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Burnley v Manchester United (1902)

Burnley v Manchester United (1902)

First-ever footage of Manchester United in a tense Edwardian football fixture.

This is a truly historic film artefact, badly damaged though it is: the very earliest footage of Manchester United, shot months after they changed their name from Newton Heath. The frenetic action shows United (in dark tops) apparently on the back foot against near-neighbours Burnley, although the home team ultimately lost 2-0. The result helps explain why the film was never advertised in Burnley.

United were a Second-Division team in 1902-03, finishing the season in fifth place. They would have to wait until the 1906-07 season to play in the First Division for the first time under their new name. Burnley, one of the founders of the Football League, was to finish the season at the bottom of the Second Division.

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From the collection

Edwardian Football

The beautiful game, Edwardian style, in some of the earliest ever film of League, international and amateur football

For Blackburn-based filmmakers Mitchell & Kenyon, the attraction of football was at least as much the swelling crowds - who they hoped to lure to paid screenings - as the game itself. With only a few hundred feet of film on hand and far less mobile cameras than today's, their cameramen could only hope to sample the action on the pitch; catching a goal was a rare bonus.

The crowds' passion and energy are almost spectacle enough, but these films also survive as priceless football history - preserving, among other trophies, the earliest known footage of Manchester Utd and probably the first 'international' games captured on film.

25 videos in this collection

The earliest surviving Merseyside derby on film catches two of Everton's goals in a 3-1 home win.
1

Everton v Liverpool (1902)

  • Liverpool
  • 1902-09-27
An Edwardian contest between teams representing the English and Irish Football Leagues, with plenty of goal-line action.
2

England v Ireland at Manchester (1905)

  • Manchester
  • 1905-10-14
First-ever footage of Manchester United in a tense Edwardian football fixture.
3

Burnley v Manchester United (1902)

  • Burnley
  • 1902-12-06
Sparkling images of fans and players at an Edwardian fixture at Sheffield's Bramall Lane.
4

Sheffield United v Bury (1902)

  • Sheffield
  • 1902-09-06
The camera is a welcome distraction to the spectators of a home defeat at Goodison Park.
5

Everton v Newcastle United (1902)

  • Liverpool
  • 1902-09-13
Early football giants Preston and Villa face up in an epic Edwardian contest.
6

Preston North End v Aston Villa (1905)

  • Preston
  • 1905-11-11
International football action in front of an enthusiastic home crowd in Wrexham.
7

Wales v Ireland at Wrexham (1906)

  • Wrexham/Wrecsam
  • 1906
None of the goals but plenty of action in a 4-1 home win to Everton.
8

Everton v Newcastle United (1903)

  • Liverpool
  • 1903-09-19
A resounding win for Sunderland in the FA Cup, urged on by an enthusiastic band.
9

Sunderland v Leicester Fosse (1907)

  • Sunderland
  • 1907-01-12
A ropey pitch and worse goalkeeping in a typical non-league football derby in Edwardian Yorkshire.
10

Rotherham Town v Thornhill (1902)

  • Rotherham
  • 1902-02-11
Preston triumph at Deepdale in an Edwardian contest between two of England's oldest football teams.
11

Preston North End v Notts County (1904)

  • Preston
  • 1905-10-17
Schoolboy footballers fight it out at Ewood Park.
12

Moss Street v St Philips Football (1907)

  • Blackburn
  • 1907-03-30
Spectral images of a football match at Bolton's Burnden Park.
13

Bolton Football 2 (c.1900)

  • Burnden Park, Bolton
  • 1900
A large and lively crowd watches an Edwardian Second Division football match at Burnley's Turf Moor ground.
14

Burnley Football (1903)

  • Turf Moor
  • 1903
An Edwardian football match at Newcastle's St James' Park ground.
15

Newcastle United v Liverpool (1901)

  • Newcastle upon Tyne
  • 1901-11-23
The proud winners of a Blackburn school football match pose for posterity.
16

Football Match Between St Stephen's Football Club and Moss Street School (1904)

  • Blackburn
  • 1904-01-01
Hull City football club plays a friendly match in their inaugural season.
17

Hull City Football (c.1905)

  • Kingston upon Hull
  • 1905
The Lillywhites take on the Wolves at Deepdale, watched by a large crowd and the club mascot.
18

Preston North End v Wolverhampton Wanderers (1904)

  • Preston
  • 1904-11-19
Early league football, with the team who will become Birmingham City losing at Anfield in a relegation year.
19

Liverpool v Small Heath (1901)

  • Liverpool
  • 1901-09-28
A hard-fought North East derby in the Edwardian First Division.
20

Sunderland v Middlesbrough (1904)

  • Sunderland
  • 1904-01-09
Blackburn Rovers play at home at Ewood Park to an unidentified team in an Edwardian football fixture.
21

Blackburn v... (1904)

  • Ewood Park, Blackburn
  • 1904-04
Bradford City's first ever home league game after switching from rugby to football in 1903.
22

Bradford City v Gainsborough Trinity (1903)

  • Valley Parade, Bradford
  • 1903-09-05
The game is held up for the camera to do a full tour of the cheering crowds at Trent Bridge, Notts County's home until 1910.
23

Notts County v Middlesbrough (1902)

  • Nottingham
  • 1902-09-27
The entry of the teams and action from both halves of an Edwardian football game at Ewood Park.
24

Blackburn Rovers v Aston Villa (1904)

  • Ewood Park, Blackburn
  • 1904
Bolton Wanderers overpower the shortlived Burton United at Burnden Park under rainy skies.
25

Bolton v Burton United (c.1904)

  • Burnden Park, Bolton
  • 1904
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