cup fighters

In the period before the First World War, Albion were renowned cup fighters and always drew a large crowd. In January 1914, a record crowd of 15,727 at The Goldstone witnessed a 3-1 victory over second division Clapton Orient in the 2nd Round of the FA Cup. Again adverts dominated the programme, including the cover where the Exchange Hotel in Goldstone Street was prominent. The programme consisted of eight pages, plus a single page insert, showing a cartoon reproduced from the Oldham Athletic programme on one side and a cartoon sent in ‘by an Eastbourne gentleman’ on the other. An editorial, under the heading ‘Football Pickings’, amounted to just over a page in total. The centre pages showed the team lineups and ‘To-day’s Football Results’ amongst the proliferation of adverts. The Southern League Div 1 table appeared on the back and inside the back page, reference was made on the heights and weights of the Clapton Orient team. Bower (Goalkeeper) was, not surprisingly, the tallest at 6’1” and the heaviest at 15 stone. It was written of Bower ‘A big man who is said to be able to pick the ball up with one hand’. A head and shoulder photograph of Higham appeared on an internal page. W.E.Nash Ltd from Western Road were the printers.