As the modern football world obsesses over billion-pound squads, private jets and global television audiences, it is worth remembering that Britain’s first taste of world football glory came courtesy of a group of County Durham coal miners who had to pass the hat around to fund the trip.
More than two decades before Uruguay lifted the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, West Auckland FC travelled to Turin to represent Great Britain in the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, a competition widely regarded as football’s first attempt at a world championship. What followed remains one of the most extraordinary stories in football history.
In 1909, tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton was naffed off with the America’s Cup after three unsuccessful attempts to bring it back to Britain. His ego, along with a passionate vision of international sporting competition, motivated Sir Thomas to come up with the wheeze of creating an international football tournament. The competition was to feature representatives from Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Great Britain. The Football Association, dismissive of Sir Thomas – some jumped-up grocer – declined the invitation, leaving Lipton searching for a British representative. There’s a theory that “WA” was meant to be Woolwich Arsenal, but the invitation, one way or another, arrived at the doorstep of our own West Auckland, at the time a local amateur club.
You’ll know that in those days there were no sponsorship deals. No charter flights. No performance analysts. Just “the lads” – miners and labourers who somehow managed to scrape together enough money to travel across Europe, and somehow managed to survive taking time off work with no pay. Yet they grasped the challenge and, against the odds, beat Germany’s Stuttgart 2-0 and then defeated Swiss side Winterthur 2-0 in the final, returning home as champions of the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy and, indeed, the world!
Two years later, as holders and champions, they were invited back to defend their crown. This time the achievement was even greater. After defeating Torino in the semi-final, West Auckland thrashed Juventus 6-1 in the 1911 final. The margin of victory was so emphatic that the trophy was awarded to them in perpetuity. Quite rightly so – imagine the equivalent of a Northern League side today turning up and beating Juventus by five goals in a major international final.
Their names deserve to be remembered. The 1909 squad included captain Bob Jones, Charlie “Dirty” Hogg, Jimmy Dickinson, Rob Gill, Tom Gill, Ben Whittingham, Bob Guthrie, Douglas Crawford and David “Ticer” Thomas. The victorious 1911 side featured goalkeeper J. Robinson, Tom Wilson, Charlie Cassidy, Andy “Chips” Appleby, Michael Alderson, Bob “Drol” Moore, Fred Dunn, Joe Rewcastle, Bob Jones, Bob Guthrie and Charlie Hogg.
Sadly, there is no evidence that any of West Auckland’s world title-winning players went on to play football for Sunderland AFC. The strong connection, though, is geographical and cultural. They were local lads, North East footballers from a mining community and “made of iron”.
After winning the trophy outright in 1911, West Auckland inevitably found themselves in debt from the trip. The club pawned the trophy to the landlady of The Greyhound for £40. It remained with her family for nearly half a century before being bought back. Then came another twist. In 1994, the original trophy was stolen from West Auckland Working Men’s Club and has never been recovered. The club now displays an exact replica.
And here we are with Infantino’s version of the World Cup – a global spectacle worth billions, controversial ticket pricing and all that nonsense. West Auckland’s achievement feels a million miles away from this.
Today’s finalists arrive with squads valued at hundreds of millions. West Auckland arrived as miners.
Today’s stars are recognised in every corner of the globe. West Auckland’s players returned to work.
Today’s winners parade before millions. West Auckland pawned the trophy to pay the bills.
Yet in one crucial respect, football has never changed. The game still belongs to dreamers. And few dreams have ever been realised quite so spectacularly as the one achieved by a group of Durham miners who travelled to Italy and came home as champions of the world. Not bad for a team that wasn’t even supposed to be there!
For Sunderland supporters, it is also a reminder that we’re about to start our own unexpected European adventure. We’re much better placed than those lads from West Auckland to travel and support our team.
So, dare to dream, lads and lasses… dare to dream!
Note: Dennis Waterman was so inspired by this story that he funded and acted in The World Cup: A Captain’s Tale. It was shot predominantly in the North East and Turin. You can find it on YouTube. Worth a watch… and Richard Griffiths is fantastic.
