Thursday, 9 December 2021

LONSDALE-HORSES, OLYMPIA, THE AA, BOXING, ARSENAL, YELLOW

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3994718670252035536/6817271468534621975

Just in case you have an interest in the origins of Brazilian football, here's a tad more for you.......

Since Boris is in such a muddle at the moment, let's remind ourselves of the prowess brought to the FA Cup by his old school Eton...well the Etonian Alumni. Boris did not play soccer to any level. But he did appear in a charity match for "England" v "Germany".....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWIUp19bBoA    

In May 2013 the "football programme" record was smashed when Sotherby's sold a copy of the earliest known surviving FA Cup Final programme - the 1882 final between Old Etonians and Blackburn Rovers played at the Kennington Oval - for a whopping £30,000 (or £35,250 with premium). The programme was bought by the Old Etonians Football Club to display at Eton College's Museum of Eton Life. So one-up to the rich boys! Note that the Old Carthusians had beaten the OEs in the 1881 FA Cup Final!

Far away from the south, today I visited Lowther Castle, near Whitehaven in Cumbria.  Lowther Castle is a country house in the historic county of Westmorland. It was built and has belonged to the Lowther family, since the Middle Ages. It is a fully managed ruin, open to visits by the public and some of the gardens since 2011 as well as the usual indoor facilities, such as an historical display, cafe, shop etc. It is a very pleasant estate and amongst the various historical gems, I found Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale (25 January 1857–13 April 1944), an English peer and sportsman. Needless to say there was a considerable inheritance!!!

In 1882, Hugh succeeded his brother and was succeeded in turn by his brother, Lancelot! The family did not favour Eton College as a school for the young men, but rather went to the major opposition, Harrow School.

Whatever happened in their early education, the boys futhered their education at Oxbridge and then, inevitaby, Lonsdale inherited enormous wealth derived from his father's Cumerland coalmines, and owned 75,000 acres (30,000 ha) of land. Lonsdale was known as the Yellow Earl for his penchant for the colour. He was a founder and first president of the Automobile Association (AA) which adopted his yellow livery. Lonsdale was a founding member and first president of the National Sporting Club and donated the original Lonsdale Belt, in 1909 for the boxing championship trophy. His name was later given to the Lonsdale clothing brand of boxing garments and the Lonsdale cigar size!!

He enjoyed foxhunting, particularly influential in the famous Quorn Hunt in Leicestershire. He was also a director of Arsenal Football Club and served as chairman for a brief period in 1936, and later became the club's honorary president. His favour of the yellow colour is the reason why Arsenal wear yellow as their "change strip". For many years Arsenal's away colours were white or navy blue. However, in 1968 the FA banned navy shirts (they looked too similar to referees' black kit) so in the 1969–70 season, Arsenal introduced an away kit of yellow shirts with blue shorts. This kit was worn in the 1971 FA Cup Final as Arsenal beat Liverpool to secure the double for the first time in their history. Some of you might notice that the Arsenal "yellow" is often worn by refs these days, especially in Europe.

Lonsdale's racing colours by E & W Anstie Ltd cigarette card (1922)

After the First World War, Hugh gave up hunting and became more involved with race horses. He became a senior steward of the Jockey Club. He had two major wins with his colt Royal Lancer, in 1922, at the St Leger and the Irish St Leger. He was also the first president of the International Horse Show at Olympia.








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