Youdan Cup

The Youdan Cup was an 1867 Sheffield rules football competition. Preceding the FA Cup by more than four years, it was among the first tournaments in any code of football.[1]

Youdan Cup

Country	England
Dates	16 February 1867 - 9 March 1867
Championship venue	Sheffield
Teams	12
Champions	Hallam
Runners-up	Norfolk
Matches played	13
Goals scored	10 (0.77 per match)

Background

The competition took its name from a local theatre owner, Thomas Youdan, who sponsored the competition and provided the trophy.

Rules

On 28 January 1867, representatives of thirteen football clubs from the Sheffield area met at the Adelphi Hotel to form the "Youdan Prize Committee".[2] The committee drew up the following regulations to govern the tournament:[3]

• Matches would be played under Sheffield Rules.[4]
• Matches would start at three o'clock, with two umpires and one referee.
• There would be 12 players on each side.
• Games would last ninety minutes. If the scores were tied, up to one hour of extra time would be played, with the first team to score during this period being declared the winner. If scores were still tied after extra time, the match would be replayed.

After the first round, the committee added a new rule that "the referee shall have power to award a Free Kick to the opponents of any Club, which makes more than three fouls or kicks-out, when the ball is being thrown in, if he (the referee) considers those fouls or kicks-out to be intentional".[5]

Participating teams

Sheffield FC, the oldest and most prestigious local club, declined to participate in the competition. (Harvey suggests that the club had withdrawn from playing against local rivals in order to "groom themselves for the national stage").[6] After this withdrawal, twelve teams remained in the Cup.

Format

The competition was organized as a straight knockout tournament, with two exceptions:

• Because twelve teams entered the tournament, there were three teams remaining after two rounds. One team, drawn at random, received a bye to the final, while the other two competed in a semi-final to provide the other finalist.
• After the final had been played, it was decided to hold a second-place playoff between the losing finalist and the losing semi-finalist.[7]

The semi-final, final and second-place playoff were held at Bramall Lane, which at this time was primarily a cricket ground.

Results

Under the Sheffield Rules of the time, the rouge was used as a tiebreaker if both teams scored an equal number of goals.[8]

Of the thirteen matches played in the tournament, seven were goalless, of which six were decided by rouges. Only one goal was scored after the first round.

In the results below, rouges are shown in brackets beneath the main scoreline.

First Round

Norton v United Mechanics

16 February 1867	Norton	2 – 0 (6 – 0)	United Mechanics	Norton
15:00				Referee: Mr. W. I. Bingham
Note: John Hadfield of United Mechanics suffered a dislocated shoulder.[9][10]

Mackenzie v Garrick

16 February 1867	Mackenzie	1 – 0 (1 – 0)	Garrick	The Orphanage
15:00				Referee: Mr. J. Frith
Note: [9][10]

Hallam v Heeley

16 February 1867	Hallam	2 – 0 (2 – 1)	Heeley	Sandygate Road
15:00				Referee: Mr. R. Dickenson
Note: [9][10]

Norfolk v Fir Vale

16 February 1867	Norfolk	2 – 0 (4 – 0)	Fir Vale	Norfolk Park
15:00				Referee: Mr. J. Tomlinson
Note: [9][10]

Broomhall v Pitsmoor

16 February 1867	Broomhall	0 – 0 (2 – 0)	Pitsmoor	Ecclesall Road
15:00				Referee: Mr. J. Pinder
Note: Broohmall: C. Mills (capt.), F. Hazlewood, John West, James West, J. Broadbent, S. Oeakin, W. Ward, W. Furniss, W. Mills, S. Dungworth, J. White, J. Turton Pitsmoor: G. Fowler (capt.), J. F. Bingham, J. Peck, G. Simpson, S. M. Walker, J. Clarke, G. Bradley, S. Heaton, E. Osborne, H. Peck, H. Fitter, G. Barnes[11][9][10]

Wellington v Milton

16 February 1867	Wellington	0 – 2 (0 – 5)	Milton	The Orphanage
15:00				Referee: Mr. J. Crapper
Note: [9][10]

Second Round

Norfolk v Broomhall

23 February 1867	Norfolk	1 – 0 (0 – 0)  (A.E.T)	Broomhall	Norfolk Park
15:00	Unknown (92')			Referee: Mr. R. Dickenson
Note: [12]

Norton v Hallam

23 February 1867	Norton	0 – 0 (0 – 0)  (A.E.T)	Hallam	Norton
15:00				Referee: Mr. W.J. Bingham
Note: [12]

Mackenzie v Milton

23 February 1867	Mackenzie	0 – 0 (1 – 0)	Milton	The Orphanage
15:00	Unknown (30')[13]			Referee: Mr. J. Crapper
Note: Green, playing for Mackenzie, broke his collar bone.[12]

