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Wales v Ireland at Wrexham (1906)

Wrexham/Wrecsam
1 Jan 1906
Silent
1m

International football action in front of an enthusiastic home crowd in Wrexham.

In what may be the earliest International football match recorded on film, Wales play Ireland in a Home Championship fixture at Wrexham's Racecourse Ground. Wales (in the darker kit) are cheered on by a lively home crowd. Two cameras cover the action, with edited shots showing the build up to two of the Welsh goals and drama in the penalty area. This was a high-scoring game, ending in a 4-4 draw.

Sadly, the filmmakers weren't able to catch Welsh star Billy Meredith in action. Meredith was serving a season-long ban for alleged bribery following a bad-tempered First Division game between his club, Manchester City, and Aston Villa. Believing himself a fall-guy for his club's practices, Meredith left City for local rivals Manchester United in May 1906.

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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.