Wednesbury Charity Cup
Football tournament
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Wednesbury Charity Cup was an early football competition held from 1880 - eight years before the foundation of the Football League - for teams from the West Midlands region of England.[1] The competition was conceived and initiated by Isaak Griffiths, a businessman and magistrate from Wednesbury.[2] Money raised from the competition went to local causes.[2]
| Founded | 1879 |
|---|---|
| Abolished | 1991 |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Last champions | Cradley Town |
Trophy
Winners were awarded a solid silver trophy,[2] on which the name of each year's winning team was engraved.[1] The cup was made by Walker and Hall of Birmingham and hallmarked in 1879, and is topped by a figure of Charity[3] It cost £100, paid for by public subscription.[2]
The trophy weighs nearly 7 kilograms (15 lb) and is 2 feet 4 inches (71 cm) tall.[2]
In 2016, a member of the public offered the trophy, in poor condition, to Bowjangles, a jewellery shop in Wednesbury, for scrap.[1] Bowjanges owner Aaron Sheldon recognised its provenance and arranged for the trophy to be restored by Crescent Silver in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, a process which took five months.[1] The newly-restored trophy was sold at auction by Cuttlestones Auctioneers and Valuers of Wolverhampton, on 2 December 2016,[1] for £7,250.[3]
The first name engraved on the trophy is "Stafford Road, Wolverhampton 1880" and the last "Cradley Town 1991".[3]
Winners
Key
| Season | Date | Winners | Result | Runner-up | Venue | Att. & Notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1879–80 | 31 May 1880 | Stafford Road | 3–0 | Elwells | Wednesbury Oval | 2,000 | [4] | |
| 1880–81 | 26 February 1881 | Wednesbury Old Athletic | 3–1 | Stafford Road | Wednesbury Oval | "An immense number" | [5] | |
| 1881–82 | 27 May 1882 | Wednesbury Old Athletic | 3–2 | Aston Unity | Wednesbury Oval | "Very meagre". Replay. | [6] | |
| Aston Lower Grounds | Original tie 2–2. | |||||||
| 1882–83 | 19 May 1883 | Nottingham Forest | 5–3 | West Bromwich Albion | Wellington Road | 4,000 | [7] | |
| 1883–84 | 17 May 1884 | Wednesbury Town | 3–0 | Nottingham Forest | 1,400. Replay. | [8] | ||
| Original tie 2–2. | ||||||||
| 1884–85 | 16 May 1885 | Birmingham Excelsior | 5–0 | Birmingham St George's | Wellington Road | "Several hundreds." | [9] | |
| 1885–86 | 29 May 1886 | Walsall Town | 7–1 | Burton Strollers | Wednesbury Oval | "large"[10] or "small"[11] | ||
| 1886–87 | 1987 | Wednesbury Old Athletic | ||||||
| 1887–88 | 12 May 1888 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 4–1 | Wednesbury Old Athletic | Molineux Stadium | [12] | ||
| 1888–89 | 1889 | Wednesbury Old Athletic | ||||||
| 1889–90 | 1890 | Wednesbury Old Athletic | West Bromwich Albion res. | [7] | ||||
| 1890–91 | 1891 | Wednesbury Old Athletic | ||||||
| 1891–92 | 1892 | Singers | [3] | |||||
| 1893–94 | 1894 | West Bromwich Albion res. | 4–0 | Newport | Wellington | [7] | ||
| 1912–13 | 1913 | Walsall | [3] | |||||
| 1914–18 | 1913 | No competition due to World War I. | ||||||
| 1920–21 | 1921 | Walsall | [3] | |||||
| 1921–22 | 1922 | Walsall | [3] | |||||
| 1922–23 | 1923 | Walsall | [3] | |||||
| 1968–69 | 1969 | Pelsall Villa | [13] | |||||
| 1969–70 | 1970 | Pelsall Villa | [13] | |||||
| 1973–74 | 1974 | Pelsall Villa | [13] | |||||
| 1979–80 | 1980 | Tipton Town | [13] | |||||
| 1980–81 | 1981 | Tipton Town | [13] | |||||
| 1981–82 | 1982 | Bilston Town | [13] | |||||
| 1982–83 | 1983 | Bilston Town | [13] | |||||
| 1984–85 | 1985 | Bilston Town | [13] | |||||
| 1988–89 | 1989 | Pelsall Villa | [13] | |||||
| 1990–91 | 1991 | Cradley Town | [3] | |||||
| 1990–91 | 1991 | Cradley Town | [3] | |||||