Wednesbury Charity Cup

Wednesbury Charity Cup

Founded	1879 (1879)
Abolished	1991;34 years ago (1991)
Region	West Midlands
Last champions	Cradley Town

The Wednesbury Charity Cup was an early football competition held from 1880 - eight years before the foundation of the Football League - for teams from the West Midlands region of England. ^[1] The competition was conceived and initiated by Isaak Griffiths, a businessman and magistrate from Wednesbury. ^[2] Money raised from the competition went to local causes. ^[2]

Trophy

Winners were awarded a solid silver trophy, ^[2] on which the name of each year's winning team was engraved. ^[1] The cup was made by Walker and Hall of Birmingham and hallmarked in 1879, and is topped by a figure of Charity ^[3] It cost £100, paid for by public subscription. ^[2]

The trophy weighs nearly 7 kilograms (15 lb) and is 2 feet 4 inches (71 cm) tall. ^[2]

In 2016, a member of the public offered the trophy, in poor condition, to Bowjangles, a jewellery shop in Wednesbury, for scrap. ^[1] Bowjanges owner Aaron Sheldon recognised its provenance and arranged for the trophy to be restored by Crescent Silver in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, a process which took five months. ^[1] The newly-restored trophy was sold at auction by Cuttlestones Auctioneers and Valuers of Wolverhampton, on 2 December 2016, ^[1] for £7,250. ^[3]

The first name engraved on the trophy is "Stafford Road, Wolverhampton 1880" and the last "Cradley Town 1991". ^[3]

Winners

Key

Season	Date	Winners	Result	Runner-up	Venue	Att. & Notes	Ref.
1879–80	31 May 1880	Stafford Road	3–0	Elwells	Wednesbury Oval	2,000	[4]
1880–81	26 February 1881	Wednesbury Old Athletic	3–1	Stafford Road	Wednesbury Oval	"An immense number"	[5]
1881–82	27 May 1882	Wednesbury Old Athletic	3–2	Aston Unity	Wednesbury Oval	"Very meagre". Replay.	[6]
					Aston Lower Grounds	Original tie 2–2.
1882–83	19 May 1883	Nottingham Forest	5–3	West Bromwich Albion	Wellington Road	4,000	[7]
1883–84	17 May 1884	Wednesbury Town	3–0	Nottingham Forest		1,400. Replay.	[8]
						Original tie 2–2.
1884–85	16 May 1885	Birmingham Excelsior	5–0	Birmingham St George's	Wellington Road	"Several hundreds."	[9]
1885–86	29 May 1886	Walsall Town	7–1	Burton Strollers	Wednesbury Oval	"large" [10] or "small" [11]
1886–87	1987	Wednesbury Old Athletic
1887–88	12 May 1888	Wolverhampton Wanderers	4–1	Wednesbury Old Athletic	Molineux Stadium		[12]
1888–89	1889	Wednesbury Old Athletic
1889–90	1890	Wednesbury Old Athletic		West Bromwich Albion res.			[7]
1890–91	1891	Wednesbury Old Athletic
1891–92	1892	Singers					[3]
1893–94	1894	West Bromwich Albion res.	4–0	Newport	Wellington		[7]
1912–13	1913	Walsall					[3]
1914–18	1913	No competition due to World War I.
1920–21	1921	Walsall					[3]
1921–22	1922	Walsall					[3]
1922–23	1923	Walsall					[3]
1968–69	1969	Pelsall Villa					[13]
1969–70	1970	Pelsall Villa					[13]
1973–74	1974	Pelsall Villa					[13]
1979–80	1980	Tipton Town					[13]
1980–81	1981	Tipton Town					[13]
1981–82	1982	Bilston Town					[13]
1982–83	1983	Bilston Town					[13]
1984–85	1985	Bilston Town					[13]
1988–89	1989	Pelsall Villa					[13]
1990–91	1991	Cradley Town					[3]
1990–91	1991	Cradley Town					[3]

References

1. "Cup provides a silver lining for Wood Green". Express & Star . 21 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
2. "Slice of Black Country football history to come under the hammer on 2nd December". Cuttlestones Auctioneers & Valuers. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
3. "Fine Art & Antique at Penkridge Auction Rooms - lot 236". Cuttlestones Auctioneers & Valuers. November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
4. Carr, Steve (2022). A History of the Wednesbury Football Charity Association 1880-2009. West Bromwich: Grorty Dick.
5. "Athletic Notes". Walsall Observer: 8. 5 March 1881.
6. "Wednesbury". Lichfield Mercury: 8. 2 June 1882.
7. Matthews, Tony; Mackenzie, Colin (1987). Albion! A Complete Record of West Bromwich Albion 1879-1987. Breedon Books. p. 209. ISBN   0-907969-23-2.
8. Smales, Ken (2006). Nottingham Forest The Official Statistical History. Pineapple Books.
9. "Wednesbury Charity Cup". Birmingham Daily Post: 8. 18 May 1885.
10. "Wednesbury Charity Cup - Final". Birmingham Post: 7. 31 May 1886.
11. "Wednesbury Charity Cup". Lichfield Mercury: 8. 4 June 1886.
12. "Wednesbury Charity Cup Final". Manchester Courier: 3. 14 May 1888.
13. "29/11/2016 — Evening News". Midlands Today . 29 November 2016. BBC West Midlands . Retrieved 29 November 2016.