Filmed at Roker Park in January 1907, this is the first-ever recorded footage of Leicester Fosse, documenting their match against Sunderland.
The history behind this film is as extraordinary as the match it depicts. In 1994, during the demolition of a toy shop in Blackburn, two workmen discovered three large metal milk churns in the basement. Inside were over 800 rolls of nitrate film, perfectly preserved for nearly a century. These “lost” films were the work of Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon, who travelled Britain filming “topicals”—local events and sports—to show to audiences in fairground tents that same evening. This specific seven-minute archive shows the teams being led onto the Roker Park pitch by a brass band, while thousands of spectators in flat caps wave at the camera, unaware they were being immortalised. This very footage was developed and shown to audiences in Sunderland just two days later, allowing fans to relive the drama almost immediately. While the version of the match available on YouTube above provides a fascinating glimpse of the action at just under two minutes in duration, the complete seven-minute version of this historic film can be accessed via the British Film Institute (BFI) archives.
The match, an FA Cup clash against Sunderland, serves as a vivid record of the era’s uncompromising physicality. The pitch was almost entirely “denuded of turf” due to severe frosts, leaving the surface slick and unforgiving. This roughness reached a peak in the closing moments when Leicester winger Arthur Durrant made a desperate attempt to charge the Sunderland goalkeeper, who was carrying the ball, into the net. The resulting collision was brutal; Durrant was felled and had to be carried from the field “dazed and covered in blood,” with his face swollen and lips badly cut.
The era’s terminology further underscores the passage of time. Contemporary press reports occasionally utilized racial slurs, such as the nickname ‘Nigger’ applied to Albert Trueman, which journalists of the early 1900s bizarrely used to characterize a player’s ‘grit’ or stamina. Though deeply offensive by today’s standards, its presence in Edwardian sports writing illustrates the vast cultural shift in language and sensitivity over the last century..
At the time of this fixture, Leicester Fosse were a Second Division side taking on the “polished” First League stars of Sunderland. Despite the 4-1 defeat on the day, this season was a historic turning point for the club. Fosse’s performance throughout that 1906–07 campaign was remarkably strong; they finished the season in 3rd place, narrowly missing out on the top two promotion spots. However, rather than losing momentum, the club used that progress as a springboard. The very next year, in the 1907–08 season, Fosse maintained their high standards to finish as runners-up behind Bradford City.
On the pitch, the play was high-tempo. Sunderland’s George Bridgett opened the scoring in the 10th minute with a powerful oblique shot. Despite Leicester pressing hard for the first 15 minutes, McIntosh and J.E. Raine added goals to put Sunderland 3-0 up at the halftime. Leicester’s Billy Bannister provided a moment of brilliance in the second half, dribbling past several men on the frozen ground to score a purely individual goal. Though they were the underdogs from a lower division, Fosse showed the “dash and individuality” that would soon see them competing at the highest level of English football.
Match Lineups
Sunderland AFC: Ward, Rhodes, Watson, Tait, McGhie, McConnell, J.E. Raine, Holley, McIntosh, Gemmell, Bridgett.
Leicester Fosse: Albert Lewis, Henry Ashby, Joseph Blackett, Robert Pollock, Billy Bannister, Albert Trueman, Arthur Durrant, Thomas Shanks, Harry Wilcox, Archibald Hubbard, Francis Middleton.
Referee: Mr. M. McQueen (Liverpool)