Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy
The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was one of the first international football tournaments in the world, which has twice in Turin, in 1909 and 1911, occurred. The trophy was donated by the Scottish industrialist Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton and named after him. The tournament was that the team that would be the first two sweeps of the tournament win in a row would win the " World Cup". Since the West Auckland Town AFC won both sweeps of the tournament, the club could thus take the trophy permanently in possession. The tournament is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the " first football World Cup". The tournament is the successor of 1908 took place Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva, which may be well regarded as the first international football club tournament, although it never reached approximately the level of awareness of this tournament.
Participants of the tournament were provided by the national associations of Switzerland, Germany and the local city clubs from Italy. The The Football Association of England has, however, declined an invitation to participate. As Lipton but did not want to start the tournament without a British team, he asked the West Auckland Town AFC, an amateur team from County Durham has played since 1908 in the Northern League and consisted mainly of coal mine workers.
There are two theories why Lipton came exactly on West Auckland as tournament participants: The one that is popular in the city itself, says the Lipton Woolwich Arsenal as a participant wanted, however, to contact his secretary interprets the statement " WA " to the abbreviation for West Auckland has. This explanation is, however, unlikely, because Arsenal had risen at that time only just in the second highest league in England and has long been not as well known as it is today and it is also no connection between Lipton and Woolwich Arsenal known. The more likely theory is that an employee of Lipton talked at that time contacts with the Northern League and has asked there who wanted to participate in the tournament. The original trophy, West Auckland got after the second victory of 1911 forever, was stolen in January 1994, after many years on display in the club house of the " Working Men 's Club " of West Auckland. Now there is a better safeguarded replica trophy at the site. The trophy leads to West Auckland today in his club logo.
- 2.1 participants
- 2.2 Tournament 2.2.1 Semi-finals
- 2.2.2 3rd place match
- 2.2.3 Final
Discharge 1909
Participant
- German Empire Stuttgarter Sportfreunde
- England West Auckland Town AFC ( unofficial representatives, see above)
- FC Winterthur Switzerland ( Swiss Champion 1908)
Tournament
Semi-finals
3rd Place Match
Final
Discharge 1911
Participant
- Italy 1861 Juventus
- England West Auckland Town AFC (holders; unofficial representatives, see above)
- Switzerland FC Zurich ( runner-up 1911)
- Italy 1861 FC Torino