SPORT
A game changer for the Don and Dearne’s infirm
It might be dubbed South Yorkshire’s ‘little FA Cup’, but the significance of the historic Montagu Cup is anything but small.
Next year will commemorate 125 years since the Cup’s inaugural final in 1897 after the competition was started as a philanthropic endeavour to raise funds for Mexborough Montagu Hospital. But its reputation extends further than medicinal merit. The very spirit of the tournament is imprinted in sporting history, with scores of finalists going on to play for professional clubs and in notorious competitions around the world. Before their quasquicentennial celebrations in 2022, the committee has been piecing together the Cup’s rich history and is calling for past players or relatives to help complete the photographic collection. In the late 19th Century, residents from the Don and Dearne who sustained injuries were either treated at home or taken by horse and trap to Doncaster or Rotherham infirmaries if they required more serious medical intervention. This was often a long and arduous journey for the injured and so a decision was made to establish a hospital in Mexborough.
A building on Bank Street was provided on a long lease with nominal rent by Andrew Montagu and the 14-bed Montagu Cottage Hospital was officially opened in 1890. As inpatient demand outgrew capacity, the hospital moved to its current site on Adwick Road in 1905, undergoing various extensions and upgrades since then. Before the NHS, hospitals were privately funded through contributions from local residents, companies and churches and the Montagu was no exception.
One of the many ideas put forward to raise extra cash for the hospital was a local football
“The first match was
Curtis & Alex Wilkinson with their dad, Shaun (a 3 time Mont winner) who had been chosen by sponsors Stelrad to present the trophy. Photograph courtesy of Blue Line Photography
tournament and so the Mexborough Montagu Hospital Charity Cup committee was launched. The first final was held on Easter Monday 1897 at Hampden Road, Mexborough where Ecclesfield took home the trophy after beating Newhill 2-0. Back in the days when football was one of the only forms of entertainment, the annual matches would attract thousands of spectators, bringing in a great deal of revenue from the turnstiles. Income generated would soon prove to far exceed the £85 paid for the trophy – around £8,000 in today’s money – which is comparable in silver content and value to the original FA Cup. Initially, the competition was limited to teams within a seven-mile radius of Mexborough, attracting teams within that boundary from Rawmarsh and Parkgate, to Wombwell and Darfield. Non-league and amateur clubs have
pitched for the title ever since, with play only stopping for two years in 1916 and 1917 due to the First World War.
Throughout its history, the competition has heralded the start of various players’ professional careers, the terraces at Hampden Road bearing witness to many a tenderfoot who would go on to play elite football.
In the interwar years, before the prominence of celebrity in football really began, many of the region’s footballers combined sport with labour-
held on Easter Monday 1897 at Hampden Road, Mexborough where Ecclesfield took home the trophy after beating Newhill 2-0
” 78
aroundtownmagazine.co.uk
John Wheeler
Joker players Gary Podmore and Daniel Patterson lifting the trophy in 2019
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