FA Cup Final 1903

This is one of those records that I don't think we'll see beaten; the most onesided FA Cup Final.
It was a case of one game too many for Derby, who were hampered by injuries. Most significantly Steve Bloomer was absent, whilst  Fryer, Morris and Goodall all came into the final carrying knocks.
The relative strengths of these two sides can be judged from the fact that they finished the 1902-03 League season level on points (in 8th & 9th places)
Bury reached the final without conceding a single goal.

Derby Daily Telegraph

Both teams wore change colours, Bury sky blue and Derby County red.

Derby goalkeeper Fryer sustained a further injury in the 1st half and was incapacitated altogether soon after the break. Bury's 2nd goal in the 49th minute was a significant turning point. Fryer went off after colliding with Sagar as the latter scored. Morris went into goal and Derby played 1-3-5. Under the rules of the day this created an effective offside trap, but Bury soon overcame this inconvenience. Fryer returned with the score at 3-0  but conceded twice in rapid succession and left the field permanently after the 5th goal.
The Sheffield Independent described the match as '(the) worst final. tame and dull', commenting on the  subdued atmosphere in the 1st half, the pessimism of the Derby fans and the fact that thousands of spectators were leaving the ground after 70 minutes.

Other accounts portray Derby as being anxious, lacklustre, and showing poor ball control. 

Fryer

This was Fryer's last game for Derby, who signed Grimsby Town's Walter Whittaker the week after the Final. It was ultimately Harry Maskrey, however, who became Fryer's long term replacement, going on to play 223 matches for County.
Fryer, a big man for the times at  6 ft 1 and  15 st (1.85, 95kg) moved to Fulham that May.

The Sheriff of London Charity Shield

Introduced at the end of the 1897-98 season, this was a challenge match between the leading amateur club in the country and one of the leading professional clubs, for the benefit of charitable institutions, hospitals etc.
The competition was established by Thomas Dewar, the whisky magnate, and is sometimes referred to as The Dewar Shield. 
And the trophy was as big as a man!
The  Dewar Shield  lapsed in 1908 following a rift between the leading amateur clubs and the FA.

Let's look at the ten editions of the Shield.
Corinthians were chosen as the amateur representatives 9 times. This was good business, as Corinth usually featured a number of international players.The professional representatives were not necessarily the league champions or FA Cup holders.
Professional teams triumphed on 6 occasions
Amatuer teams (ie Corinthian FC) won twice.
The Shield was shared twice.

18981	Corinthians	0	0	Sheffield United	Crystal Palace
	Corinthians	1	1	Sheffield United	Crystal Palace
18992	Aston Villa	0	0	Queen's Park	Crystal Palace
1900	Corinthians	2	1	Aston Villa	Crystal Palace
1901	Aston Villa	1	0	Corinthians	Crystal Palace
1902	Tottenham Hotspur	5	2	Corinthians	White Hart Lane
1903	Sunderland	3	0	Corinthians	White Hart Lane
1904	Corinthians	10	3	Bury	Queens Club
1905	The Wednesday	2	1	Corinthians	Crystal Palace
1906	Liverpool	5	1	Corinthians	Craven Cottage
1907	Newcastle United	5	2	Corinthians	Craven Cottage

1 Sheffield United declined to play extra-time as they disagreed with some of the referee's decisions- the trophy was shared.
2 Shared, each club retained the Shield for six months.

Football on Film in the 1900s

The first known film of a football match was shot by Robert Paul in Newcastle in October 1896. The film does not survive.

The above is a still from the earliest surviving football  film, made  in London by Alexandre Promio around  September 1897.

Welsh pioneer Arthur Cheetham recorded a Blackburn Rovers v West Bromwich Albion game in 1898; under a minute of footage survives.
In 1899 the F.A. Cup Final was filmed for the first time, but this footage is sadly lost, and the earliest record we have of the FA Cup final is of the Tottenham Hotspur v Sheffield United game in 1901 :



Mitchell and Kenyon was a newsreel company based in Blackburn.
The Mitchell and Kenyon Collection ( held by the British Film Institute) comprises 55 films of  British football matches played between 1901 and 1907: