the charity shield

On the afternoon of Monday 5th September 1910, Albion were crowned as ‘Champions of England’.  In those days, the Charity Shield (now known as The Community Shield) was played between the champions of the Football and the team that won The Southern League.  These were regarded as the two strongest football leagues in the Country.  On the day, a goal from Charlie Webb gave Albion a 1-0 victory over League champions Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Unfortunately, the programme for the occasion is somewhat unremarkable, being a joint issue with the Chelsea v Queens Park Rangers London League match played two days earlier.  The saving grace however, is the traditional cartoon on the cover of the Chelsea home programme, showing ‘Brighton’ about to take on ‘The Villain’.   The team lineups for Albion’s famous victory shared the back page with the Chelsea v QPR lineups.   The uninspiring editorial contains only a couple of columns relating to the charity shield match and is ultimately, a rather disappointing programme, given the importance of the game in Albion’s history!