BNA: The History Department at Sevilla FC Buys a BNA Print for Its Football Museum

A newspaper is a paper bird flapping in the window of history – Carlos Romero, Director of the History Department at Sevilla F.C.

Back in October 2012, we published a story on the blog about how the History Dept at Sevilla Football Club had discovered an article in the BNA that proved their club was much older than had previously been thought.

Indeed, the newspaper article proved that Sevilla FC was the oldest football club in Spain, and the club considers the newspaper article that they discovered in the BNA as its founding document.

Given the importance of the newspaper article in the story of the club’s history, the club’s History Department decided they would like a copy of the historic page to hang in their football museum.

Very kindly, these modern-day ‘Sevillistas’ have sent us a photograph of the ceremony which saw the print handed over to the Club President. Further, they have written a short article (included below) that explains the ceremony – watch out for the lyrical phrase, ‘A newspaper is a paper bird flapping in the window of history’.

Pictured left to right are José María del Nido, Club President, and Carlos Romero, Director of the History Department at Sevilla FC

The president of Sevilla FC, Mr. José María del Nido, was presented on the 25th of January 2013, at the very heart of the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium by the club’s History Department, with a copy certified by the British Newspaper Archive of the fourth page of the Dundee Courier edition of March 17, 1890. The page in question contains a treasure for the history of Spanish football, since it is an article that describes in detail how the club was founded 15 years earlier than it was thought, thus being Spain’s oldest football club. In fact, that article can be considered the founding document of Sevilla FC.

The article that is extremely rich in details shows how the club’s founding date was not a coincidence. Everything suggests that that Saturday 25 January, 123 years ago, a group of young British, mainly Scots, along with other young men of Spanish origin, certainly had something to celebrate. They did not work that evening in order to meet at one of the cafes in the city and celebrate Burns Night with the excuse of founding the first football club in Spain. Among the most prominent Scots were their first president, EF Johnston, and the first captain, Hugo Maccoll, who later, upon returning to UK chaired the Sunderland Burns Club. Coincidentally, whereas football was born in Framason’s Tavern, Sevilla Football Club was born in a cafe in Seville.

The discovery of the club’s Act of Constitution within an old edition of the Dundee Courier, has supposed great news which has been published not only in Spain but also in several important newspapers outside the country. The importance of the treasure found in the British Newspaper Archive for Spanish football can be clearly reflected in the speech pronounced by Mr Carlos Romero, director of the Club’s History Department, to Sevilla FC’s president during the event, when he quoted the Spanish reporter Ignacio Camacho on the occasion of a prestigious journalism award:

“A newspaper is a paper bird flapping in the window of history.”

Then, Mr. Carlos Romero followed:

“A Scottish gannet appeared at our window, carrying in its beak an old newspaper, The Dundee Courier edition of March 17, 1890, which was our founding date.

Thanks to “The British Newspaper Archive” of the British Library, within whose documentary collection, in the magnificent archive that this institution has provided online, we discovered the copy that was fluttering at our window.

It’s a beautiful article that chronicles the adventures of those first ‘sevillistas’, in which the following paragraph appears:

‘Some six weeks ago a few enthusiastic young residents of British origin met in one of the cafés for the purpose of considering a proposal that we should start an Athletic Association, the want of exercise being greatly felt by the majority of us, who are chiefly engaged in mercantile pursuits. After a deal of talk and a limited consumption of small beer, the “Club de Football de Sevilla” was duly formed and office-bearers elected. It was decided we should play Association rules (…) We were about half and half Spanish and British’

Along with the club’s act of constitution found in the BNA, the different members of the club’s History Department also presented the president with a complete dossier of 400 pages with the result of eight years of work researching the origins of the club in 1890.

Published by The British Newspaper Archive

Evening Times: Glasgow man revealed as founding member of top club

A GLASGOW man was one of the founding members of the first football club in Spain.

Evening Times - October 11 2012

New evidence unearthed by historians has revealed that Hugh MacColl was the first captain of Sevilla Football Club – the first club dedicated to the beautiful game in Spain.

Hugh, who was born in Apsley Place on the South Side in June 1861 and moved to Seville with his job as a marine engineer to work as the technical manager of the Portilla White foundry, was in the starting 11 for the first official football match ever played in Spain.

