England v Ireland at Manchester (1905)

An Edwardian contest between teams representing the English and Irish Football Leagues, with plenty of goal-line action.

Some 13,000 people saw this prestigious 1905 match at Manchester City's Hyde Road. Thanks to Mitchell & Kenyon, it stands as probably the oldest filmed record of a football international (though despite the billing, strictly this was an inter-league match with teams representing each league). England's team won 4-0, on a gloomy October day that challenged M&K's camera as well as Ireland's defence!

Much of the action was filmed from behind the English goal, guarded by Derby County's Harry Maskrey, but there are also good views of the players as they line on to the pitch. The film was commissioned from Mitchell & Kenyon by the American Bioscope company, and shown at the nearby Empire in Manchester's Ardwick Green.