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Sunderland vs Aston Villa 1895 - the oldest football painting in the world


The_Rev

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They won the game (2-1) and the league that season, so they knew what they were doing! 

I just checked Villa's results against Sunderland for the 1894-95 season, and Villa lost 1-2 at home (at Perry Barr) and drew 4-4 away.

 

So does this painting actually depict Villa's ground at Perry Barr?

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They won the game (2-1) and the league that season, so they knew what they were doing! 

I just checked Villa's results against Sunderland for the 1894-95 season, and Villa lost 1-2 at home (at Perry Barr) and drew 4-4 away.

 

So does this painting actually depict Villa's ground at Perry Barr?

 

 

Here's some information that confirms it was taken at one of Sunderlands former venues the Newcastle Road Ground.

 

The official title of the Hemy work, per the Museum is 'Sunderland v Aston Villa 1895.
It is indeed on display at the new stadium, 'The Stadium of Light', and the display there features a full size wooden football placed at the bottom of the huge ornate and gilded frame. The name of each player and official is etched on individual pieces of ivory placed along the bottom of the frame in line with their relative position in the painting. The work was originally commissioned by the Club to celebrate the winning of the Football League Trophy three times in four seasons (1892, 1893 and 1895). This all happened during the Club's stay at the Newcastle Road Ground. Due to the success of the team, a new, larger stadium (capacity 30,000) was built at Roker Park in 1898. I am not 100% sure where the completed painting was originally displayed but I would presume that it was at Roker Park. Sometime in the 1930s the painting was hung in the main stand reception of Roker Park (when the capacity had risen to 75,000) above a staircase, and there it remained until a few years before Roker Park was demolished in 1998. It was decided at this time to get the painting professionally cleaned and the frame restored to its original condition. Because of the Club's intention to move to a new purpose built stadium, the restored painting was displayed in the Town Museum and Art Gallery for a few years. It was always intended that the painting would be displayed at the new stadium and as such the main reception area was designed with this in mind. The painting is kept behind protective glass and dominates the marbled reception area.

Although the figures painted are not the most life-like I've ever seen, the overall effect is stunning. The print you show is of very poor quality (taken long before the restoration) and is probably the worst I have seen among the many issued officially and unofficially by the Club.

A few facts about the painting. It would appear that there are eleven outfield players representing Sunderland in the picture. In fact there are ten outfield players plus a goalkeeper. In those days, the goalkeeper had to wear the same strip as the outfield players, which must have led to much confusion at times. Incidentally the goal keeper is wearing the cap. The penalty area at that time was shaped differently from today - two semi circles meeting at a point where the penalty spot is in the modern game (on close inspection the outline can just be seen). Nowadays the area is a large rectangle. The game depicted was played in January. This is backed up by the fact that large heaps of straw can be seen around the outside of the pitch and a few straw ends on it. The straw was used for protection against frost, and was still being used right up until a few years ago by a large number of clubs in Britain. The ground where the match took place is now a housing estate sited a few hundred yards from the present home of the Club.

 

All most interesting!

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You can buy an 1879 Villa kit for £10 off that site :)

 

 

If you look at the away strip section,you will find that,in 1953........

 

" if their change shirts also clashed one or both teams would borrow a set from another club. Villa played in blue shirts against Rotherham in February 1953 while Birmingham played in claret and blue against Chelsea on the same day."

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You can buy an 1879 Villa kit for £10 off that site :)

 

 

If you look at the away strip section,you will find that,in 1953........

 

" if their change shirts also clashed one or both teams would borrow a set from another club. Villa played in blue shirts against Rotherham in February 1953 while Birmingham played in claret and blue against Chelsea on the same day."

 

 

The greatest day in Small Heath history?

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