Before moving images the newspapers employed artists to bring on field action alive

In the earlier years of football specialist equipment capable of capturing moving images had not yet been invented. On major occasions, such as the FA Cup semi-finals or key League matches, some papers might bring the action alive by employing an artist to draw the winning goal or a section of the crowd. Such was the case for a number of Preston North End games in 1888 and 1889, when PNE won both the League, the first ever, and FA Cup.  



The drawing of the 1889 semi-final action against FA Cup holders WBA is from the Cricket and Football Field and it was a game in which, thanks to a single goal from Scotsman David Russell, Preston avenged their defeat at the 1888 FA Cup final.

The match drew a crowd around 22,688 to Bramall Lane, a venue that had first opened as a cricket ground on 30 April 1855 - and first class cricket was to continue being played there until 1973.

Desperate to find a regular source of income in the winter, then despite its hostility to football The  Bramall Lane Ground Committee was forced to rent out the ground, where the facilities for spectators and the pitch were superior to any other in the Sheffield area.  

Bramall Lane staged its first football match between Sheffield FC and Hallam FC on December 29th, 1862 and over the following years the crowds at football matches gradually increased. And so did the income.

Allied to the success of the first league season then the huge receipts taken at the semi-final in 1889 – the sixpenny gate (6d) (the basic entrance fee for an adult) alone yielded £558-1s-0d alone – led directly on March 22nd, 1889 to the establishment of the Sheffield United Football Club, which today is approaching its 134th anniversary.  Meanwhile, first class cricket exited Bramall Lane in 1973.




At the 1889 FA Cup final, PNE were far too strong for Wolverhampton Wanderers and goals from Fred Dewhurst, Jimmy Ross and Sam Thomson without reply meant North End became the first side to record the ‘Famous Double.’

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