By Nick Britten
Last updated: 6:38 AM BST 08/05/2008
The earliest known photograph of the England football team has been unearthed, 132 years after it was taken. Taken before England’s fifth international match on March 4 1876, it shows a line-up, featuring the early superstars of the game. The Football Association said the photo, showing 10 England players and the “umpire” - the early term for a refere - was of “major historical importance” and an “extraordinary find”. Officials, who have a team sheet from the match, are now trying to put faces to names to identify all those in the picture.
The FA’s official historian, David Barber, said: “Until now the earliest England team picture I have seen is from 1893 so to come up with one taken 17 years earlier is extraordinary.
”The photograph seems genuine and certainly people here are very excited.”
The picture was unearthed by Peter Seddon, a football fan researching the Derby County player Steve Bloomer. Mr Seddon, from Littleover, Derby, was scanning newspaper microfiches at his local library when he came across the photo which had been printed in the Derbyshire Football Express in 1926.
It emerged that it had been sent to the paper by the England defender Edgar Field, who lived in Derby and featured in the photo. He lined up with his colleagues before a match against Scotland at Glasgow’s West of Scotland Cricket Ground, the home team winning 3-0 in front of 15,000 spectators. Nine of the England players were making their debuts. However, the FA have always been unaware of its existence until now.
Included in the team that day were Hubert Heron, a striker and captain, and his brother Charles, who both played for the Wanderers team, Mr Field, a defender with Clapham Rovers, and Arthur Savage, the Old Crystal Palace goalkeeper. The team on the day was made up of players from Crystal Palace, Wanderers, 1st Surrey rifles, Clapham Rovers, Swifts, Cambridge University and Notts County. At the time - 12 years before the football league was invented - Wanderers and Clapham were the country’s two best sides. Wanderers were given their name because they did not have a home ground, although many of their matches were played at Kennington Oval. Goalposts were two thin poles with no nets and supporters were allowed, even in their thousands, to stand around the touchlines.
The FA’s Cris Freddi (cor), who is trying to identify the players, said: “I haven’t ever seen pictures of most of these players so all I’ve got to go on is the caption. It really is fascinating stuff.” Mr Seddon said: “This is something of huge national significance because of course it was the English who invented the game of football. ”At the time I was trawling through articles in the local studies library, looking through pictures to do with Steve Bloomer, and just happened to stop at the picture of the 1876 team. I thought 'hang on, this could be quite big’.”
Cheers...
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