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Anonymous.
Shrove Tuesday Early Football Archive.
Publisher: M. Smith (Broadsides), Alnwick;
Date of Publication: 1879
Stock Code: 8066
Collection of one broadside and seven photographs relating to the annual Shrove Tuesday traditional Football Match at Alnwick. Broadside 42 cm x 29 cm, single sheet with headings in bold type and underlined, entitled Football Day...Shrove Tuesday 1882. Four lightweight press photographs circa 1918 (with 3 different images, showing the procession with the Piper and officials, the game in progress on the field, and action by one of the goals), each 22.5 cm x 17 cm and stamped “Newcastle Chronicle” to reverse; lightweight original photograph circa 1910 12.5 cm x 10 cm inscribed “The Duke’s Piper en route for Shrove Tuesday Football” to reverse; lightweight original photograph of the procession setting off circa 1920, 8.5 cm x 6 cm with M162 stamped to reverse, and heavyweight photograph of the Dukes’ Piper and officials with ball, 20.5 cm x 15.5 cm, tipped-in to card folder stamped London and Northern Studios, Alnwick. Broadside creased from historic folding with small nicks & minor chips; lightly foxed with minor chips to edge. Chronicle photographs are a little creased to edges with, two with minor loss at corners, and are inscribed to reverse with names of several protagonists and “Alnwick” or “Shrove Tuesday”. The Dukes Piper photograph has a central crease, while the remaining photographs are all in Near Fine condition, with the folder for 1936 image lightly soiled, and names of subjects and 1936 date inscribed. A rare archive giving important insights into the origins of the beautiful game. The first account in England involving a game kicking a ball (almost certainly football) was at Ulgham in Northumberland, only 17 miles away from Alnwick, in 1280, in which a player was killed; the first reference to a game actually called football was in 1314 in the City of London, when Edward II issued a decree banning the game. In the early days, violence was a constant problem as well as damage to property, and this caused repeated demands, particularly from civic dignitaries and business owners, for the sport to be banned. In many cases throughout England these demands were successful and in only a handful of places Shrove Tuesday ball games still take place. Alnwick is one of them and it survived because the Duke was prepared to donate a field for the sport outside the town centre, keeping the game away from the shops and businesses that were adversely affected by it. The broadside sets out the rules for play which include many characteristics of the modern game such as free kicks, the handball rule, and the provision of umpires, and it details the teams taking part and the prizes to be won, while the images depict the formal ceremony of the procession with the Duke’s Piper, and the match in progress with its unique goals or hales, forming a link between the traditional seasonal games and the modern sport. £650.00