Sevilla FC was founded in 1890 and an article by a Spanish correspondent in the Dundee Courier’s edition of March 17, 1890, mentions the formation of the club.

Javier Terenti, from the history department at Sevilla FC, said: “Although before that, there were some pieces of evidence that suggested the possibility that the club had been formed in 1890, it has not been until now that we can be sure that we are, in fact, the oldest Spanish club specifically devoted to football, and all thanks to the British people.”

Hugh’s colleague Isaias White junior organised a match to celebrate the foundation of the club. Their first official match – and the first for Spain – took place on March 8, 1890 and Sevilla won 2-0.

Hugh is believed to have started work as an apprentice with Napiers, then worked for Cunard before joining Howden in Glasgow as chief draughtsman.

He spent six years in Spain, before returning to the UK.

In Spain, Hugh changed his name to Hugo – a name he kept for the rest of his life.

Hugh was married to Maude MacCarthy and had two sons. Hugh Geoffrey and James Eugene.

Hugh senior died on August 31, 1915, while on holiday in Glasgow, but it is not known where he was buried.

Javier Terenti said: “In 2007 Sevilla Football Club visited Glasgow, in a sort of tribute to our club’s first captain, winning our second Uefa Cup.

“Next January the club will be 123 years old and we feel really proud of our origins.”

Carlos Romero, director of the Sevilla Football Club’s History Department, added: “We would be honoured to let your city know about the fact that the first captain and one of the founders of the oldest club in Spain specifically devoted to football practice was from Glasgow."

Published by Matty Sutton
Evening Times

The Courier & Advertiser: Origins, oranges and football

EVIDENCE TO back up the claims of Sevilla Football Club that they are the oldest Spanish club, founded in 1890 by British residents in Seville, has been discovered by historians thanks to a 123-year-old article in The Courier.

Sevilla FC’s act of constitution has been found on the British Newspaper Archive by the club’s history department, where the story of Sevilla’s founding was covered in the Dundee Courier’s edition of March 17, 1890.

An article sent to The Courier by the Spanish correspondent in Seville at that time records the formation of the club.

Though there were some pieces of evidence that suggested the possibility the club had been formed then, it wasn’t until the article was found that archivists could be assured Sevilla was the oldest Spanish club specifically devoted to football.

The information was sent to The Courier this weekend by Grant Millar, marketing executive with Dundee online company brightsolid.

He said: “According to the correspondent’s article, which has been hidden for almost 123 years, the club was formed on January 25, 1890, by a group of young British residents in Seville.

“In order to make this constitution fully legal, they decided first to play under Association Rules, secondly to bear the word ‘Football’ within its name and thirdly, to elect their ‘office-bearers’.

“The reason why this important report was published in the Dundee Courier is probably due to the fact that, at that time, tonnes and tonnes of Seville oranges were loaded on steamships, travelling from Seville to Dundee for the manufacture of the city’s famous marmalade.

“However, this connection between Seville and Dundee could even go further if we take into account that two of the members of the Sevilla Football Club at that time, D Thomson and Robert Thomson, could have been related to DC Thomson, founders of the Dundee Courier.

“We now know that D Thomson played a match on Christmas 1890, while Robert Thomson acted as referee in different matches.

“Perhaps one of them was the correspondent in Spain who sent the report to The Courier.

“As to the main office-bearers, the club’s first president was the Scot Edward Farquharson Johnston from Elgin.

“He was the British vice-consul in Seville and co-proprietor of the firm MacAndrews & Co, ship-owners with commercial lines between Spain and UK, one of them being the transport of Seville oranges.

“Glasgow man Hugh Maccoll, a marine engineer who at that time had moved to Seville to work as the technical manager of Portilla White foundry, was their first captain.”

Grant received his information from Spanish researcher Javier Terenti whose information shows that, to celebrate the club’s foundation, secretary Isaias White sent an invitation to a recreation club in Huelva to play a match in Seville.

The match took place on March 8 1890, thus being the first official match ever played in Spain.

Published by The Courier & Advertiser on 24 September 2012

Metro UK: Dundee Jammed with Seville in Football History

On the ball: The report from 1890 which confirms the founding of Seville FC.

