Champion Athletes at Birmingham (1902)
- Birmingham
- 1902
Hull F.C. v Wigan (1902)
A misty afternoon's rugby match draws a large crowd.
This film seems to have been taken at a Wigan versus Hull FC fixture at The Boulevard stadium in Hull, probably at the beginning of the 1902-03 season - either on the 4th or the 11th of October. The misty autumn afternoon's rugby drew a huge crowd, many of whom would have flocked to the ticketed presentation of the film in the coming days.
One of the great charms of Mitchell and Kenyon's rugby films is their insightful (if perhaps a tad formulaic) representation of the match day atmosphere. Mixing up the theatre of the players' trot onto the pitch with views of spectators' enthusiastic cheering, as well as varied action sequences, the films capture a palpable sense of occasion and local celebration: "the real stars are not the players," writes Vanessa Toulmin in Electric Edwardians, "but the spectators who would ultimately become the paying audience."
Tags
Edwardian Sports
Their attention may not always have been on the pitch or the track, but Edwardian filmmakers Mitchell and Kenyon were pioneers of filmed sport.
Sport was an increasingly booming industry in the early 20th Century. Banks of mud were gradually replaced by covered stands, filled by larger (overwhelmingly male) crowds of spectators thanks to growing leisure time. It was mostly these crowds, and the prospect of drawing them to paid screenings, that attracted Mitchell & Kenyon - which explains why their cameras were so often pointed at the terraces.
Even so, these pioneering films have left us with an evocative record of sport's emergence as the mass entertainment we know today. Over 50 sporting events feature here: mostly football and rugby, but also athletics, cricket, cycling, horse racing and rowing.
54 videos in this collection
1
Champion Athletes at Birmingham (1902)
2
Arthur Mold Bowling to A.N.Hornby (1901)
3
Everton v Liverpool (1902)
4
Calisthenics (c.1905)
5
Race for the Muratti Cup at Manchester Wheelers' Annual Meet (1901)
6
Dewsbury v Manningham (1901)
7
Ambush II at Eyrefield Lodge, The Curragh (1902)
8
Leeds Athletic and Cycling Club Carnival at Headingley (1902)
9
Burnley v Manchester United (1902)
10
Great Local Derby, Accrington v Church Cricket Match (1902)
11
Mitchell and Kenyon 149 Hull F.C. V Wigan (1902)
12
AAA Championships at Fartown, Huddersfield (1901)
13
Hull F.C. v Hull Kingston Rovers (1902)
14
Leeds Lifeboat Procession and Sports at Roundhay Park (1902)
15
Bolton v Burton United (c.1904)
16
Bradford City v Gainsborough Trinity (1903)
17
Cambridge University Sportsday (1903)
18
Crews Practicing on River Lee at Cork Regatta (1902)
19
England v Ireland at Manchester (1905)
20
Blackburn v... (1904)
21
Everton v Newcastle United (1902)
22
Everton v Newcastle United (1903)
23
Halifax v Salford (1901)
24
Hull City Football (c.1905)
25
Hunslet v Leeds (1901)
26
Moss Street v St Philips Football (1907)
27
Manchester Races (1902)
28
Northern Union Challenge Cup Final - Halifax v Salford (1903)
29
Kingston Rowing Club at Practice (1902)
30
Liverpool v Small Heath (1901)
31
Manchester to Blackpool Road Race (1903)
32
Newcastle United v Liverpool (1901)
33
Notts County v Middlesbrough (1902)
34
Oldham v Swinton (1901)
35
Preston North End v Aston Villa (1905)
36
Preston North End v Notts County (1904)
37
Preston North End v Wolverhampton Wanderers (1904)
38
Rotherham Town v Thornhill (1902)
39
Runcorn v St Helens (1901)
40
Salford v Batley (1901)
41
Sheffield United v Bury (1902)
42
St Helens v Swinton (1901)
43
Sunderland v Leicester Fosse (1907)
44
Sunderland v Middlesbrough (1904)
45
Trotting Match at Springfield Park, Wigan (1904)
46
Two Oared Boat Race, Sunday's Well, Cork (1902)
47
Wales v Ireland at Wrexham (1906)
48
Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa (1904)
49
Final of International Cup at Cork Regatta (1902)
50
Warrington v St.Helens (1901)
51
Water Polo Match (c.1901)
52
Burnley Football (1903)
53
Bolton Football 2 (c.1900)
54