Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy
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The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was a football (soccer) competition that took place in Turin, Italy in 1909. It is sometimes referred to as The First World Cup.
Italy, Germany and Switzerland sent their most prestigious professional club sides to the competition, but The Football Association of England refused to be associated with it and declined the offer to send a team. Not wishing to have Britain unrepresented in the competition, Lipton invited West Auckland FC, an amateur side from County Durham and mostly made up of coal miners, to take part. West Auckland won the tournament and returned to Italy in 1911 to defend their title. In this second competition, West Auckland beat Juventus 6-1 in the final, and were awarded the trophy outright.