 

DUNDEE’S history as the capital of jam, jute and journalism could help a Spanish football club prove its claim to be among the oldest in Europe.

Seville FC’s act of constitution has been found on the British Newspaper Archive by the club’s history department, after the story of the club’s founding was covered in a local newspaper on March 17, 1890.

A report was sent back to Dundee by a Spanish correspondent in Seville recording the formation of the club. And it wasn’t until the article was found that archivists could be assured Seville was the oldest Spanish football club.

Grant Millar, of Dundee online company Brightsolid, who has been in touch with a Spanish researcher, said: ‘According to the article, which has been hidden for 123 years, the club was formed on January 25, 1890, by a group of young British residents in Seville.

‘In order to make this constitution legal, they decided first to play under association rules, secondly to bear the word “football” within its name and, thirdly, to elect office bearers. The reason why this report was published in the Dundee Courier is probably due to the fact that, at that time, tonnes of Seville oranges were loaded on steamships, travelling from Seville to Dundee for the manufacture of marmalade.’

Mr Millar said members of the club included a D Thomson who played in a match around Christmas 1890 and a Robert Thomson who acted as a referee.

He believes the pair may have been related to the DC Thomson publishing family of Dundee.

More recently, the club’s Scottish links continued when they were managed in 1986 by former Rangers boss Jock Wallace, and in 2007 they won the UEFA Cup by beating fellow Spaniards Espanyol on penalties at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

Metro UK. September, 25 2012

 

Published by Metro UK

Stephen Deal

The Northern Scot: Spanish soccer shocker

UNEARTHING a piece of sporting history lost in time for more than a century, Spain’s oldest football club has made the remarkable discovery that it was founded by a man from Moray.

Investigation reveals Moray man played pivotal role in creation of Seville Football Club in 1890

Sevilla Football Club, which currently plays in Spain’s top flight ‘La Liga’, will be forever indebted to Newmill-born Edward Farquharson Johnston for his pivotal role in establishing the team.

Sevilla celebrated what it thought was its centenary in 2005. However, a recent search in the British Newspaper Archive by the club’s history department uncovered an article that was published in the ‘Dundee Courier’ in March 1890.

Hidden for almost 123 years, the article pointed out that Sevilla, in Andalucia, was actually legally founded on January 25, 1890, by Mr Johnston, making it Spain’s oldest football club.

Researchers found that Mr Johnston, also the club’s first president, was born in Newmill on October 14, 1854.

Also known as Ned, he was the son of James Johnston and Margaret Miller Farquharson.

According to Mr Johnston’s obituary, he was educated first at Weston House – once a noted seminary in Elgin, which at the same time taught Alexander Graham Bell – and afterwards at Mill Hill, the famous English public school near London.

On completing his education, Mr Johnston entered the business house of Messrs. Robert McAndrew & Co, London, who were connected with his mother’s family, and who had extensive business connections in Spain and Asia.

The MacAndrew family provided him with his start in life, and Mr Johnston, being co-owner of the firm McAndrew & Co., was sent to Seville as their representative in the early 1870s.

At that time, the shipping company had an important commercial line between Seville and Scotland. In fact, Dundee harbour every year received tons of Seville oranges to help manufacture marmalade.

In 1879, Mr Johnston married Mary Crombie in Balgownie Lodge, Aberdeen. The couple had three sons, who were all born in Seville.

First son, Gilbert, died in infancy. Their second son Edward died in the trenches in France during World War One.

The Johnston’s third son, James, joined his father in business.

On January 23, 1879, Mr Johnston was appointed as British vice-consul in Seville until his retirement on October 5, 1906.

From the first, he became a prominent figure in Seville’s social and economic life.

However, it was his founding of the city’s football club which made the most permanent impact on the city.

On January 25, 1890, a group of young residents of British origin in Seville met at a café and formed the current Sevilla FC.

Mr Johnston was elected as president, while Glasgow man Hugh Maccoll became first captain.

A few weeks after founding the club, its members wrote a letter to a recreation club in Huelva asking them if they could form an 11 and come to Seville to play a match.

Although, according to the ‘Dundee Courier’ article, the team from Huelva had never played together, they decided to accept the invitation, and the match took place on March 8, 1890.

