Durham outfit to face Juventus

The unlikely winners of the first ever ‘World Cup’ will get a chance to rekindle the spirit of 1909 and celebrate one of football’s most remarkable achievements this summer, after The FA stepped in to grant them their wishes.

West Auckland Town FC, who play in the Northern League, achieved the amazing feat of lifting the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, widely acknowledged as the forerunner to the Jules Rimet Trophy, at the first time of asking 100 years ago in Italy.

Now, thanks to The FA, a century on from that famous day, West Auckland’s players will once again make the trip to Turin, to take on Italian giants Juventus in a commemorative match to mark the occasion.

The team from Durham have been granted a £10,000 donation from The FA to enable them to undertake the trip to Italy, which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.

FA Chairman, Lord Triesman expressed his pleasure at the news.

"The FA is delighted to support West Auckland FC’s return to Turin," he said.

"It‘s so important they are able to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their famous match with Juventus. This is a wonderful story and it’s only right that they will be in Italy to commemorate the remarkable achievement of winning the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy."

The West Auckland story is a curious one that led rise to the TV drama A Captain’s Tale along with a book and numerous headlines down the years.

In 1909, Sir Thomas Lipton, a millionaire philanthropist who was awarded the Grand Order of the Crown of Italy, commissioned the trophy for world competition, which featured sides from the host country as well as Germany, Switzerland and, of course, Great Britain.

Beating Stuttgart of Germany in the opening round the team, made up in the main of local coal miners, went on to beat Winterthur of Switzerland 2-0 in the inaugural final.

Two years later, again in Italy, West Auckland retained the trophy – which became theirs to keep – after beating Zurich in the opening match, before trouncing Juventus 6-1 in the final.

The team will travel to Turin to play Juventus in a pre-season friendly on Saturday 1 August. For more information go to www.westaucklandtownfc.co.uk