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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Richard Brooks

He shoots, he scores! Artists capture the lost history of English football – for £1.5m

The painting A Cup Tie at Crystal Palace by Charles Cundall depicts a third-round FA Cup match between Corinthians and Manchester City at Crystal Palace in 1926
A Cup Tie at Crystal Palace by Charles Cundall depicts a third-round FA Cup match between Corinthians and Manchester City at Crystal Palace in 1926. Photograph: Chris Beetles Gallery

The contrast with the 2022 World Cup and its multibillion-pound air-conditioned stadiums could not be starker.

Football in England from the 1870s to the 1950s was played as the main pastime for predominantly working-class fans, usually watching from rickety wooden stands.

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