Football; The Most Popular of all Games

Swindon Town FC legend Harold Fleming gives a splendid masterclass in how to play the beautiful game. After a rather superfluous introduction featuring a Spurs game at White Hart Lane (against Burnley?) we move to the County Ground to learn some proper footballing skills from a master. It may be the year he retired, but Fleming still has it; his ball control, shooting and understanding of the game is captured in glorious quality, at both normal speed and slow motion.

Harold Fleming joined Swindon Town FC in 1907 and retired from the club, and professional football, in 1924. It was his only club as a senior player and he remains the only player to be capped for England while still playing for Swindon. This is the first time the complete film has been made available online, but it did make the local headlines in 2009 when a Swindon fan bought a copy from eBay which was thought to be the only known example. The BFI National Archive already held copies but the obscure nature of the film and the previous lack of a publicly available catalogue meant that it was not common knowledge.