Important Albion centenary tomorrow

[The History Man]

ALBION CENTENARY CELEBRATED

This coming Friday, 23rd April 2010, sees the centenary of Brighton & Hove Albion's first major triumph, the championship of the Southern League.

In 1910, the Southern League was a major rival of the Football League, and encompassed most of the professional clubs in the south of England. Winning the title also qualified Albion to face the Football League champions, Aston Villa, for the FA Charity Shield in September 1910.

To mark the event, the Albion Collectors' and Historians' Society (BHACHS) is issuing a commemorative postal cover in a limited edition of 250, featuring an artistic impression of the successful players together with the championship shield. There is also a photo of a championship medal together with details of the match that clinched the title, a 3-1 win over Swindon Town at the Goldstone Ground.

The cover comes with a numbered insert which has the story of the season and the matches played. The cover and insert are protected by a cellophane wrapper.

The cover will be available at the Bristol Rovers match at Withdean Stadium on Saturday, 24th April. Priced at £2, they will be on sale near the ticket collection point both before and after the game. Thereafter they will be on sale from the Albion club shop at 128 Queens Road, Brighton BN1 3WB or via Brighton and Hove Albion | BHAFC Scores, News, Transfers, Fixtures.

Tim Carder, chairman of the Society, said:

"The Southern League may be minor these days, but a century ago it was a very important competition, and it was a great achievement to win the title just nine years after the club was formed in 1901.

"It's only right that we mark this historic occasion appropriately. No one alive now remembers the magnificent triumph of one hundred years ago, which is why this Society has been asking, successfully, for a museum at The Community Stadium to ensure that the club's history is never forgotten."

Proceeds from the sale of the cover go to BHACHS funds. The match programme against Bristol Rovers will also feature a lengthy article on the Southern League championship.

For more information, or to purchase a cover by mail order (price £3 including p&p), PM me.

 

[Hiney]

 

[Nottseagull]

Indeed, the SL now has seven divisions above it instead of the two it had then (and there were only four clubs south of Birmingham in those two divisions). I am proud to have once held the huge SL Championship Shield and touched the Albion's winning plaques attached thereon.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Indeed, the SL now has seven divisions above it instead of the two it had then (and there were only four clubs south of Birmingham in those two divisions). I am proud to have once held the huge SL Championship Shield and touched the Albion's winning plaques attached thereon.

In what sense was the Football League "above" the Southern League in those days? The two were equal, regional leagues.

The fact that Woolwich Arsenal snuck into the Football League in 1893 (which nearly caused the club to go bust, because there was no interest in London in the outcome of a north and midlands competition) was mainly down to incompetence by their management. Chelsea, Clapton Orient, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur joined the FL Second Division between 1905 and 1908, but, in those days, they were hardly the powerhouses of football that we might imagine.

Only in the post-WW1 era is it fair to say that the Football League achieved its supremacy.

When the Albion became Champions of England, they were, indeed, just that. Not "giantkillers", but Champions.

 

[The Large One]

Chelsea were in there twice?

Shee-it.

 

[Captain Haddock]

Will be getting myself one of those items....great idea Mr C.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Chelsea were in there twice?

Shee-it.

I did, of course, mean Fulham.

 

[Nottseagull]

Chelsea were in there twice?

Shee-it.

There was another London club, possibly West Ham.

 

[Nottseagull]

In what sense was the Football League "above" the Southern League in those days? The two were equal, regional leagues.

In the sense that the SL was an occasional feeder league to the FL, although it was obviously far stronger than the other feeders such as the Lancashire League.

 

[The History Man]

Lord Bracknell is partly right, in my opinion. The standard of the two rival competitions - the Southern League and the Football League - can be compared by analysing performances in the FA Cup. For the recent BHACHS Newsletter, which was entirely on the subject of the 1909/10 triumph, I did just that and found that, when the SL Div 1 met the FL Div 2 in the cup 1894 (when SL was formed) to 1920 (when the SL Div 1 was absorbed into the FL), the SL club triumphed 49% of the time. When SL Div 1 clubs played FL Div 1, that percentage fell to 31%. So my judgement was that the standard of the SL Div 1 was akin to that of FL Div 2.

Spurs won the FA Cup while in the SL, Southampton were twice beaten finalists, and Millwall and Swindon both reached the semi-finals.

But whatever, it was still a major triumph, otherwise the FA would not have invited the winners of the two competitions to compete for their Charity Shield - and it deserves to be remembered 100 years on.

 

[withdeanwombat]

Yes,it's great to celebrate this momentous event.Flags are flying all over England as I type!