Replay

Hallam v Norton

25 February 1867	Hallam	0 – 0 (1 – 0)	Norton
15:00	Unknown (60')
Note: [12]

Semi-finals

Hallam v Mackenzie

2 March 1867	Hallam	0 – 0 (4 – 0)	Mackenzie	Bramall Lane
15:00				Referee: Mr. J. Tomlinson

Norfolk v

Norfolk

Bye

Final

Hallam v Norfolk

5 March 1867	Hallam	0–0 (2–0)	Norfolk	Bramall Lane
15:00	Ash (75' or 85'), unknown	Report		Attendance: 2000[14] Referee: Mr. J. Tomlinson
Note: Although contemporary reports are not completely consistent, the majority indicate a 2-0 scoreline: "Thus Hallam won, scoring two rouges to their opponents' nothing"[15] "Up to within a few minutes of the expiration of the time allotted neither club had gained a single point, but within the last five minutes the Hallam Club scored two rouges and won the prize" [16] "After a severe struggle Hallam eventually won the cup by two rouges"[17] However, one source indicates a one-goal margin: "Hallam won by one rouge"[18] A BBC article from 2014 reports the score as 2-1 (without specifying rouges or goals).[19]

Second place play-off

Mackenzie v Norfolk

9 March 1867	Mackenzie	0 – 0 (0 – 1)	Norfolk	Bramall Lane
15:00
Note: Although Norfolk won "it was pretty generally admitted that the Mackenzie played the best".[20] Mackenzie: W. Wright, T. Jenkinson, J. Marsh, J. Ellin, J. Broomhead, T. Hodgkinson, M. Hodgkinson, C. Webster, H. Packard, T. Rycroft, E. Birkhead, Bramall Norfolk: J. Roberts (capt.), T. S. Bell, J. Pashley, J. P. Donovan, H. Cauthorne, T. Goodwin, C. Grayson, C. Marshall, J. Wildblood, G. Rodgers, G. Proctor, J. Simmonite.[21]

Trophy

The certificate which stands at Sandygate Road

The Youdan Prize Committee invited members of the public to submit their proposed designs for the trophy.[22][23] The creator of the entry judged the best would be rewarded by Youdan with a prize of one sovereign.

This prize was initially awarded to a Mr Jarvis, of Roscoe Works.[24]. His design was subsequently combined with that of another entrant: Mr. Topham, engraver, who was awarded a further prize of one pound.[25]

Before the semi-final, it was decided that the second-placed club would also be awarded a prize, to be funded by an admission fee of 3d at the semi-final and final.[20] This prize ended up being valued at £2 10s.[26]

The trophies were presented at a dinner held at the Adelphi Hotel on Monday 11 March. Because the winning design required "protracted time [...] in its manufacture", it had not been completed in time for the ceremony.[27] In its place, a "richly-ornamented claret jug", created by Martin, Hall, and Co., was awarded to Hallam. Youdan was absent through illness, so the trophy was presented by Mr J. Birley. The second prize, a "double-handed goblet [...] enriched with athletic figures", was awarded to Norfolk.[7][28]

The inscription on the cup awarded to Hallam reads:[19]

FOOTBALL CHALLENGE CUP. THIS SILVER CUP PRESENTED BY Thos. Youdan, Esq to be contested for by the various Football Clubs in SHEFFIELD & THE NEIGHBOURHOOD was awarded to the HALLAM FOOTBALL CLUB Feb. 1867 J.C.SHAW ESQ. CAPT

The first-place trophy was subsequently lost. It did not resurface again until 1997, when a Scottish antiques collector contacted Hallam F.C. to tell them that he was in possession of it - they subsequently bought it back for £1,600. Since then it has been valued to be worth at least £100,000 by silver specialist Alastair Dickenson of the BBC programme Antiques Roadshow, although the owners have insisted it is not for sale.[19]

Legacy

Attendances of up to 3,000 were reported in the press.[29] This would not be exceeded by the reported attendance at an FA Cup final until 1878.[30]

Contemporary reports suggest that the 1867 tournament was expected to be repeated in subsequent years, with Youdan awarding a trophy of the original competition-winning design.[7] This did not occur. Youdan nevertheless maintained an interest in football, for example by donating £50 in prize money to the Sheffield Football Association in 1870.[31]

The work of the ad-hoc Youdan Prize Committee in co-ordinating activity between local clubs and framing rules was a precursor to that of the Sheffield Football Association, which had already been formed by the end of January 1867, and issued its own first set of rules on 6 March 1867, the day following the final of the Youdan Cup.[32][33]

The Youdan Trophy, a Sheffield-based international youth team tournament founded in 2014, takes its name from the Youdan Cup.[34]

