin.
The FA stands for the English Football Association.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Why did the FA not send a team to Lipton’s competition?
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
The first Lipton Trophy was held in 1909. The FA did not send a team. It was not important enough.