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Preston North End v Aston Villa (1905)
Early football giants Preston and Villa face up in an epic Edwardian contest.
Overview
As Villa lead Preston out of the changing room at Deepdale, the teams seem relaxed - unfazed by the then unfamiliar sight of a cameraman. Preston, in white shirts, are soon pressing hard and Villa have a couple of narrow escapes, including a disallowed goal. But the home crowd soon have something to cheer with outside right Dicky Bond's unstoppable shot in a 2-0 win for Preston's 'Invincibles'.
Preston, among the founders of the Football League, were one of the game's early giants. They topped the table in the League's very first two seasons, 1888-89 and 1889-90 - the second time maintaining an unbeaten record in both league and FA Cup games - an achievement never matched since. They would finish the 1905 season in second place, four points behind league winners Liverpool. Rivals Aston Villa had been Preston's runners-up in 1888-89 and were already five-times league champions and five-times winners of the FA Cup. The peculiar striped hut seen in the film was in use as a changing room until 1906.
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