Notes

1. Though the Youdan Cup was not the first football competition, no older tournament involving three or more independent clubs is known.
   • The House Football Cup of Eton College dates from 1860, but it is an intramural competition rather than a tournament between independent clubs (see Major [Earnest] Gambier-Parry (1907). Annals of an Eton house, with some notes on the Evans family. London: John Murray. p. 130.).
   • The Caledonian Challenge Cup in Australian rules football dates from 1861, but was only ever contested between two clubs at a time.
   The Youdan Cup was recognized as the "oldest trophy" in the "soccer" section of Guinness World Records (see Guinness World Records 2003. New York: Bantam Books. 2003. p. 333. ISBN 0-553-58636-X.).
2. "Sheffield". Sporting Life: 4. 1867-02-02.
3. "Sheffield: Youdan's Football Cup". Sporting Life: 1. 1867-02-20.
4. Murphy, Brendan (2007). From Sheffield with Love. Sports Book Limited. pp. 77–78, 117. ISBN 978-1-899807-56-7.
5. "The Youdan Football Cup". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 1. 1867-02-23.
6. Harvey (2005) p. 108
7. "The Youdan Football Prize". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 10. 1867-03-16.
8. At least two different forms of the rouge are found in the Sheffield Rules:
   • According to the 1862 Sheffield FC rules, a rouge was scored when an attempt at goal (using a goal only 4 yards wide) missed, but went between two "rouge flags" 4 yards to the side of each goalpost, and the ball was then touched down by an attacking player. A similar version of the rouge is found in the rules of Sheffield Mechanics Football Club for the 1865-66 season.
   • Under the rules issued by the Sheffield Football Association in March 1867 immediately after the tournament, the requirement for a touch down was removed; it was required only that the ball go between the rouge flags and beneath the crossbar.
   A contemporary newspaper report of the final indicates that the winning rouge was "touched down by Ash in splendid style", suggesting that the first definition was used in this competition.
9. "The Youdan Football Cup". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 1. 1867-02-16.
10. "The Youdan Football Cup: Contests for the Prize". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 10. 1867-02-23.
11. "Pitsmoor v. Broomhall (Sheffield)". Sportsman: 4. 1867-02-21.
12. "The Youdan Prize for Football". Sheffield and Rotherham Independent: 10. 1867-03-02.
13. "Sheffield: Youdan's Football Cup". Sporting Life: 3. 1867-03-02.
14. "Sheffield -- Youdan's Football Cup". Sporting Life: 3. 1867-03-06.
15. "The Yondam [sic] Football Cup". Bell's Life in London: 9. 1867-03-09.
16. "The Youdan Football Contest". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 3. 1867-03-06.
17. Identical sentence found in two sources: "Sheffield -- Youdan's Football Cup". Sporting Life: 3. 1867-03-06. and "Sports and Pastimes". Bell's Weekly Messenger: 5. 1867-03-09.
18. "The Youdan Football Cup". Shefield and Rotherham Independent: 10. 1867-03-09.
19. "World's oldest football trophy 'not for sale'". BBC. BBC News. 2014-10-14. Retrieved 2014-10-19.
20. "Football". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 8. 1867-03-12.
21. "Sheffield: Youdan's Football Cup". Sporting Life: 4. 1867-03-13.
22. Corbett, Fred[eric]k (1867-01-31). "To Artists and Designers". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 1.
23. Corbett, Fred[eric]k (1867-01-31). "To Artists and Designers". Sheffield and Rotherham Independent: 1.
24. "The Football Competition for Mr. Youdan's Prize". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 8. 1867-02-16.
25. "Design for the Youdan Football Cup". Sheffield Daily Telegraph: 8. 1871-02-19.
26. "8". Sheffield and Rotheram Independent. 1867-03-12.
27. Harvey (2005), p. 289
28. "Football". Sheffield and Rotherham Independent: 10. 1867-03-16.
29. "A. L. G." (1867-03-09). "Football Rules". Field: 180. The report of a recent match for the 'Youdans Football Club,' from which I learn that three thousand spectators were present to witness a contest between two of the combatants for this cup at a place distant five miles from Sheffield, gives me sufficient proof of the hold football is now securing in the provinces. The exact match is not identified in the article. Despite its statement that the match took place "five miles from Sheffield", Harvey (2005), p. 104 appears to assume that it is referring to the final.
30. Harvey (2005), p. 172
31. "Local Intelligence". Sheffield and Rotherham Independent: 8. 1870-04-02.
32. "Football in Sheffield". Nottingham and Midland Counties Daily Express: 4. 1867-01-31.
33. "Sheffield Football Association". The Sportsman: 4. 1867-03-14.
34. "Football stars of future from some of world's biggest clubs to play for Youdan Trophy in Sheffield". Ripon Gazette. 2017-07-27. Retrieved 2019-12-07.

References

• Harvey, Adrian (2005). Football: The First Hundred Years: the Untold Story. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-35019-8.