Champion Athletes at Birmingham (1902)
- Birmingham
- 1902
Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa (1904)
The entry of the teams and action from both halves of an Edwardian football game at Ewood Park.
This is the earliest of two games filmed by Mitchell and Kenyon at Blackburn's Ewood Park. The negative was badly damaged, giving the picture a snowed-out look, but the competitive zeal is clear enough. Unusually for M&K's football films, the camera captures a (rather scrappy) home team goal, to the visible frustration of Villa players, who mount a furious protest. Blackburn went on to win 4-0.
At first glance it's hard to distinguish the distinctive blue and white halved kit of Blackburn Rovers as the players march out onto the pitch. This is due to the particular sensitivities of the orthochromatic film stock in use at this time, which couldn't detect red colours and was oversensitive to blue. Look closer though, and it's possible to make out a difference in shade with the white pocket on the blue half. Special thanks to Dean Beresford, who identified this match as the First Division game played at Blackburn's Ewood Park on the 10th September 1904.
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
Champion Athletes at Birmingham (1902)
Arthur Mold Bowling to A.N.Hornby (1901)
Everton v Liverpool (1902)
Calisthenics (c.1905)
Race for the Muratti Cup at Manchester Wheelers' Annual Meet (1901)
Dewsbury v Manningham (1901)
Ambush II at Eyrefield Lodge, The Curragh (1902)
Leeds Athletic and Cycling Club Carnival at Headingley (1902)
Burnley v Manchester United (1902)
Great Local Derby, Accrington v Church Cricket Match (1902)
Mitchell and Kenyon 149 Hull F.C. V Wigan (1902)
AAA Championships at Fartown, Huddersfield (1901)
Hull F.C. v Hull Kingston Rovers (1902)
Leeds Lifeboat Procession and Sports at Roundhay Park (1902)
Bolton v Burton United (c.1904)
Bradford City v Gainsborough Trinity (1903)
Watch in libraries only
Cambridge University Sportsday (1903)
Crews Practicing on River Lee at Cork Regatta (1902)
England v Ireland at Manchester (1905)
Blackburn v... (1904)
Everton v Newcastle United (1902)
Everton v Newcastle United (1903)
Halifax v Salford (1901)
Hull City Football (c.1905)
Hunslet v Leeds (1901)
Moss Street v St Philips Football (1907)
Manchester Races (1902)
Northern Union Challenge Cup Final - Halifax v Salford (1903)
Kingston Rowing Club at Practice (1902)
Liverpool v Small Heath (1901)
Manchester to Blackpool Road Race (1903)
Newcastle United v Liverpool (1901)
Notts County v Middlesbrough (1902)
Oldham v Swinton (1901)
Preston North End v Aston Villa (1905)
Preston North End v Notts County (1904)
Preston North End v Wolverhampton Wanderers (1904)
Rotherham Town v Thornhill (1902)
Runcorn v St Helens (1901)
Salford v Batley (1901)
Sheffield United v Bury (1902)
St Helens v Swinton (1901)
Sunderland v Leicester Fosse (1907)
Sunderland v Middlesbrough (1904)
Trotting Match at Springfield Park, Wigan (1904)
Two Oared Boat Race, Sunday's Well, Cork (1902)
Wales v Ireland at Wrexham (1906)
Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa (1904)
Final of International Cup at Cork Regatta (1902)
Warrington v St.Helens (1901)
Water Polo Match (c.1901)
Burnley Football (1903)
Bolton Football 2 (c.1900)
