Talk:Charlie Athersmith

Latest comment: 5 years ago by Struway2 in topic The umbrella legend

The umbrella legend

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I have been trying to pin down the match in question, and I can't. Athersmith never scored in a senior match against Sheffield United. If the tale is correct, it must have been a friendly or a game in one of the minor competitions (eg, Staffordshire Senior Cup etc). In 1901 Villa played League games against Sheff United on 30 March (0-0) and 16 September (1-2, with Villa's goal scored by Albert Wilkes). They also played two FA Cup games, Garraty and Devey scoring for Villa - Athersmith did not score, umbrella or not. (Source: Aston Villa, A Complete Record, and also, The Aston Villa Chronicles by John Lerwill.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A02:C7D:3266:6300:2872:4CBD:3916:B581 (talk) 20:04, 7 December 2018 (UTC)Reply

The umbrella incident happened, but it wasn't 1901, it was November 1894 (5–0 at Perry Barr). Don't know who was officially credited with the goals, your books will tell you: judging from contemporary reports, the weather conditions were so bad that I doubt anyone could reliably identify the scorers. Wasn't really a funny story: the Villa players, being at home, had a half-time change of kit available, but the visitors didn't, and by the end of the match several had gone off with exposure/frostbite. I'll clean it up a bit and add a couple of sources, but it probably won't be till after the weekend. cheers, Struway2 (talk) 21:02, 7 December 2018 (UTC)Reply