Unknown to the players at the time, they were creating history as the match became the first ever on Spanish soil. Sevilla won 2-0. After that initial match, the club went from strength to strength.

At the turn of the century, members of Sevilla Football Club sourced striped red and white strips to play in.

It is thought that they may have wanted to use the same colours as Sunderland AFC, since Sevilla’s first captain, Hugh Maccoll, lived there at the time.

Coincidentally in 2007, Sevilla Football Club headed to Mr Maccoll’s home town of Glasgow to see new club captain Javi Navarro lift Sevilla’s second UEFA Cup.

The club’s fascinating link to Moray went undiscovered for many decades.

It was only recently when the club founded a history department, under the leadership of current club president Jose Maria del Nido, that its origins became apparent.

(...)

Published by The Northern Scot on December 21, 2012

BNA: Sevilla Football Club – The Oldest Football Club in Spain, Founded in 1890 by British Residents

We’re endlessly fascinated by the stories that people are finding in the British Newspaper Archive.

 
While most of the stories (so far!) that people have kindly sent in have been about family history, there are 100s of other history researchers rummaging around in the Archive.

Just recently, the History Department at Sevilla Football Club contacted the BNA to tell us about their amazing and historic discovery in the Archive.

So, if you much preferred the “working people’s ballet” back in the halcyon days when comedic dogs gambolled their way on to the pitch and folk could only gain entry to football matches if they were wearing a bunnet, then you’ll enjoy reading this excellent story.

One of the researchers in the football club’s History Department takes up the story…

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A treasure for football history, Sevilla Football Club’s act of constitution, has recently been discovered on the British Newspaper Archive by the club’s history department. It is on the Dundee Courier’s edition of 17 March 1890, where an article sent by the Spanish correspondent in Seville at that time relates the formation of the club. Though there were some pieces of evidence that suggested the possibility that the club had been formed in 1890, it has not been until now that we can assure that we are dealing with the oldest Spanish club specifically devoted to the practice of football.

According to the Dundee Courier correspondent’s article, which has been hidden for almost 123 years, the club duly was formed on 25 January 1890 by a group of young British residents in Seville. In order to make this constitution fully legal, they decided first to play under Association Rules, secondly to bear the word “Football” within its name and thirdly, to elect their 'office bearers'.

 

 

The reason why this important report was published in the Dundee Courier must probably be found in the fact that, at that time, tons and tons of Seville oranges were loaded on steamships, travelling from Seville to Dundee in order to be treated for the manufacture of our famous marmalade. 

However, this connection between Seville and Dundee could even go further if we take into account that two of the members of the Sevilla Football Club at that time, D. Thomson and Robert Thomson, could be related to DC Thomson, founders of the Dundee Courier. We now know that D. Thomson played a match on Christmas 1890, while Robert Thomson acted as referee in different matches. Perhaps, one of them was the correspondent in Spain who sent the report to the Dundee Courier.

As to the main office bearers, the club’s first president was the Scot Mr. Edward Farquharson Johnston (Elgin, 14 October 1854). He was the British vice-consul in Seville and co-proprietor of the firm MacAndrews & Co., ship-owners with commercial lines between Spain and UK, one of them being the transport of Seville oranges. Hugh Maccoll, another Scottish young man (Glasgow, 9 June 1861), a marine engineer who at that time had moved to Seville to work as the technical manager of Portilla White foundry, was their first captain.

One of Maccoll’s partners in the Portilla White foundry in Seville, Isaias White junior, was the club’s first secretary. He was the son of an English entrepreneur who founded the aforesaid company, one of the major foundries in Spain at the end of the 19th century.

In order to celebrate the foundation of the club, Isaias White sent a letter to a Recreation Club in Huelva to invite them to play a football match in Seville. That letter was published by the Spanish newspaper, now disappeared, La Provincia. Although Huelva Recreation had never played together a football match, they accepted the invitation and the match took place on 8 March 1890, being thus the first official match ever played in Spain. Sevilla Football Club won that historical match by 2 to 0, being the first goal in Spanish football history scored by the Sevilla player Ritson.

(...)

Extract of the article publish by the British Newspaper Archive