FEATURE: Zulu, utility man and ground-breaking FA Cup winner, the story of George Wilson

And it is thanks to a bit of digging from local historian Chris Eyre that new light has been shed on a man who has been something of an unheralded hero for more than a century.

Chris was doing some research on the history of the Rotherham Charity Cup when he took a look at the very first final between Mexborough and Rotherham St Peters in 1899.

The press reports at the time indicated that the Mexborough goalkeeper was a G. Wilson, who they indicated was an FA Cup winner.

Perusing old records, Chris saw that there was a G. Wilson who had played in the FA Cup final for Blackburn Olympic in 1883, only he was a centre-forward.

"Recently I decided to have another look into the player, and what an eye opener,” says Chris.

“It turned out that it was in fact George Wilson, a local lad born in Swinton, South Yorkshire, not Swinton in Lancashire, as reported by Wikipedia for some years and recently corrected.”

George Wilson believed he was the first Yorkshireman to win the FA Cup. He was certainly a man who had a colourful footballing career.

Born in 1859, he first appeared in the local press at the age of 19, playing for Mexborough White Rose.

He was captaining Mexborough when he was spotted by The Wednesday. They signed him up and when he wasn’t picked by them he played odd games for other clubs.

Among them was Kilnhurst and, more significantly, Sheffield Zulus, because that’s where he got mixed up in a big scandal at the time and was released by Wednesday as a result.

Made up of some of the top Sheffield area players, the Zulus were set up initially to play a charity game to raise money for the widows and children of the soldiers killed in the Zulu War.

At their first match, at Bramall Lane in 1879, the Zulus entered the field with their faces painted and wore an outfit of black jerseys and draws decorated with beads. Their arms were covered in tufts of hair and they carried shields and spears that had recently been salvaged from the battle field.

The spectators had a hard job making out who the Zulu players were because they also played using Zulu’s names.

There was suddenly a demand for George and his team-mates to play games in other parts of the UK, even an offer to go to Canada. They would entertained the crowds at half time by drinking “firewater” – bottled beer and stout.

"Unfortunately, what was a good idea went wrong when the players started accepting match fees, hence making them professional,” states Chris. “This was a no go area in Sheffield football at the time.”

Eventually in 1881 several of the players got banned by the Sheffield FA from playing in Sheffield area football.

In 1882 the Zulus stopped playing, never having been beaten and having raised quite a bit of money for the dependants.

Later that year, with his Zulus days over, George was signed by Blackburn Olympic and was found a job as a clerk to get round the professionalism problem.

George’s first game for Olympic was an easy 11–0 win over Padiham Church Club in the Lancashire Challenge Cup. However a reply was ordered because he had not lived in Blackburn for the required two weeks before the game, as required by the rules.

George, who was noted for his long throws, converted to a centre-forward with great success.

He scored in all five rounds of the FA Cup competition in 1882/83 to set up a final against Old Etonians came round at the Kennington Oval.

"Olympic took things seriously,” says Chris. “The squad went into training at Blackpool for a week before the final. The players were supposed to be in the boarding house by 9pm and in bed by 10pm.

"One night George and Hunter stayed out until 11pm playing billiards. The next morning none of the other players would talk to them.”

Gripes aside, Olympic beat the Etonians 2-1 after extra-time to become the first teams from the working class provinces to lift the FA Cup.

"George insisted in later years that the Olympic team was made up of nine Lancashire players who mainly worked in the wool industry, plus himself together with the captain, Jack Hunter, from Norton,” says Chris.

“Because Norton was in Derbyshire in those days, this gave George the bragging rights of being the first Yorkshireman to win an FA Cup winners medal.

"It is worth mentioning that, according to Wikipedia, Jack Hunter was born in Crookes in Sheffield, but if only we can trust it.”

George moved to play for Preston North End in 1884 before moving injury prompted a return to Swinton and a place back playing for Mexborough, helping them win the Sheffield Challenge Cup for the first time in 1886.

A good cricketer, he turned out for both Swinton and Mexboro cricket clubs. At one stage he even represented Mexboro Athletic Cycling Club in various cycle races.

Late in life he moved to the Halifax area where he died in 1924.

Bringing this story full circle, it appears his last game of football was in goal for Mexboro in the first ever Rotherham Charity Cup game on October 12, 1889.

All these years on, it is believed George is buried in an unmarked grave in Haugh Road cemetery at Rawmarsh.

"It’s is a fascinating story,” adds Chris. “One or two other people are looking into it and I hope it can trigger some more interest.

"It would be nice to find a relative for George Wilson.”

Anyone who can help or who knows any descendants are welcome to contact Chris Eyre on 07397 953949.