St Helen’s ArchivePreserving the past for the future
Item
OT125
Title
OT125
Description
Autograph book bound with dark green canvas. Alternate blue and pink pages. Entries in pen, pencil and watercolours. Dimensions: 5" x 5 1/2" (w7.6cm x 11.4cm).
Type
Rights Holder
CIC
Date
Abstract
This young boy's autograph book begins in February 1907 and the last dated entry is in August 1909. Entries are sporadic but the first dated one indicates that the youngster travelled, probably with a parent, to Leicester to watch them play against Swansea on 16th February 1907. Swansea and Cardiff were neck and neck for the Welsh Championship. This day Swansea were beaten 12-6 by a Leicester team who outplayed them on the day. The 'All Whites' unbeaten record for the season was gone. Although they lost only one other match all season and Cardiff lost a total of three, they retained their hold on the Welsh Championship from the previous season. Swansea had ended a run of 6 Championship titles in 7 seasons in 1905 when they were 'Invincible'. This youngster marked the day by saying they had lost their 'Invincible' record that day. Popular expression held that teams were 'Invincible' during a season while their record was intact. So he referred to the current season. Other entries show the lad was a keen Swansea supporter, most of the first fifteen signatures appearing in his album. There are other miscellaneous entries that illustrate that the schoolyard humour of young boys hasn't changed much over the 100 years or so since these famous signatures were the pride of a young Swansea lad.
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