“In which year was the first world cup tournament held? 1888, 1909, 1911, or 1930?” with a sly smile Regis so innocently asks. After all, the Rentonions have claimed their accolades in 1888, we already know that. But what about 1909 and 1911?

The legend has it that, Sir Thomas Lipton (yes the tea dude) was made a Knight of the Grand Order of Italy for his business exploits on the peninsula. So he wanted to reciprocate and suggested to organize a “world football tournament” in Turin, Italy.

The English FA scoffed at Lipton’s suggestion, so Lipton decided to pull some of his own strings. One of Lipton’s employees had contacts with the lowly amateur club West Auckland FC. The employee managed to convince the poverty-stricken club and players to take part of what was dubbed “the first World Cup”

The band of the West Auckland miners made their way to Turin, Italy sacrificing their jobs and possessions to take part of this honors. Rumors around the peninsula that WAFC stood for Woolwhich Arsenal Football Club. No one from West Auckland protested! :)

The championship was held in a knockout format, and West Auckland managed to get to the final after beating Stuttgarter Sportfreunde 2-0. On April 12, 1909, West Auckland faced Swiss side FC Winterthur and beat them 2-0 as well to take the trophy.

Two years later, West Auckland returned, and after beating FC Zürich 2-0, they ran out 6-1 winners in the final over future Italian giants Juventus.

So there you have it. 1888, 1909, 1911, and 1930 all featured an event dubbed the “World Cup”. What would be your answer? Personally, I would still go for 1930!

You can read more about this fascinating story over here