The Youdan Football Cup, also known as 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.[a]
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The competition took its name from a local theatre owner, Thomas Youdan, who sponsored the competition and provided the trophy.[1]
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]
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]
| Team | Foundation | No. of members | Home ground | Colours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norton[7] | 1861 | 50 | Norton | Green |
| United Mechanics | 1865 (September) | 140 | Norfolk Park | Blue, white cap |
| Mackenzie | 1862[8] | 500 | Myrtle Road | Pink shirt, plaid cap |
| Garrick | 1866 (October) | 400 | East Bank | Red, white, & blue |
| Hallam | 1860 | 150 | Sandygate | Blue & white |
| Heeley | 1862 | 70 | Wellsbrook Park | Grey & white hoops[9] |
| Norfolk | 1861 (December) | 240 | Norfolk Park | Grey & blue |
| Fir Vale | 1862 | 136 | Pitsmoor | White & red |
| Broomhall | 1863 (October) | 150 | Ecclesall Road | Black & white |
| Pitsmoor | 1861 | 264 | Pitsmoor | White |
| Wellington | 1866 | 150 | Houndsfields Park | Puce & white |
| Milton | 1862 | 180+ | South Heeley | Black & yellow |
The competition was organised as a straight knockout tournament, with two exceptions:
The semi-final, final and second-place playoff were all held at Bramall Lane, which at the time was primarily a cricket ground.
Under the Sheffield Rules of the time, the rouge was used as a tiebreaker if both teams scored an equal number of goals.[b]
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.
| 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.[11][12] | ||||
| 16 February 1867 | Mackenzie | 1 – 0 (1–0) | Garrick | The Orphanage |
| 15:00 | Referee: Mr. J. Frith | |||
| Note: [11][12] | ||||
| 16 February 1867 | Hallam | 2 – 0 (2–1) | Heeley | Sandygate Road |
| 15:00 | Referee: Mr. R. Dickenson | |||
| Note: [11][12] | ||||
| 16 February 1867 | Norfolk | 2 – 0 (4–0) | Fir Vale | Norfolk Park |
| 15:00 | Referee: Mr. J. Tomlinson | |||
| Note: [11][12] | ||||
| 16 February 1867 | Broomhall | 0 – 0 (2–0) | Pitsmoor | Ecclesall Road |
| 15:00 | Referee: Mr. J. Pinder | |||
| Note: "Nothing was got by either side until they changed ends at half time, and then the Broomhall, having a slight advantage in both the ground and wind, succeeded in getting a rouge, and soon after got another from a free kick".[13] 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[14][11][12] |
||||
| 16 February 1867 | Wellington | 0 – 2 (0–5) | Milton | The Orphanage |
| 15:00 | Referee: Mr. J. Crapper | |||
| Note: [11][12] | ||||
| 23 February 1867 | Norfolk | 1 – 0 (0–0) (A.S.D.E.T) | Broomhall | Norfolk Park |
| 15:00 | Unknown (92') | Referee: Mr. R. Dickenson | ||
| Note: [15] | ||||
| 23 February 1867 | Mackenzie | 0 – 0 (1–0) | Milton | The Orphanage |
| 15:00 | Unknown (30')[16] | Referee: Mr. J. Crapper | ||
| Note: Green, playing for Mackenzie, broke his collar bone.[15] | ||||
Replay
| 2 March 1867 | Hallam | 0 – 0 (4–0) | Mackenzie | Bramall Lane |
| 15:00 | Referee: Mr. J. Tomlinson |
| Norfolk | Bye |
| 5 March 1867 | Hallam | 0–0 (2–0) | Norfolk | Bramall Lane |
| 15:00 | Ash (75' or 85'), unknown | Report | Attendance: 2000[17] Referee: Mr. J. Tomlinson | |
Note:
However, one source indicates a one-rouge margin:
|
||||
| 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".[23] 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.[24] |
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The Youdan Prize Committee invited members of the public to submit their proposed designs for the trophy.[1][25] The creator of the entry judged the best would be rewarded by Thomas Youdan with a prize of one sovereign.
This prize was initially awarded to a Mr Jarvis, of Roscoe Works.[26] His design was subsequently combined with that of another entrant: Mr. Topham, engraver, who was awarded a further prize of one pound.[27]
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.[23] This prize ended up being valued at £2 10s.[28]
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.[29] In its place, a "richly-ornamented claret jug", created by Martin, Hall, and Co., was awarded to Hallam. Thomas Youdan was absent through illness, so the trophy was presented by Mr J. Birley to J. C. Shaw, Hallam's captain. The second prize, a "double-handed goblet [...] enriched with athletic figures", was awarded to Norfolk.[10][30]
The inscription on the cup awarded to Hallam reads:[22]
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
Shaw presented the trophy to the members of the Hallam Club at a dinner after the final match of their season, played at Sandygate on Saturday 16 March.[31] 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.[22]
Attendances of up to 3,000 were reported in the press.[32] This would not be exceeded by the reported attendance at an FA Cup final until 1878.[33]
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.[10] This did not occur, and in the event the Cromwell Cup was held in 1868, sponsored and named after another Sheffield theatre owner.[34] Youdan nevertheless maintained an interest in football, for example by donating £50 in prize money to the Sheffield Football Association in 1870.[35]
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.[36][37]
The Youdan Trophy, a Sheffield-based international youth team tournament founded in 2014, takes its name from the Youdan Cup.[38]
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.
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